Carbon Trust Certification

The achievement recognises our positive steps to reduce CO2 emissions by 6.7% over a two year period from 2014 to 2016. This has been achieved by a number of steps including:

• Investment in energy efficient LED lighting
• Fuel management software & internal speed limits on our commercial vehicles
• Increasing our travel by train, rather than by car
• Increased energy awareness leading to positive change
• Introduction of electric vehicles and charge points.

Darran Messem, managing director of Carbon Trust Certification adds:

"The Carbon Trust is delighted to certify the achievement made by the Canal & River Trust to further protect the environment by continuing to reduce their energy use and organisational carbon footprint. At a time when we are seeing tangible evidence of the impacts of climate change, it's good to see the 'Green Plan' delivering measurable results."

Reducing emissions one lock at a time

We are calling upon our customers to help us reduce the canal network's carbon footprint wherever possible. One example is our use of water. Gavin Beat, Green Plan developer explains:

"Around 65% of our CO2 emissions are from our use of electricity. Depending on the time of year and how much it has rained, between 20% and 33% of our total use of electricity is for pumping water around the canal network, for example at lock flights that would otherwise run dry. We work hard to minimise our need to pump water, but the reality is that this brings a large cost and environmental impact.

"Boaters help drive down our electricity use ‘one lock at a time' by sharing locks. A typical broad lock holds around 200,000 litres of water, so sharing with someone else wherever possible can save up to 400,000 litres of water each time the lock is filled and emptied. This is equivalent to over 2,000 bath tubs of water! Not only does this save precious water resources, but in areas where we rely on pumping stations this will also drastically reduce our energy demand."

The future

We are determined to improve further. We are working with the Carbon Trust to produce a Carbon Management Plan that will direct us from 2017-2022.

Follow our Green Plan news on twitter - @CRTGreenPlan