Agenda item

That this Council believes:-

(a)      that, if Sheffield is to play its part in achieving the Paris Climate targets, meet its net zero target by 2030 and address the cost of living crisis, we need to reduce energy demand through energy efficiency measures such as retrofitting homes and other buildings; and to significantly raise the amount of energy we produce from renewable sources;

(b)      having more of our energy produced from renewable sources helps us control costs by having secure forms of energy generated locally; energy security means that the UK is less at the mercy of dubious and undemocratic regimes with poor human rights records that are often the suppliers of fossil fuels;

This Council resolves:-

(c)      to ask the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee to consider:-

(i)       conducting an audit of the potential for renewable energy installations and energy efficiency measures on all Council land and property, draw up a priority list for installations based on the most potential to save energy and generate clean energy, and present it to the Committee within 6 months;

(ii)       installing solar photovoltaics on all new build Council-owned buildings where technically feasible, recognising that integrated roof systems are cheaper to install than retrofitting solar systems after construction;

(iii)      creating a Local Area Energy Plan for Sheffield that has the buy-in of the wider community and lead a local area energy planning process that involves both the network operators and other key stakeholders, including developers, energy experts and community energy groups;

(iv)      investigating establishing strategic partnerships with renewable and energy efficiency installers to help ensure certainty on cost and delivery of measures and report back to the Committee within 6 months;

(v)      encouraging the establishment of partnerships with local Community Renewables organisations to enable low cost/no cost installations funded through citizens’ investments;

(vi)      maximising external funding to finance installations using Government, South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and any ethical sources;

(vii)     using funding available for solar installations from Cooperatives on Council buildings and encouraging take up of this funding by large commercial organisations;

(viii)    encouraging wider community investment in local renewable energy projects through a range of measures including, but not limited to, Community Share Offers and Municipal Bonds;

(ix)      developing a compelling offer for private householders and landlords to support the installation of solar photovoltaics and high cost energy efficiency measures;

(x)      encouraging best practice in Planning to support renewable energy installations by developers and to create a low carbon energy supply;

(xi)      encouraging renewable and energy efficiency skills by establishing links and relationships between our partners in the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency sectors with appropriate local training and education providers;

(xii)     ensuring training opportunities and new skills are included in all projects and that contracts related to energy efficiency and renewables should include commitments from contractors on providing training opportunities and new skills for local people; and

(xiii)    requiring new energy generation projects of 5MW or above to have at least 5% local ownership.