The debate on Lincoln’s carbon emissions has sparked renewed interest with climate change threatening the way we live.
With the City of Lincoln Council producing 2,062 tonnes of GHG emissions in 2010/11 and the city of Lincoln emitting in excess of half a million tonnes, the Full Council meeting on September 27 presented the ideal platform to unveil measures taken and campaigns in place to tackle the city’s CO2 levels.
Councillor Fay Smith, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services and Public Protection, discussed her four-page report in a bid to highlight the importance of climate change and to encourage residents of Lincoln to cut their carbon emissions.
Councillor Fay Smith
“When we took back control we thought we needed to re-focus,” Labour Councillor Smith said.
“We decided that we wanted to re-emphasise Lincoln’s carbon footprint. We’ve always been working towards that since the Kyoto [Protocol] in 1997.”
Smith discussed the steps that have reduced Lincoln’s carbon footprint.
So far these include the installation of LED lighting at Broadgate and Lucy Tower St car parks, solar thermal hot water, low-carbon design principles, and the reduction of natural resources such as electricity and gas as well as water, transport and waste.
Further energy reduction projects have already been put in place.
These consist of the extension of the green waste collection service to the rest of the city, supporting the growth of electric cars by working in conjunction with Midlands Plugged in Places, working together with Anglican Water to save water consumption and repair faults, and investigating the possibility of solar and wind powered lighting at Tentercroft car park.
The real-life problems of fuel poverty, coastal flooding, and the consumption of scarce resources such as fossil fuels means the biggest challenge the council face is solving the issue of Lincoln’s carbon footprint in a way that delivers improved changes for our environment.
“I know there are other greenhouse gases, but the one people focus on is carbon,” Smith said.
“We want to explore what’s happening and then see how we can all work together for the benefit of everybody. The end result is that we need to reduce Lincoln’s carbon emissions; everybody needs to reduce carbon emissions.”
Lincoln Green
Smith also introduced a new campaign, Lincoln Green. Launching in October, any new initiatives undertaken by the council to cut CO2 levels will fall under this programme.
The first one to take place will feature the council’s car parks which, will include leaflets encouraging residents to cut their consumption as well as a competition.
Funding is achieved through various schemes enabling the city to borrow money in interest free loans. These are then repaid back over three to five years through the energy savings before Lincoln starts to make a profit, which in turn presents the opportunity for further monetary and environmental benefits.
Reducing Lincoln’s carbon emissions is not a quick fix solution, but the City of Lincoln Council is pushing the importance of climate change with the introduction of different schemes in place.
Council leader Ric Metcalfe said, “I don’t think we can go on consuming at the same rate as we have been doing.
“I think that we have all got to be that little bit more frugal and thoughtful about our consumption because I think we owe it to our children and grandchildren to make sure that we haven’t depleted the resources.”
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The Game, an icon in the 21st century rap music business, will be bringing his array of hits to Lincoln Engine Shed for his first UK shows in over five years this December.
Jayceon Terrell Taylor is better known as The Game, and the 42-year-old Compton-born rapper soared to fame in the early 2000s as an up-and-coming star on Dr Dre’s Aftermath Records label – selling millions of album copies throughout his illustrious career.
His debut album The Documentary boasted some of hip-hop’s biggest ever hits, including How We Do and Hate It Or Love It featuring fellow rap icon 50 Cent.
His lyrical soul-searching through tough upbringings has made him a favourite in the genre, and he is still going strong to this day – announcing a tour of the UK and Ireland to accompany his new album Drillmatic – Mind vs. Heart.
The tour will be The Game’s first in the United Kingdom for over five years, and it will see one of rap music’s most iconic names perform right here in Lincoln on December 5 – as he brings the energy to the Engine Shed.
Tickets will cost £33 and go on sale via the Engine Shed website at 10am on Monday, August 22. Given the subject matter of The Game’s songs, the show is unsurprisingly an over-18s event.
The Grammy winning rapper was part of a major talking point earlier in 2022, when his lead single Eazy contained a candid verse by Kanye West, in which he discussed his public divorce with Kim Kardashian.
His tenth studio album, Drillmatic – Mind vs. Heart, was released on August 12 and contained collaborations from major artists including Drake, Rick Ross, Chris Brown and the aforementioned Kanye West.
A lying lorry driver who smuggled £3 million worth of heroin into the UK was caught out when he put a receipt for a bottle of whisky next to his hidden load of the Class A drug.
Lithuanian national Edmundas Bruzas, 56, of Arklow, County Wicklow in Ireland, has been jailed for over 12 years.
He said he knew nothing about the 60 tape-wrapped blocks of heroin in his cab when questioned by Border Force officers at the Port of Immingham on March 25, 2022, having arrived from Rotterdam.
Bruzas said he was carrying a load of strawberries for delivery to Ireland but that he was not present when the cargo was loaded.
He declared 200 cigarettes and a bottle of Grant’s Triple Wood Whisky he bought on an outbound ferry before collecting the strawberries.
Searching the heavy goods vehicle, Border Force officers noticed something wrong with part of the refrigeration unit and discovered the blocks of heroin weighing 30 kilos and next to them seven carrier bags in a concealed area.
Border Force referred the find to the National Crime Agency and an investigation was launched.
The heroin laid out. | Photo: National Crime Agency
In custody, Bruzas said he knew nothing about the drugs and answered questions in two separate interviews.
He admitted buying the alcohol and said he didn’t know what he’d done with the receipt. But when it was put to him that officers had found the receipt – showing his credit card details – for the whisky in a carrier bag next to the heroin he refused to answer any more questions.
Officers also discovered three mobile phones, a SIM card and a post-it note bearing the question: “Are Customs doing a check on you?”
Today (August 15), at Grimsby Crown Court Bruzas admitted smuggling the heroin and was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison.
Drugs concealment. | Photo: National Crime Agency
NCA operations manager Carl Barrass said: “It was impossible for Bruzas not to know his cab had heroin in it. And when he realised we’d found his credit card receipt next to the drugs he had no option but to admit his guilt.
“Bruzas’s conviction removes a drugs smuggler from an organised crime group which has also lost a significant amount of money that would have been ploughed back into further offending.
“With partners such as Border Force and UK policing, the NCA leads the UK’s fight against Class A drugs which cause huge damage to our communities.”
Murdo Macmillan, Director of Border Force North, said: “These drugs destined for the UK would have fuelled addiction, violence and exploitation.
“This seizure and others like it, send a clear message to anyone who is considering smuggling illegal drugs into the country that we remain committed and prepared to tackle drug supply chains.
“The tireless professional efforts of Border Force officers prevent criminals like Edmundas Bruzas from smuggling drugs through the border. With our close working relationship with the NCA, we continue to detect and break supply chains.”
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