County Durham’s first Climate Emergency Exhibition took place last week.

As Durham County Council plans for a carbon neutral future, County Hall played host to its first Climate Emergency Expo to showcase projects, services and technologies from across the region that are working to tackle climate change.

The council was joined by the likes of Emerald Biogas, the region’s first commercial food waste and anaerobic digestion facility, Eco2 Smart Schools, which helps schools to reduce energy bills, and Innovate UK which launched its rural electric vehicle charge point project that will see 100 electric vehicle charge points installed across rural parts of the county.

Visitors had the chance to trial out electric bikes and cars as well as get up close to the electronic refuse collectors of the future. Attendees were also able to find out more about walking and cycling routes, energy efficiency measures, recycling, woodland and peatland restoration projects and how to respond to flooding incidents.

Cllr John Clare, Durham County Council’s climate change champion, said: “A wide range of partners will have to be involved in reducing our carbon footprint, so it was great to see so many people turn out to the expo to learn more about the opportunities available.”

Attendees were also encouraged to sign up to the County Durham Single Use Plastic Pledge and become a climate champion.

More information is available at http://www.durham.gov.uk/climatechange