Energy can be generated through renewable sources such as wind, sun and water, or through sources that once they are used cannot be replaced. Most energy we need for our everyday lives comes from fossil fuels, of which a dwindling supply is available, thus the prices and the security of source are increasingly uncertain.

In addition, the principal cause of climate change is burning fossil fuels to create energy, hence conservation of energy and alternative energy generation are being promoted by the Council.

Have a look at Your Runnymede to see what you can do to contribute to renewable energy and energy conservation measures in the Borough.

Runnymede objectives and indicators

Runnymede's sustainability objective is to increase energy efficiency, and the proportion of energy generated from renewable sources in the region.

The domestic energy use per household in Runnymede is 60.15 GJoules. The Council's actions in promoting energy efficiency have resulted in a 26.8% improvement on the 1996 energy efficiency levels compared to 14.7% improvement on average for the UK. This strong performance is also reflected in an average SAP rating for the Council owned dwellings of 66.2 against a 63 target and a 57.2 average performance for Surrey.

Runnymede actions

The Council contributes to this objective through an environment policy, through ensuring planning policies in the new Local Development Framework cover sustainable energy issues and through ensuring that residents are well informed about opportunities open to them to conserve energy and save money.

Related Organisations

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are in the process of developing the new Buildings Regs part L that will substantially affect the energy conservation standard required of new development.

The Building Reasearch Establishment has developed a certification method for residental and commercial developments that ensures buildings have low energy useage both in construction and final use.