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New recycling methods, more electricity usage and reports of water pollution in the island going up by a third since 2018 - those are some of the findings in a Government report analysing how sustainable it was in 2020.
The report, part of the States Accounts, explores the Government’s current sustainability performance across all its departments, in a year which saw the island declare a climate emergency and set out a Sustainable Transport Policy.
Express has broken down some of the key findings below…
Pictured: Government energy spend was down on 2019.
In 2020, the Government used up 39.5m kWh of electricity, 3.3m litres of heating oil, 0.5m litres of vehicle fuel, and 5.3m kWh of gas.
Compared to 2019, electricity saw a 1.1m increase in kWh usage, and gas saw a 0.8m increase in kWh usage.
On the other hand, heating oil usage saw a reduction 0.1m litres, and fleet vehicle fuel stayed at 0.5m litres of fuel.
The total expenditure was £9.3m, a £0.6m increase on the previous year, but not hitting 2018’s height of £10.8m.
Incidents involving water pollution have gone up in Jersey by over a third since 2018.
The Government responded to 129 incidents of water pollution over the past year, up on 95 in 2018 and 110 in 2019.
Pictured: water pollution incidents
On specific causes, it was explained that “oil incidents make up approximately a third of the incidents, although other types of pollution include sewage, chemical, construction, agricultural and contaminated land.”
Pictured: The Government's water supply data includes all public toilets, showers and schools, plus the airport, hospital and all other Government of Jersey activities.
2020’s water consumption was an increase on 2019 by 26m litres, with the supply costing £0.2 more as well, at £2.2m.
The report notes that transport is currently one of Jersey’s largest greenhouse gas sectors, with 32% of emissions coming from road transport alone.
In 2020, 7% of the Government’s owned fleet of vehicles - internally leased to departments by Jersey Fleet Management - are electric/hybrid vehicles. The report states that this figure is to rise “exponentially as vehicle availability increases and costs decrease.”
It also states that fleet fuel usage has continued to fall from 2019, though the numbers of vehicles in the fleet have grown - however, according to figures later in the report, equivalent emissions from the fleet are at 1.6 ktCO2e, 0.2 up on 2019.
In August 2020, a six-month trial was established to trial biodiesel across nine Government owned commercial vehicles, using the product RD100 - the results of this will inform the upcoming ‘Long Term Climate Action Plan.’
Due to covid restrictions, plane travel fell dramatically, with total air travel in 2020 at 2.1 million kilometres, a third of usual annual activity.
This left total emissions at 0.5 kt CO2e, down from 2.6 kt CO2e in the previous year.
Renewable technology is included in designs for major projects, with the report citing the air source heat pumps LED lighting, and 200 solar panels included in the new Les Quennevais School.
Pictured: There are currently a number of small scale solar projects at schools.
There are also tests for the commercial aspects of moving to sustainable energy use - a number of small-scale solar projects at schools are currently ongoing where the JEC pay a license fee to the Government for the rights to mount the equipment on the site.
The report adds that: “whilst this doesn’t currently cover the cost of energy used it proves the principle and it is the intention that all government premises when being refurbished, redeveloped or procured will include the facility for generation of renewable energy to be used to offset running costs and charge electric vehicles.”
Electrical sub stations and infrastructure is also planned to support a change to grid electricity and heat pumps for further building work.
Investigation and trials by the Infrastructure, Housing and Environment Department found that they could recycle waste glass and tarmac as a sublease grade aggregate, and is now a new process to the island.
Pictured: The Government say that a new printing process has cut down on 367,000 A4 sheets being printed.
Equally, the report highlighted the States Assembly’s support for a ban on single use carrier bags.
On the future of this policy, it noted that “legislation will be presented in 2021 and consultation contributing to the policy development identified strong support for future action to remove other avoidable single use items such as disposable drink cups and takeaway food containers from Jersey’s supply chain.”
The Government credit the process of pull printing - where someone must go to the printer and release a print from machines - for reducing their paper waste in 2020.
Indeed, the report states that “in 2020, a total of 367,000 A4 sheets were not printed as a result of the pull print function, that equates to saving of 4.5 trees and 1,653kgs CO2.”
The report lists a number of initiatives around the island’s biodiversity created in 2020, including:
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