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News
Energy and Climate Questions to the Mayor
October 2011: This month the Mayor answered London Assembly questions in relation to: a Decent Homes successor standard; the level of interest in the London Energy Efficiency Fund; GLA buildings Energy reduction targets; Green Deal finance and Green Deal lobbying; Fuel Poverty; the Mayor’s support to the Warm Homes Amendment; Funding of waste to energy projects and additional detail on waste to energy schemes and three questions on AD: Anaerobic Digesters (1), Anaerobic Digesters (2) and Anaerobic Digesters (3)
Previous questions to the Mayor can be found here.
Giant Belvedere incinerator enters operational phase
19 October 2011: EDIE news article on the new waste to energy plant in Bexley: “One of Europe’s biggest energy recovery plants, the Belvedere incinerator, is about undergo detailed assessment and performance trials before it officially opens in 2013.” Read full article on link above. Further information on the scheme can be read in a briefing note prepared following a visit to the site by local councillors.
A New Declaration for Councils on Climate Change
October 2011: The Local Government (LG) Group has recently consulted with councils on establishing a revised version of the ‘Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change’. The original declaration was set out in 2000, with local authority signatories pledging action to reduce carbon emissions. As part of the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Local Government Group and DECC, it has been agreed that a new Nottingham Declaration Board, New Declaration document and accompanying Action Plan will be established to enable councils to reduce carbon emissions at the local level. There were over 300 signatories to the original declaration across the country including most London councils.
Mayor overturns Merton refusal to allow development of new AD scheme
October 2011: Following Merton Council’s planning application refusal , the Mayor has today approved waste management firm Sita’s plans for an anaerobic digestion and material recycling facility in Mitcham. Sita can now build an anaerobic digestion plant handling 40,000t of waste per year, down from the original scheme of 100,000t of waste. It will deliver between 1.1 and 1.7 megawatts of electricity, enough to power the site and export around 8 GWh (gigawatt hours) of electricity per year – equivalent to powering around 2,000 homes – exporting around 6.2 GWh of power to the grid per year.
The detailed planning report on the Sita application can be accessed via the Merton’s Planning Application’s Committee meeting of 8 September 2011. The original energy statement for the development, an updated energy statement responding to queries raised by the GLA, and a district heating study for the immediate area around the anaerobic digestion plan in Merton are all available to download from the Merton’s planning website here [word search for ‘energy’ to quickly locate all three documents].
Some additional useful information is provided in articles at the Wimbledon Guardian and at letsrecycle.com
Guide to Funding Low Carbon Projects for Local Authorities
18 October 2o11: New Energy Saving Trust (EST) guide outlining different sources of funding to support the development of low carbon activities, specifically energy efficiency and renewable energy retrofit measures for council-owned buildings and for the wider housing stock of all tenures, and for district energy/combined heat and power schemes.
Posted in Library, News
Tagged Energy Saving Trust, Funding, Housing, Local Authorities
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Councils reduce levels of street lighting…
17 October 2011: Daily Telegraph article suggesting that “almost three quarters of councils have already reduced street lighting in their area, or are considering doing so.” Read the full article here.
Further information on street lighting initiatives underway in London can be viewed here.
National Grid’s London power tunnels project
17 October 2011: “Deep beneath the busy streets of north London, one of the largest engineering projects that the capital has seen in the last 50 years has reached a major milestone…”. Read the full article from The Engineer here.
Further information on this major London energy infrastructure project can be read on this previous post.
Councils to kickstart Green Deal revolution
17 October 2011: New local authority-backed financing model aims to scale up Green Deal programme. Read the full Business Green article here.
“Energy Retrofit Will Save Billions”
14 October 2011: Speaking at the CBI London Annual Dinner, the Mayor laid out the economic and environmental opportunities for private sector businesses if they commit to retrofitting their premises and invest in retrofitting goods and services. The news release states that the “Mayor has funded RE:NEW, a homes energy efficiency programme which is currently retrofitting 55,000 homes across the capital by May 2012. In addition, his RE:FIT programme is set to help hundreds of public sector buildings retrofit their premises using a hassle-free template that guarantees money-back on the capital investment from predicted energy savings. The Mayor has also diverted public money into the London Green Fund which is leveraging in hundreds of millions in private sector money to provide cheap loans for public organisations enabling them to access upfront money for retrofitting. The 42 city buildings that trialled RE:FIT saw savings of up to 40 per cent in energy usage and collectively are saving the city one million pounds a year off energy bills.”
Read the full news release here.
Survey finds that 99% of councils say using sustainable energy would help reduce their energy costs
October 2011: The authors of some valuable new research have outlined in the following article the huge potential for councils to link efforts to combat climate change with the need to kick-start economic growth and create decent employment. The new green team: Local government, sustainable energy, jobs and skills was launched last week, produced by the Association for Public Service Excellence (Apse) for Unison.
The report presents a survey of officers and elected members in councils across the UK and found that a hugely positive attitude towards sustainable energy projects exists in local government.
An overwhelming 99% of respondents said this would reduce their energy costs and 94% think there is an urgent need for such projects. And 82% believe the public in their area would be supportive of a high profile emphasis on sustainability and jobs growth through renewable energy and energy efficiency schemes.
There are a number of all too real obstacles to achieving the full potential of sustainable energy at present however. For a start, the majority of respondents do not believe sufficient skills exist to respond to sustainable energy opportunities – and only 12% think the national skills development programme is moving rapidly enough to equip people to meet green economy opportunities.
Local government leadership is also crucial. A total of 79% of survey respondents believe councils should have a direct delivery as well as a facilitation role in sustainable energy projects.
LEEF Drop In Session
October 2011: The London Energy Efficiency Fund (LEEF) is holding a drop in session at the offices of Arup (8 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 4BJ) between 12-4pm on 9 November where potential projects can meet the team for an informal session. A LEEF pre-application spreadsheet has also been posted online which will help start the process to determine whether a project is eligible for LEEF and to provide any indicative funding terms. The spreadsheet also lists a number of the energy solutions that are applicable for funding, including energy metering systems, efficient lighting installations, insulation, and also decentralised energy systems such as biomass boilers, CHP and photovoltaics.