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Tag Archives: Climate Adaptation
Risks of Climate Change to the London Economy
June 2014: Interesting to note that the London Assembly Economic Committee are to hold an evidence session on 24 June 2014 at City Hall on ‘Risks of Climate Change to the London Economy’.
The meeting is to take place at 10.00am in Committee Room 5 . This is the first meeting for the Economy Committee’s new investigation into the resilience of London’s economy to the projected impacts of climate change on the city. A briefing paper drafted for members of the committee can be downloaded here.
The proposed terms of reference for the Committee’s investigation are:
- To map the likely effects of climate change on the London Economy; identifying the sectors most at risk and the likely effects on jobs and prosperity;
- To establish best practice amongst the business community, in terms of risk assessment and adaptation strategies; and
- To make recommendations addressing the risks from climate change to the London economy to the London Enterprise Panel and the Mayor, and potentially other representatives of London Government where appropriate.
Guests include:
- Nick Beecroft, Lloyd’s of London
- Daniel Dowling, PricewaterhouseCoopers
- Professor Samuel Fankhauser, Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment
- Michelle Hubert, Confederation of British Industry
- Professor Christopher Rapley CBE, London Climate Change Partnership
The Mayor has previously stated that TfL has extreme weather resilience action plans for each business area. London’s 2011 Climate Change Adaptation Strategy can be viewed here.
“London urged to prepare for killer heatwaves that could melt roads”
June 2014: The Evening Standard reports that “Heatwaves that could kill hundreds of people and melt roads are expected to hit the UK every other year within the next few decades, experts warned today. The Met Office urged London’s authorities to plan for the conditions.”
The report follows an evidence session at City Hall at the London Assembly Environment Committee asking ‘Can London cope with severe weather events in the future?‘ where experts from Committee on Climate Change the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, the Met Office, and the Environment Agency gave evidence to the Committee – all of which can be viewed here.
Rethinking Green Infrastructure
May 2014: A new Arup study Cities Alive – rethinking green infrastructure – “shows how the creation of a linked ‘city ecosystem’ that encompasses parks and open spaces; urban trees, streets, squares; woodland and waterways can help create healthier, safer and more prosperous cities. To realise this vision, green infrastructure has to now take a more influential role in the planning and design of cities and urban environments.”
A number of London green infrastructure initiatives are touched on including:
- The new Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park; which forms part of,
- Plans for an All London Green Grid
- The High Line for London competition which encouraged ideas for new green infrastructure in London
- The New London Landscape project
- The Mayor of London’s 100 Pocket Parks project (further details on GLA press release and on the Project Dirt website
- the Bankside Urban Forest
- The Greater London i-Tree project led by the Forestry Commission and the Greater London Authority, to be launched in 2014, undertakng an assessment of London’s urban forests.
The report also looks at how green infrastructure can help cities adapt to increasing temperatures as a result of climate change. All in all an interesting read!
Heatwave Plan for England
14 May 2014: A new Heatwave Plan for England has been published today by the Public Health England. With respect to London, the Plan mentions:
- Extreme temperatures on the London Underground network could lead to a range of health and safety challenges.London Underground network operations monitor Met Office weather forecasts, and if temperatures are forecast not to fall below 24°C for three days running they will get ready to implement plans to deploy hot weather notices and bottled water supply, as well as measures to prevent track buckling.
- On a critical issue for London which is air pollution, the Plan states that – smogs typically accompany heatwaves as these often occur during periods of limited dispersion and /or easterly continental air masses arriving in the UK. As a result pollutants are less well spread or added to a higher background concentration which can lead to high concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter. Heatwave conditions often lead to increased ozone levels following interactions of other pollutants with sunlight.
The Heatwave Plan also mentions a number factors which are likely to put increasing pressure on the supply of electricity – something which is likely to become more important as climate change impacts grow:
- At a time when energy companies traditionally maintain power stations for the winter by standing units down over the summer, rising temperatures increase the demand for supply due to the use of air-conditioning units and reduce the power-carrying capacity of the system, as it is harder to cool conductors – this will restrict the ‘maintenance window’ available and could ultimately require greater redundancy on the system to permit maintenance.
- Rising temperatures cause cooling problems for power stations as they are unable to cool components. This effect has been experienced in France, but not yet to a serious extent in the UK.
