Wednesday 10 November 2021
 'Decarbonising Transport in Devon' film aims to inspire
Today is 'transport' day at the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26). It's been chosen as a priority theme for the conference, and we've produced a short film that describes how we and our partners are helping to decarbonise transport in Devon, and how we're encouraging active travel.
‘Decarbonising Devon’ is one of a series of films telling regional stories that showcase examples of sustainable action to reduce carbon.
This video celebrates the hard work of Devon’s transport sector to decarbonise the county's transport, including projects to encourage cycling and active travel, multi-use trails, improvements to bus and train services and the roll-out of EV charging points.
You can watch the video on our website.
 We're leading the way with a new approach to carbon-reduction in highway maintenance
We've developed a 'carbon calculator' to work out the impact of our roadworks on the environment and reduce it.
It involves reviewing how we repair and build roads - the materials we use, how they’re produced, how they’re used, how they’re applied, the labour required, the time it takes and how long they last - so we can estimate what the carbon impact is of using a certain material, to do a certain job, in a particular location. Then we can work out how to do it with less impact on the environment.
It’s changing the way road maintenance is carried out in Devon - putting carbon-reduction at the heart of our design, alongside performance and cost.
You can read the full story on our website, including examples of how the approach has changed our road resurfacing and winter gritting.
 Green makeover for our buildings
Plans to give several of our key buildings a low-carbon, green makeover have been unveiled.
The £3.3 million ‘retrofit’ scheme will include Great Moor House in Exeter, Taw View in Barnstaple, Abbey Rise in Tavistock and St Michael’s in Honiton.
To cut carbon emissions and reduce energy use, the buildings’ insulation will be improved and solar panels and air source heat pumps will be installed along with mechanical ventilation that recovers heat and LED lighting.
Work has already started on a fifth building, Lucombe House at County Hall in Exeter, as part of a planned refurbishment.
It's being part-funded with £2.1 million from the government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, and we will also contribute £1.1 million.
Work on retro-fitting the buildings will start this month and be completed in 2022.
 Devon Climate Emergency partners lead the charge
A digital map displaying the 403 Electric Vehicle (EV) charging bays currently being delivered by Devon’s councils is now available on the Devon Climate Emergency (DCE) website.
The bays listed include both on street and off-street carpark-based facilities across the county being delivered by DCE partners by December 2022
The icons on the map are colour-coded depending on the operational status of each facility and location. By clicking on an icon, it will also reveal when it is due to be activated if it is not already in service.
The map will be frequently updated as local councils plan and install more charge points. For a definitive map of all electric vehicle charging bays in Devon and the UK, use a dedicated charge point mapping service like Zap Map.
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