A Greener Salford – tackling the climate emergency

In Salford we have declared a climate emergency and want to galvanise local support to make a real difference.

We are working as part of the Greater Manchester Five-Year Environment Plan.

A five-minute video has been released to highlight our commitment to innovation and a challenging target of 2038 for carbon neutrality in the city.

Some of the key green projects are around sustainable energy infrastructure projects, anti-flooding schemes and active travel.

Here are a few of the green projects in Salford:

• 2,562 solar panels have been installed on 21 public buildings. This will generate 778,130 kwh of energy every year.
• Air source heat pump systems have been installed at 12 public buildings to replace previous heating systems that relied on fossil fuels to heat the building.
• Battery energy storage systems have been installed at four public sites. The system stores excess energy from solar panels and charges electricity from the national grid during cheaper off-peak periods at night and then redistributes this during the day.
• A 5,000 panel solar farm being built on land in Little Hulton will generate enough power for more than 430 homes each year
• A hydro weir in Charlestown will use the flow of the River Irwell to generate power for 200 homes a year
• £126million has been invested in green spaces, creating new country park and walking and cycling routes across the city
• 12 new electric vans are now being used in council areas such as recycling collection monitoring, fly-tipping investigation and enforcement; dog, animal and pest welfare and control
• 417 new affordable eco-homes are being built through our own housing company
• There are approximately 15km of off-road and on-road segregated cycle routes – along with more than 20km of shared footways and on-road markings for cyclists.
• The Kersal Wetlands storage basin reduces the risk of flooding for 1,400 homes and 500 local businesses. It can hold enough water to fill 268 swimming pools.

Climate change matters. Up to ten times more homes could be affected by surface water flooding if we do not act.