- High air temperatures are more of a problem and nuclear reactors can trip out at above 40°C, although this has never yet been reached at any site (38°C being the record).
- Rising temperatures lower power station efficiency. This effect is of lower concern than the two effects above.
Energy & Green Sky Thinking
March 2014: This year’s Green Sky Thinking programme has been announced and, as with previous years, has a selection of really excellent events focussed on sustainability and the built environment. Lots of fascinating subjects covered – below are links to some of the energy-related talks – check the programme linked below for the full week’s activities. All events take place between 28 April – 2 May.
Refurb, Retrofit or Rebuild – Making London energy efficient for 2018
Cutting the CO2 Out of Construction
Business Attitudes Towards District Heating
And a few others – details of which are on the programme, but dates to be confirmed. These include:
The Value of Energy Efficiency in Commercial Buildings
How will we Heat London?
London to swelter…and flood
March 2014: The Guardian features results from a new academic study looking at world heritage sites that could be threatened by climate change, reporting that the “Tower of London …will be lost to rising seas”. Elsewhere, the Evening Standard reported predictions from former weather caster Michael Fish stating that “Hot weather days in London could increase sevenfold because of climate change“. Sounds like wellies and ice creams all round…
Urban Green Infrastructure
15 November 2013: The Parliamentary Office of Science & Technology has just produced a short briefing note on ‘Urban Green Infrastructure’ which “summarises research evidence of the effectiveness of green infrastructure, and challenges to its implementation.” It includes reference to ‘cooling the urban heat islands‘ stating:
“Urban areas often experience elevated temperatures compared with the surrounding countryside, because of extensive heat absorbing surfaces, such as concrete and tarmac, concentrated heat production and impeded air flow. For example, the centre of London is on average 5°C warmer than surrounding rural areas.”
Read the full POST note here.
Energy & Climate Questions to the Mayor
October 2013: This month the Mayor has been asked questions in relation to:
Climate change leadership; London’s successful ‘green economy”;
potential for wind energy in London; the human contribution to climate change; Nissan Electric taxis‘; emissions from electric vehicles; promoting community energy through planning; Mayor’s briefing to the House of Lords on the Energy Bill; Mayoral visits to the Dagenham wind power project; RE:NEW programme advice on supplier switching; supplier switching advice; Nuclear power and London; bills savings achieved by households under RE:NEW; the Mayor’s energy advisor’s visit to New York; the Mayor’s energy advisor’s visit to Rio de Janeiro; the Mayor’s view on wind farms; London Energy Efficiency Fund (LEEF) Advisory Committee papers; nuclear power value to Londoners; roll-over energy contracts for SMEs; CO2 savings achieved under RE:NEW; the Mayor’s energy advisor’s visit to San Francisco; the Mayor’s view on MASDAR’s investment in the London Array; the Mayor’s view on shale gas; investment opportunities for London through financing wind power projects; hosting a London ‘Climate Week‘; RE:NEW advice supplier switching; renewable electricity supply to the Tube; SOURCE London charging points; London’s need for more electricity substations; completion of Affordable Warmth and Health Action Plan; applications to the London Schools Hydrogen Challenge; budget allocated to the Mayor’s new Affordable Warmth and Health Action Plan; the Mayor’s new Affordable Warmth and Health Action Plan; Londoners supported through the Mayor’s Know Your Rights helpline; GLA officers working on the new Affordable Warmth and Health Action Plan; RE:NEW report backs; Benefit Entitlement Checks (BECs) under RE:NEW; carbon offsets for flights; key activities in the Mayor’s new Affordable Warmth and Health Action Plan; private sector funding leveraged by RE:NEW; targets under the Affordable Warmth and Health Action Plan; community level responses to heatwaves; disseminating research undertaken to date on how to cope with heatwaves and the health impacts of cold homes.
Previous months questions to the Mayor can be found here.
