Joining together in the crusade to cut carbon in Cumbria

If it seems like a big ask, that’s because it is.  

However, the Zero Carbon Cumbria partnership - which commissioned the report on greenhouse gas emissions which arrived at the figure - is hard at work to try and encourage residents, visitors, businesses and the public sector to all do their bit to achieve this target by 2037.  

In September the partnership released their report, which was compiled by Small World Consulting, based at Lancaster University and led by respected carbon footprinting researcher and writer Mike Berners-Lee.  

Although it does not claim to be 100 per cent accurate, the report is being used as an indicator of the areas where Cumbria is emitting carbon and where it can make reductions in the coming years.  

The partnership is made up of around 80 organisations and individuals, including Cumbrian local authorities, the Lake District National Park Authority, Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership, Cumbria Chamber of Commerce and a wide range of community groups.  

Its strategic oversight board includes the cabinet members overseeing climate change policy for both Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness Councils and Cumbria Tourism managing director Gill Haigh. 

The board is chaired by Steve Curl, who has a long track record chairing engineering and software businesses as well as previously being the transport and infrastructure board member for Cumbria LEP. 

The partnership itself is co-chaired by the University of Cumbria and Cumbria Action for Sustainability, which put together the successful £2.5m National Lottery funding bid to set it up.  

“The emissions report has drawn on hundreds of different inputs and datasets to look at what ought to be achievable,” says Steve. 

“It’s not accurate to the nearest tonne but it is a very good guide to the scale of the different issues that need to be addressed.” 

The report outlines the amount of emissions connected to different activities in the county, revealing that industry and other businesses are directly responsible for 3.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. These figures exclude land use and farming, which is responsible for over two million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. 

The report identifies 11 priority areas which the county can focus on to reduce emissions, all broadly sitting within buildings, transport, farming and land use, consumption, waste and the circular economy as well as business and industry.  

Emission sector groups within the ZCC partnership are now developing Cumbria-wide action plans for decarbonisation.  

These will be published ahead of a climate change summit set to be held in spring next year to inspire individuals, communities, the public sector and businesses of all sizes to take action to move towards net zero. 

“It will then become a massive communications and networking exercise, not to tell people what to do, but to provide information so they can understand what needs to be done, to motivate them to take the necessary action and to encourage them to share best practice within their sphere of influence,” says Steve. 

“We’ve then got to monitor the results to see how we’re doing, identify gaps and catalyse further action.” 

Steve believes a key incentive for businesses to cut their emissions will come from the fact that doing so will also bring financial benefits as well as making them more attractive to customers and clients.  

“Businesses want to buy off other businesses in their supply chain that they believe are environmentally sustainable,” he says.  

Of course, many Cumbrian businesses are already focused on cutting their carbon footprint or, in some cases, they may have achieved net zero already.  

In Flookburgh, overlooking Morecambe Bay, the Fell Brewery has been working with Cumbria Action for Sustainability to understand its own carbon footprint.  

Brewery founder Tim Bloomer says there are many companies who claim to be able to offset a business’ carbon footprint for a price but this seems like a “cop out”. 

“I realised if we were going to do this then we can’t do it the easy way,” he says.  

"I started off with the bold ambition of saying that we wanted to become carbon neutral, principally through our own operations. But then if there was a need for offsetting beyond that, we needed to effectively control that offsetting ourselves and implement it locally.” 

Last year the brewery installed an array of 100 40kw solar panels on its roof, which generate about 60 per cent of its electricity requirement.  

The brewery also raises money for South Cumbria Rivers Trust by donating 5p from every pint of Ghyll golden ale it sells towards its work, which includes tree planting along the banks of the River Kent.  

This translates to about £8,000 of donations per year.  

It is also working with Small World Consulting to begin to understand its emissions, which include emissions from its supply chain, the majority of which are connected to growing barley used to make beer.  

"What we really want to get to grips with is what we can potentially reduce in terms of the provenance of those grains," says Tim.  

However, he says this comes with the challenge of balancing the sustainability of the grains with their flavour. 

The same goes for using homegrown hops rather than the American, New Zealand or overseas varieties beloved of beer drinkers.  

"The final thing is packaging. We anticipate being reminded of just how much more environmentally friendly cans are versus bottles and abandoning single use kegs and starting to actually get some meaningful data for decisions,” says Tim.  

However, the reasons for the zero carbon push go beyond the purely environmental.  

"Any beers that we have produced that have environmental aspects to them people have absolutely rushed towards them.  

“So as much as we are doing this for the right reasons, the simple reality is that we're also doing it because it's what our customers want.” 

Jess Manley, operations director at The Yan boutique hotel and bistro in Broadrayne, near Grasmere, believes the business is already carbon neutral. 

The Yan uses a 100kwh biomass boiler which provides its heating and hot water via a district heating system, a renewable electricity system which is 100 per cent powered by hydroelectricity. It also uses solar panels to power its staff accommodation. 

"If we're going to run this kind of operation, then we have to do it in a sustainable way so that it's there for the future, it's there for our kids and it's there for everybody to enjoy,” she says.  

The Yan keeps a keen eye on its supply chain, using local produce and suppliers to put together seasonal menus and growing as much of its own fruit and veg as possible. 

The menu also has a pre-ordering system which cuts down on waste food and The Yan has worked with low carbon innovation research and development project  Eco-I North West and University of Cumbria to calculate the carbon footprint of different dishes.  

Guests can use a QR code to access a ‘Mindful Menu’ with information about the footprint of their meal. 

The two organisations are in the process of carrying out analysis to see if all Jess and the team’s efforts are making it a net zero business. A copy of the emissions report and further information is available at www.zerocarboncumbria.co.uk