ESSEX County Council is forced to pay out more than £1million each year for its use of carbon dioxide, it has been revealed.

The authority is charged every year by the Government under the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme.

The introduction of part-night lighting across the county has helped reduce the total amount the council is forced to pay.

The council says switching lights off between midnight and 5am saves taxpayers £1.4million a year, which includes CRC charges it avoids paying.

But the council still paid out £1.04million in 2014/15 under the scheme, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions among major public and private organisations.

Derrick Louis, county councillor responsible for transformation, corporate and traded services, said: “We take energy reduction, which has a direct impact on the amount of CO2 we produce, very seriously.

"We are running a number of schemes to reduce our energy usage and CO2 emissions including energy management controls and energy efficient lighting upgrades in our buildings, and an energy efficient plant replacement at County Hall.

“As well as this, we are exploring proposals for generating energy from closed landfill sites and a pilot scheme to install photovoltaic cells (PV) on a number of our operational sites with a view to roll-out further, if successful.”

Organisations were charged £12 per tonne of CO2 from 2011/12, when the scheme was introduced, until 2013/14.

But the charge was increased to £16.40 per tonne last year. The change in rate means the county’s bill reduced only slightly in 2014/15, despite a major reduction in CO2 emissions.

It was charged £1.24million for using 103,170 tonnes in 2013/14, and £1.04million for 63,212 tonnes the following year.

Mr Louis said: “Part-night lighting reduces energy usage and CO2 emissions and will save Essex taxpayers approximately £1.4m per annum by the end of the current financial year.

“A number of pilot schemes are also being run to test and evaluate the use and benefits of LED street lighting.”