LONDON.- The British royal family seeks to reduce its carbon footprint by electrifying its fleet of vehicles, installing solar panels on its castles or using sustainable fuel for its helicopters, the company announced on Wednesday. Buckingham Palace.
Before becoming king, Carlos III He had already demonstrated his interest in ecology and, for example, had adapted his 1970 Aston Martin DB6 to run on biofuel.
Now the throne wants to extend this type of initiative to the residences and means of transport used by the royal family.
In its 2023-24 annual spending report, the monarchy outlines plans to retrofit its Bentley limousines to biofuel from next year, electrify its car fleet in the long term and switch to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as soon as possible in its helicopters.
In addition, royal properties in London will be connected to district heating networks and equipped with heat pumps in the coming years.
The decision
On this “path to carbon neutrality”, Windsor Castle has already installed solar panels on its roofs.
These projects, all launched between 2023 and 2024, are due to be accelerated next year, the royal family said in a statement.
The report also shows that profits from royal land and property hit a record £1.1 billion (about $1.42 billion) last year, more than double the figure for the previous year.
This increase is due in particular to the boom in wind farms across the United Kingdom.
The royal estate also includes a large part of the British seabed, which means that the Crown can grant authorisations to build wind farms at sea.
Profits from the Crown Estate are channelled into the British public coffers in exchange for an annual allocation which finances staff salaries, the upkeep of palaces, official trips and royal receptions.
Source: AFP
