31 August 2007
Crawley has been named as the worst offender for carbon emissions in the South East, based on a table produced by British Gas which ranked towns by their carbon emissions per household. The Sussex town generates an average 5,820kg of carbon dioxide per household per year.
Nearby Brighton and Hove (4,905kg) and Portsmouth (4,675kg) were next in line in the list of carbon emission offenders in the region.
Energy expert Dr Steve Sorrell, senior fellow at the University of Sussex said: "The energy being wasted by households is a real concern. We need massive reductions on household usage if we are going to meet national targets on climate change."
Bad insulation and electricity appliances are two of the main reasons behind high energy wastage, he explained.
"The poor quality of housing stock is one of the biggest problems. A lot of homes don't have adequate insulation, so energy used on heat is simply wasted," he added.
Crawley Borough Council said it was "extremely surprised" by the statistics. A spokeswoman said it had always taken a proactive approach to reducing carbon emissions.