Public sector sites could cut emissions by 70%

Complex public sector sites – such as hospitals, prisons, and military barracks – could achieve a 70% carbon emissions reduction by 2032, according to a new report.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) funded the two-year pilot programme run by the Modern Energy Partners (MEP), exploring how to decarbonise the public sector estate.

The public sector, through the fifth Carbon Budget, has the challenge of achieving a 50% direct emissions reduction by 2032 against the 2017 baseline. Further commitments such as the Clean Growth Strategy, the Ten Point Plan, and the Energy White paper, are driving the UK’s commitment to net zero by 2050.

MEP found that on average for a campus-style site to achieve 70% emissions reduction by 2032, the capital cost was £12.6m per site. The pilot used a test bed of 42 sites responsible for over 294,000 tCO2e carbon emissions – equating to 8% of Ministry of Defence (MOD), 17% of Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and 6% of NHS sites.

The final report provides independent recommendations for stakeholders involved in public sector decarbonisation for campus or similarly challenging sites. Its main conclusion was that if the public sector is to meet its commitments, it must rapidly scale up its decarbonisation activities. Agreed-upon, organisation-wide and long-term decarbonisation strategies can help simplify processes and cut timelines. More broadly, a public sector-wide reporting framework alongside appropriate carbon valuation will incentivise action.

The report also recommends tailored plans at site level. The design stage should consider all aspects of departmental and site-level governance as well as the appetite for investment in low carbon technology. Working with multiple consultancies in the development of individual design plans can increase idea sharing and avoid technology bias.

Furthermore, delivery capability must be taken into consideration. Appropriate resourcing, capacity-building and prioritisation is urgently needed. At scale decarbonisation requires individuals and teams with a range of capabilities spanning the delivery lifecycle, embedded throughout the organisation. Important responsibilities of this role will be to select the technology appropriate delivery route and ensure sign-off and access are obtained in a timely manner.

MEP focused on learning-by-doing, carrying out specific activities and generating consistent repeatable approaches for scalable delivery of decarbonisation, and taking into account whole system thinking on campus-style sites.

Energy Systems Catapult chief executive, Philip New, said: “The public sector only accounts for around 2% of total UK emissions. But by both reducing its own emissions and demonstrating an ambitious, systematic and scalable programme of work, it offers an opportunity to demonstrate that it is possible to decarbonise at scale.

“The Modern Energy Partners programme demonstrated that it was possible to put individual sites on track to hit net zero targets through a sustained effort by people with a mix of skill-sets. While some action has already being taken towards reducing emissions within the public sector estate, MEP experienced multiple barriers to delivery which must be overcome to deliver decarbonisation at scale.

“Firstly, each Government department needs a deliverable net zero strategy, which captures the scale and pace required to meet national net zero commitments.

“Secondly, the cost of decarbonisation is a key barrier. To make decarbonisation scalable, funding must be available and deployed efficiently within a department.

“Thirdly, MEP found that capability was limited to centrally based sustainability teams and, rather than embedded throughout departmental estate management. Under current conditions, delivery that relies on these small central teams is time-consuming and not scalable.

“Finally, we found that in the future decarbonisation of campus-style sites, like prisons, military bases and hospitals, could be possible and could be delivered at the scale and pace required, however it needed to follow a systematic, repeatable and scalable approach.”