Widespread use of electronic council services could help meet the government‘s carbon emissions targets.

Processing transactions online rather than on paper, and reducing the number of people driving to local authority offices, could save up to 14,457 tonnes of CO2 per year, according to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and Sunderland City Council.

“The analysis debunks the received wisdom that increases in IT server capacity negate any CO2 savings,” said DCLG minister Parmjit Dhanda.

The report uses data from Sunderland City Council which suggests boosting take-up of e-services in five key areas could cut carbon by 28 per cent, or 80,000kg per year.

When the findings are extrapolated across the country, the potential saving is more than 14,000 tonnes of carbon annually, says the report.

And, if anything, the estimates are conservative, it says. For example, the figures assume a 50 per cent rate of online school applications, but last year in Hackney more than four out of five applications were electronic.

Improved take-up of e-services would help meet the target to reduce UK carbon emissions by at least 60 per cent by 2050, said Dhanda.

“E-service success is critical to the achievement of the government’s climate change objectives,” he said.