Greater Manchester residents are being asked to vote on how they may want to heat their homes in future with the launch of a new online tool.
As part of Greater Manchester’s plans to reach carbon neutrality by 2038, zerocarbon.vote asks residents what low carbon heating they’d prefer in their homes. As part of the city regions contribution to tackling climate change, major changes will need to be made to the way people in Greater Manchester heat their homes.
Greater Manchester residents are being urged to get involved in zerocarbon.vote, an online consultation tool where residents, before the end of March can tell their local council how they would want to heat their home.
It takes less than five minutes to complete the survey, with only a couple of questions. There’s no sign up required and any information provided is anonymous, and not provided to any third parties. Responses will be used to help Greater Manchester’s transition to becoming a carbon neutral city region.
zerocarbon.vote is a national survey run by the Energy Systems Catapult, an independent organisation which has been established to accelerate the transformation of the UK’s energy system and capture the opportunities of clean growth. The results will help inform Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and the 10 local councils ongoing work to support the transition to a low carbon city region and help make the case for the Government and private funding needed to help deliver it.
The consultation forms part of the Greater Manchester Local Energy Market project which sets out ambitious plans to revolutionise the use and distribution of energy across the Greater Manchester region, supporting a low carbon future with the goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2038. It’s the first local energy market project of this scale.
Richard Halsey, Capabilities Director at the Energy Systems Catapult said:
“Forward-thinking places like Greater Manchester recognise there’s a need to plan for their future local energy system to get to net zero. To do this well it’s important to engage with the local community, to inform local area energy plan making and to help people know what to prepare for. People need to be aware and informed to prepare their homes in the right way at the right time to deliver on our net zero commitments. zerocarbon.vote is a quick and easy way to help people engage in the steps needed decarbonise their homes and local area.”
Cllr Neil Emmott, GMCAs green city region lead said:
“It’s widely recognised that we must transition away from using fossil fuels, which contribute to climate change through carbon emissions, to cleaner alternatives for heating our homes.”
“Reaching the goal of becoming a carbon neutral city region by 2038 is going to require tremendous changes over the years ahead.”
“To be successful we all need to work together. Understanding what sort of changes Greater Manchester residents want to see in how they heat their homes will help inform our plans and, crucially, give us an evidence base as we seek the funding to deliver them. So, we’d encourage people to take part in this vote.”
All Greater Manchester residents can visit www.zerocarbon.vote to have their say. The consultation will be open until 31st March.
