Council tries harder to hit green target

Figures for 2008/2009 show they rose by one per cent. The council is now predicting that it will reduce emissions by 1.2 per cent by the end of next March – but it hopes to do better.

The authority is spending 147,500 on rolling out an energy-saving campaign which will also be used in the local NHS.

Some of the cash will be spent on installing new computer software to allow staff to put their machines into hibernation easily, as well as keeping a check on how much power they use.

Currently 400 staff leave computers on over the weekend when they are not being used, wasting electricity. Timer sockets are being installed on boilers, printers and faxes.

A new energy campaign is being launched to inform staff and encourage them to come up with their own energy-saving ideas.

Council leader Carl Minns has previously described himself as a "climate change agnostic" – neither a "denialist" nor advocate of the theory that carbon is the cause of climate change. He says he is interested in cutting bills.

n The campaign was founded as a British movement in September 2009 by Franny Armstrong, director of The Age of Stupid, with the aim of rallying public support similar to the Make Poverty History campaign.