Monthly Archives: January 2012

‘2000 solar panels give brighter future to estate hit by the riots’

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Admin

5 January 2012: The Evening Standard has reported on how “Nearly 2,000 solar panels now line the roofs of the Pembury estate in Hackney – enough to provide electricity for three villages …The “photo voltaic” panels have been installed on 10 blocks, with the energy generated helping to cut bills for its tenants by as much as £150 a year.”

Due to the recent Government cuts in the level of subsidy for electricity generated by solar panels, Peabody has had to accelerate the installation process for these systems over the past month, as detailed here,  and have also raised their concerns to DECC over the change in the tariffs as proposed by Government.

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Monitoring the impact of London Plan Energy Policies

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Admin

January 2012: The regional spatial strategy for London – the London Plan 2011 – contains a number of key sustainable energy and carbon requirements which developers must comply with when submitting planning applications for new developments in London.  Chapter 5 of the London Plan specifically addresses London’s Response to Climate Change and sets out the following policy requirements:

  • Policy 5.2 –Minimising  carbon emissions – which sets out a range of CO2 emission targets  for new developments which must be achieved through a hierarchy of ‘Be lean: use less energy; Be clean: supply energy efficiently and Be green: use renewable energy‘
  • Policy 5.5 – Use Decentralised Energy Systems which amongst other issues requires boroughs to develop energy master plans for specific decentralised energy opportunities
  • Policy 5.7 – Renewable Energy – where major development proposals should provide a reduction in expected emissions through the use of on-site renewable energy generation, where feasible.

The GLA yesterday published the latest in a series of reports providing analysis of CO2 emissions saved in relation to new developments as a result of the implementation of the London Plan’s policies.

The analysis demonstrated that substantial projected CO2 savings were secured  through implementation of London Plan energy policies in 2010 (ie the the London policies will result in buildings – when completed – which will  be less carbon intensive than requirements otherwise set out in national building regulations). Specifically:

  • average CO2 savings of 33 per cent per development over and above a baseline of a 2006 Building Regulations Part L compliant development including unregulated energy
  • a reduction of approximately 50 per cent in regulated CO2 emissions beyond the minimum requirements of 2006 Building Regulations (excluding unregulated energy)
  • The largest CO2 reductions were due to energy efficiency (EE) and combined heat and power (CHP), with a smaller saving due to renewable energy

Read the full report here. Previous London Plan energy monitoring analysis can be seen here and here.

* ‘Unregulated energy’ relates to those areas not covered by Part L of the building regulations (which is concerned with energy and emissions). These include energy used by appliances, lifts, cooking etc.

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Major London Renewable Energy Study Published

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Admin

January 2012: As part of a series of DECC-funded regional renewable energy (RE) assessments, the GLA have just published a detailed study on the potential for renewable and low carbon energy in Greater London.

The report sets out results using DECC’s standardised renewable energy assessment methodology but has also developed second  tailored methodology to take into account the highly urbanised nature of  London, looking at opportunities to reduce CO2 emissions utilising low-carbon decentralised energy (DE) systems such as gas-fired combined heat and power (CHP) and the use of waste heat from power stations. The tailored methodology also gives significantly greater estimates of the technical potential for certain types of RE than the DECC methodology, such as commercial scale wind turbines and photovoltaics but – importantly – the greater use of DE displaces “80% of the thermal microgeneration RE sources… based on the assumption that policies which strongly favour DE over other energy sources are required to reach high levels of heat network deployment.”

The results of this study suggest that:

  • Under the DECC methodology, up to 12% and 57% of London’s consumption of electricity and heating respectively can technically be met by RE sources from within Greater London
  • However the tailored methodology- for reasons detailed above –  estimates RE sources can technically supply up to 34% and 49% of electricity and heating respectively (the lower RE heating figure arising out the increased use of low carbon DE heat displacing some RE heating technologies in the ‘tailored’ methodology).
  • The combined technical potential for RE and DE is up to 53% and 44% of London’s consumption of electricity and heating respectively.
  • The technical potential of DE using large-scale heat networks is 20% of London’s energy supply
  • It is estimated that around 450MW of waste heat capacity is available from existing power stations and energy from waste (EfW) plants in the London area

The London Decentralised Energy Capacity Study can be downloaded here and comprises three reports:

  • Phase 1: Technical Assessment
  • Phase 2: Deployment Potential
  • Phase 3: Roadmap to Deployment

Some significant datasets lie behind the study and can be downloaded from the London Datastore here.

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Towards a District Energy Manual for London

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Admin

January 2012: The Mayor has issued a discussion paper requesting comments around detailed design guidelines for district energy projects in London. The ‘District Energy Manual for London‘  will outline how such schemes are procured and designed and also how heat networks can grow and interconnect over time into an “integrated, efficient, secure and low carbon district energy network serving the whole of London.” It is hoped that the manual  will become the standard reference for developers and heat network designers and that it will underpin energy masterplans and planning agreements across London where heat networks are envisaged.

The discussion document outlines the scope, intention and topics considered for the future London District Energy Manual and seeks comments in relation:

  • Suggested design parameters for heat networks
  • Suitable heat network operating temperatures
  • The use of Heat Interface Units (HIUs)
  • How to plan for future district heating networks; and also
  • Best practice examples of district energy systems

The deadline for comments  is 3 February 2012 with a final version of the manual planned for publication towards the end of 2012.

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