Our carbon footprint
Measuring our greenhouse gas emissions internally and across the borough will help us to understand what areas need focus so we can reach our collective goal of achieving net zero.
What is a carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint measures the amount of greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere from the activities of a person, an organisation, or a community. The carbon footprint of a person or organisation might include what transport they use, the food they eat, and the emissions released from other day-to-day activities. The main greehouse gases include:
- Carbon dioxide - released by burning fossil fuels, deforestation and cement production
- Methane - released by rotting organic waste in landfill and livestock
- Nitrous oxide - released by synthetic fertilisers and vehicles
- Fluorinated gases - released by refrigeration and aerosols
To make it easier to calculate, these are generally grouped together and known as carbon emissions.
For example, when estimating the carbon footprint of a block of cheese, the entire lifecycle needs to be considered. This includes: growing the food needed to feed the cattle, emissions associated with farming cows, production involved to create the cheese, transport to take it to the supermarket, refrigeration to keep it cool - right up until you buy it. The carbon footprint increases even more if it's thrown in the bin!
To understand more about your own carbon footprint, complete the simple WWF questionnaire.
Council emissions
Wyre council has been calculating its carbon footprint since 2018/19 financial year, which has provided us with a baseline to compare our emissions year-on-year. This includes emissions generated from Scopes 1, 2 and 3 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, including our leisure centres and waste collection vehicles.
The council's main emissions come from our:
- Gas heating within our buildings
- Authority fleet
- Electricity use
So far, we have reduced our council emissions by 7% since our baseline, according to 2021/22 figures. However, as data collection methods and carbon footprinting tools have improved to become more accurate, our footprint has grown to include more activities that we previously couldn't measure, such as staff commuting. When compared like-for-like, without these additional measurements, our footprint has fallen by 23% since 2018/19.
Whilst we aim to lead by example by getting our own house in order, the councils emissions only account for approximately 1% of Wyre borough's carbon footprint as a whole. It is therefore crucial that we all work together to rapidly bring down our emissions locally.
Read our carbon footprint report
Borough emissions
Local authority emissions data is released every year by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (formerly the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy). This includes a two-year time lag to allow for accurate calculations across the UK.
For the borough of Wyre as a whole, our main sources of emissions come from:
- Domestic gas use
- Road transport (minor roads)
- Industry gas use
In 2020, Wyre was the 4th largest emitter of greenhouse gases in Lancashire. This is mainly due to our location as a rural borough. Our large farming community means we generate significant agricutural emissions from our cropland and livestock. A large proportion of domestic emissions are generated from the gas and oil used to heat our homes, which is higher in areas without a gas grid connection. Our rural location also means that we generate a lot of emissions from minor road transport to travel around the borough.
Read our borough footprint report
Town and parish council emissions
The community carbon calculator shows the estimated carbon footprint for all the town and parish councils across the UK.
When looking at territorial emissions (those generated within an area) communities with industrial estates, such as Fleetwood, or those intersected by the M6 motorway, have a higher carbon footprint.
However, when looking at consumption-based footprint (reflecting individual behaviours at home), communities reliant on oil heating, such as Winmarleigh, Out Rawcliffe and Bleasdale, have a higher footprint as this is a large source of emissions. More affluent communities also have higher footprint due to their consumption of goods and services, as their lifestyles are generally more carbon intensive.