Council procures 100% renewable energy for city street lighting

Bristol has taken a significant step towards tackling climate change by
becoming one of the first major cities in the UK to power its street lights
with 100% "green" energy.

The city council has secured a contract with Eon Energy to purchase 22575063
KWH of energy a year generated through renewable sources such as wind, wave
and solar power.  The contract came into force in January 2007.

Whilst higher energy prices overall mean that the council's bill for street
lighting will have had to rise, the deal that the council has been able to
negotiate is some £500,000-a-year less than the worst case scenario some
experts were predicting.

Bristol has 34000 street lighting lanterns, by purchasing 100% renewable
energy the council will achieve a 15% reduction in its CO2 emissions by
Spring 2008 - three years earlier than originally targeted.

Councillor Dennis Brown, Executive Member for Transport with responsibility
for street lighting said: "This move demonstrates the council's commitment
to reducing its impact on climate change and will be another important step
towards establishing Bristol's credentials as a green capital in Europe.
This follows on from other recent Council initiatives, such as boosting
recycling to 40% of all household waste - believed to be the best
performance of any major UK city - and our innovative introduction of
energy-saving biomass boilers, solar panels and environmentally-friendly
lighting systems in many of our buildings and facilities."

Ends

Press release issued: February 2 2007