BLOG Building Resilient Services and Protecting Our Environment

Elise Cartmell, Scottish Water’s Zero Emissions General Manager, shares how Scottish Water is leading the way in biodiversity, energy efficiency, and climate action: 

As Scotland marks Climate Week, we’re excited to share the latest chapter in Scottish Water’s journey to net zero. Over the past year, our teams have been working harder than ever—not just to reduce carbon emissions, but to create a more resilient, biodiverse, and sustainable Scotland for generations to come.  
 
Five years ago, we published our Net Zero Emissions Routemap, which set out our path to emission-free water and waste water services. Our progress towards achieving that aim has been laid out in the publication of our latest annual update and we are proud to say that we remain on track. 
 

Restoring Nature, Protecting Water 

This year, we delivered our largest-ever peatland restoration and woodland creation programmes. Why does this matter? Not only are healthy peatlands and woodlands nature’s own carbon sinks, helping lock up those emissions that we can’t eliminate completely, but they also help to protect the source water quality in our reservoirs and boost biodiversity. In numbers, here’s what we’ve delivered: 

555 hectares of peatland restored—the equivalent of 793 football pitches! 

208 hectares of native woodland planted (oak, alder, hawthorn, rowan, birch), plus 95 hectares of natural woodland regeneration helping to restore Scotland’s landscapes —together, that’s half the size of Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park. 

Delivering Record Energy Efficiency Improvements 

This year we also delivered a record number of 50 energy efficiency projects – the most ever in a year –  helping to reduce energy consumption by 6.28GWh, lower operational costs and provide customers with better value for money. This has been achieved through schemes such as pump refurbishment and the installation of air source heat pumps and LED lighting. 

Powering Progress with Renewables

We’re also powering up our operations with clean energy from solar and hydro projects, providing our essential services to customers in a greener way while also reducing our reliance on grid electricity: 

16 new renewable schemes delivered, with a combined capacity of 6.42 GWh—enough to power 1,780 homes for a year. 

Our first solar and battery storage scheme at a water treatment works near Selkirk is now generating over a third of the site’s power needs. 

Supported the development of over 80 hydrogen projects, exploring innovative ways to use final effluent from our wastewater treatment works to generate clean hydrogen. 

Greener Fleets and Smarter Fuels 

We continued to transition our fleet towards zero emissions vehicles, adding 79 new electric vehicles (EVs) to the fleet this year and taking the total number of EVs including fleet vans and lease cars to 540.  

We also increased our use of hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO) for those vehicles that we aren’t able to transition to EV due to load and range restrictions, as well as expanding HVO use in our standby generators. 

Recognised Leadership 

We’re proud to be the first public organisation in Scotland to achieve PAS 2080 certification for carbon management in buildings and infrastructure - testament to our leadership and innovation in reducing emissions across our investment programme.  
 
This will be a key component of our net zero journey and we want to ensure that we reduce the associated carbon in each of our infrastructure projects from planning right through to delivery. 

The Numbers That Matter 

This year, we reduced our carbon emissions by 10,892 tonnes CO2e—that’s the same as 1,237 return flights from Edinburgh to Sydney. In total, our overall emissions carbon footprint dropped by 2% to 220,434 tonnes CO2e, keeping us on track to reach net zero by 2040. The reduction this year alone—4,546 tonnes CO2e—is equivalent to the annual energy use of 600 homes. 
 

Our Commitment: Leading by Example 

As a publicly owned utility, we believe that ambitious climate action is not only possible, but essential. By restoring peatlands, planting woodlands, advancing renewable energy, and adopting greener fleet solutions, we remain focused on not only reducing carbon but on serving our communities and helping create a flourishing Scotland. 

Find out more 

 For more detail on our progress and future plans, read the full annual update here: Net Zero Emissions Routemap - Scottish Water