BANES – Carbon emissions from households and citizens
BANES commissioned a study to provide an evidence base to inform the Council’s future planning to enable BANES to become carbon neutral by 2030.
Key findings of the study showed:
Emissions and income
Across the UK the wealthiest households produce, on average , more than three times the carbon emissions of the poorest 10% of households.
Aviation
The average income of UK air passengers is about £60,000, over twice the national average. In BANES frequent flyers are concentrated in certain neighbourhoods; parts of Chew Valley, Bathavon South, Saltford, Widcombe & Lyncombe, Bathavon North, Bathwick and Lansdown;
Private car usage
Some areas have households with a high dependency on cars for commuting but in many of these neighbourhoods the average distance travelled to work is less than 10km and are more concentrated in the Wards of Southdown, Keynsham South, Westfield, Keynsham North and Odd Down. These areas could be the focus of attempts to encourage people to change their mode of transport from personal car to forms of transport with lower carbon emissions;
In Publow and Whitchurch, Chew Valley and Mendip, more than 20% of households own three or more cars.
Household fuels
Analysis suggests the highest income households produce more than twice the emissions from the consumption of energy in homes, mostly for heating, than some of the poorest homes;
This trend was bucked for the very poorest households, who were shown to disproportionately live in some of the least efficient dwellings in the UK (rated in EPC bands F or G) and thus the hardest to heat;
In parts of Bathwick, Bathavon South, Clutton and Farmborough, Timsbury, and Publow and Whitchurch, dwellings in EPC bands F and G, comprise up to 50% of all dwellings;
Efforts to reduce the emissions from dwellings should be focused, at least in part, on the lowest incomes households living in the least efficient dwellings, in order to tackle carbon emissions and fuel poverty.
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