Boys in blue turn green

Power-hungry police stations in Tyne and Wear have switched to green energy.

The move has drastically cut emissions of carbon dioxide and is expected to save tens of thousands of pounds in fuel bills.

The Northumbria Police Authority says the decision to switch to so-called "green electricity" will help in the fight against global warming.

Five of the authority's largest buildings are now supplied with electricity from renewable resources, with the help of supplier npower.

They are also using generation techniques which produce only a fraction of the carbon dioxide of conventional power stations.

The buildings include Northumbria Police headquarters at Ponteland and stations in Newcastle, Sunderland and South Shields.

We have been given the opportunity to set an example and its an opportunity we are delighted to take Mick Henry, chairman of Northumbria Police Authority

The police authority says the change to green energy should mean a reduction in the amount of CO2 entering the atmosphere of around 3,000 tonnes a year - equivalent to the CO2 from 500 family homes.

The government says it wants 10% of the country's energy to be produced from renewable sources like wind and wave power, by 2010.

Mick Henry, chairman of the authority, said: "I believe it is important for large organisations to set a lead in reducing global warming.

"We have looked closely at the green electricity scheme offered by npower and it is clear that it gives us the chance to reduce the amount of pollution our energy use creates.

Lower emissions

"We all use far more electricity today than we did 20 years ago, thanks to our increasing reliance on high technology, and police forces are no exception.

"Northumbria Police's energy use has been steadily climbing during recent years, as officers make much greater use of computers and hi-tech communications.

"Npower's scheme has allowed us to do something to reverse carbon dioxide emissions and stimulate the market for environmentally-friendly energy.

"We have been given the opportunity to set an example and its an opportunity we are delighted to take."

Green electricity is generated from a variety of renewable or non-polluting resources including wind, wave, hydro-electric, solar or nuclear sources - none which produce CO2.

The current electricity bill for the six buildings is around £278,000 a year.