I just got back from the Windy City... (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

I just got back from the Windy City...

12:17pm Friday 16th March 2007

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Bradford may not have too much in common with Chicago.
There are not too many skyscrapers (yet) or a lake spreading into the heart of the city (yet) but the wind doesn't half blow.

Turn any corner of a city centre canyon and you are invariably hit by a strong breeze. Walking into Hall Ings around the old Gala casino often puts me in the face of another westerly bearing down from the Pennines.

And up on the buildings around, the Union Flags are often whipping at their poles ready to be carried nearly to the Humber by the seeming gales.

But am I disheartened by this force of nature? Not in the least. It's invigorating and refreshing to have all this fresh air rushing around us - who needs to go to Flamborough Head to have a bracing time.

And what's more you have to admire all that power. The atmospheric pressure that the weather pushes across the city from the Atlantic is full of energy and a free resource just waiting to be tapped.

Those flags straining at their lanyards are a big clue to what could be done to make Bradford a powerhouse.

With all the wise words this week in the published Climate Change Bill about carbon neutral homes, why not aim higher and start thinking about a carbon neutral city. After all, if we are to achieve a 26-32 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2020 across the UK, big changes will have to be made.

According to Bradford Council every resident of the district produces 2.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide from domestic use alone - and then there is another 6.5 tonnes per inhabitant produced by road transport, industry and farming. So with nearly half a million residents that adds up to more than six million tonnes of Co2 spewed into the atmosphere by the district every year.

That is a lot of carbon to cut so how could we do it?

Energy efficiency and energy generation are the answers but lagging roofs, insulating cavity walls and installing solar panels and wind turbines does not come cheap. Fortunately, the Council is due a windfall from its share of the sale of Leeds-Bradford Airport and what better way to offset the rise in flights that is forecast than to cut the emissions of the city.

As much as £70 million could buy a lot of energy-efficient light bulbs, insulate a lot of homes and replace a lot of old inefficient boilers for pensioners, those on benefits and others who cannot afford to do it themselves. And then there is putting up windmills on all the high buildings of this Windy City!

In future weeks, I will be looking at what the city and its citizens can do to reduce their carbon footprint. If you have any ideas, then get in touch, I would like to incorporate them into the Carbon Neutral Bradford campaign.