The BBC’s Climate Change Advisory Group
October 2013: Following on from an earlier post on the BBC’s reporting of climate science – where it emerged the BBC had some time ago established a ‘Climate Change Advisory Group’ – I sent a few emails to the BBC Trust and information service asking for brief details about this particular Group. With no response forthcoming, I then sent an FOI request to the BBC Trust asking for some basic information about the Group:
Cities & Biodiversity Report Released
October 2013: A new study released by the UN Environment Programme focussing on how “Increasing urbanization over the next decades presents not only unprecedented challenges for humanity, but also opportunities to curb climate change, reduce water scarcity and improve food security, according to the world’s first global assessment on the relationship between urbanization and biodiversity loss” was released earlier this week in New York. The full news release can be read here. The study – Cities and Biodiversity Outlook – here. A short film – An Urbanising Planet – based on the study can be seen here.
Energy and Climate Questions to the Mayor
September 2013: This month the Mayor has been asked questions in relation to:
How the Mayor’s programmes will respond to the forthcoming IPCC’s (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) 5th Assessment Report; the Mayor’s “climate sceptic views“; London’s growing energy demand; £145k spend on climate change adaptation; the amount of energy generated from waste incineration; the number of GLA officers working on energy efficiency retrofit; the amount of ECO funding that could be directed to London; the operation of the RE:FIT schools energy efficiency programme in Harrow; the RE:FIT schools programme in Brent; Government’s proposed changes to building regulations and its potential impact on London Plan energy requirements; the Mayor’s response to DECC’s Community Energy – Call for Evidence; the Mayor’s support for community energy schemes in London – such as Brixton Energy; publication of the latest London Energy and Greenhouse Gas Inventory (LEGGI); the cost of producing ‘Using Local Powers to Maximise Energy Efficiency Retrofit – How to’ materials for London’? (report here); the terms of loans provided by the London Energy Efficiency Fund (LEEF); extending LEEF loans to the private sector; details of the LEEF Advisory Committee; consultancy companies working on LEEF; the amount spent by LEEF; the number of loans given out by LEEF; rollover energy contracts for SMEs; Londoners energy bills; the amount of renewable electricity provided by Source London electric vehicle charging points; funds previously spent on adding energy efficiency measures to Metropolitan Police buildings currently for sale; developing a Fuel Poverty Action Plan for London; the supply of electricity to London’s electric vehicle charging points; the supply of electricity to London Underground; London Green Deal targets; a London Green Roofs map; the Mayor’s Green Deal assessment on his home; stimulating Green Deal finance packages; spend of the Green Bus Fund; funding received from the Green Bus Fund; identifying brownfield land in London suitable for sustainable energy projects; CO2 savings achieved by the Mayor’s climate change programmes; potential for the London Pension Fund Authority to invest in low carbon energy projects; when the next update to the Mayor’s Climate Change Adaptation Strategy is to be published; how climate change will affect London’s summer temperatures; new anaerobic digestion plant in Surrey; the level of waste being directed to the Beddington incinerator; the London Plan’s policies on incineration; the Mayor’s approval of the Beddington incinerator; if the Mayor had pressed for the Beddington project to develop as a anaerobic digestion plant; if the Beddington incinerator can operate in combined heat and power (CHP) mode; heat network around the Beddington incinerator; the growth of waste incineration in London to 2016; the role for future incineration in London; local planning controls and fracking; the fracking potential in London; details of the new RE:NEW domestic energy efficiency programme; targets for the new RE:NEW programme; the choice of the Capita Group to manage the new RE:NEW programme; GLA buildings that have been treated by the RE:FIT programme; whether the Mayor’s Environment advisor had visited the Kings Cross CHP and district heating scheme.
Previous months questions to the Mayor can be found here.
Posted in Decentralised Energy, Energy Efficiency, News, Renewable Energy
Tagged Anaerobic Digestion, Brent, Buildings, Carbon Emissions, CHP, Climate Adaptation, Community Initiatives, Energy Security, Funding, Green Deal, Harrow, Lambeth, London Green Fund, Natural Gas, Planning, RE:FIT, RE:NEW, Retrofit, Schools, Transport, Waste
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Observing London: Weather data needed for London to thrive
17 July 2013: Lloyds news highlights a new report: “Thanks to a new initiative by the London Climate Change Partnership (LCCP) in partnership with the Met Office and Lloyd’s, London is set to improve how it collects and uses weather data across the capital.
The new report: Observing London: Weather data needed for London to thrive, details how the initiative will provide economic benefits in areas such as flood management, transportation and building design.”