Renewables and regeneration

Andris Bankovskis, Regeneration & Renewal, 10 October 2008

Wind farm: excess power could be stored in car batteries

During their 2007 spring summit, EU leaders in Brussels agreed measures to address climate change. These included a binding target for member states to supply 20 per cent of energy from renewable sources by 2020. What are the implications for the UK Government and regeneration agencies?

The EU's definition of energy includes heating, cooling, transport (aviation and shipping are still being discussed) and electricity. A proposed EU directive calculated each member state's share of the target on the basis of GDP, progress to date and ability to pay. The UK's target is for 15 per cent of its energy to come from renewable sources by 2020. In 2005, the proportion of UK energy generated from renewable sources was 1.3 per cent.

The Government expects some £100 billion to be invested over the next 12 years to meet this "immense challenge". Other analysis suggests that the financial support required to achieve the 15 per cent target could be from £3 to £6 billion a year. Can this be achieved in a recession? Paradoxically, the downturn may allow skills and resources to be redeployed from other sectors into renewables development, helping to address the shortfall of workers that might otherwise have constrained development.

Undeterred by an ever gloomier economic climate, the UK Government has forged ahead with plans to deliver its obligations: this summer, it consulted on proposals for a UK renewable energy strategy.

And last week's cabinet reshuffle, which gave birth to the new Department of Energy and Climate Change, leaves little doubt about the Government's resolve. As well as improving the alignment of central government on these two topics, the move may benefit local government and practitioners by simplifying communications through a "one-stop-shop".

In the Government's proposed renewable energy strategy, ten per cent of energy used in transport and 14 per cent in heat would come from renewables, a substantial rise on the less than one per cent for each sector today. The burden falling to electricity would be about 32 per cent, compared with less than five per cent today.

The incentives for local government to stimulate energy efficiency improvements in new housing are stronger than ever. The Government's strategy starts with plans to reduce energy consumption. Policies encouraging energy saving include the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, the Climate Change Levy and, from 2010, the Carbon Reduction Commitment, which will enable councils, as well as firms such as banks and supermarkets, to profit from carbon mitigation. New building regulations, obligations on energy suppliers to develop energy efficiency services, government targets for zero carbon homes and reduced vehicle emissions will all cut energy use.

The strategy will offer councils, the devolved administrations and the regional development agencies an opportunity to create jobs in all energy sectors, including electricity. Most of electricity's contribution to the target will be from new onshore and offshore wind. Gaining planning permission may be less of a barrier to development following reforms through the Planning Bill and the Marine Bill, but council support will remain vital.

There is still tremendous scope to develop renewable heat for public buildings and on public land. Heat accounts for 49 per cent of all energy consumed. It is more efficient to produce and consume heat locally. Efficient combined heat and power units can be used to generate electricity. Now that the Government intends to provide meaningful financial support for heat, the smart players will be looking at how to make the most of this opportunity.

Finally, the drive to produce more of the UK's energy from renewable sources means the chance to transform transport in our cities is beginning to look like more than a dream, provided progressive authorities seek to stimulate the right initiatives and ensure handy battery recharging infrastructure. For example, electric transport could be tied into the electricity sector. Electric car batteries could be used to store excess electricity from wind farms, releasing it to the grid when wind speeds are low. Moreover, since electricity can be generated at well over twice the efficiency of the internal combustion engine, we can travel considerably more miles per unit of energy used.

Suppliers of biomass will be examining their supply chains to anticipate sustainability issues and address them well in advance of any future regulatory development. This partly answers the question: why bother if China, India and the US do not regulate their climate impact? Global supply chains may increasingly demand that sustainability criteria are met. The effect is to transmit higher environmental standards to suppliers in parts of the world that are otherwise unregulated. In this way, private and public procurement policies mutually reinforce.

Can the UK achieve its targets? Perhaps, but only if the concept of "public acceptance" is replaced by one of "public engagement". This may require a significant move towards educating the public and busting myths. Renewable developments in which we have a stake and smart meters that give instant feedback on domestic energy consumption have more impact on behaviour than dire warnings and regulations. If you could buy an electric car fuelled by the wind that is cheaper to buy than a normal car, accelerates faster and whose battery can be swapped in seven seconds at one of hundreds of locations when it runs out of charge, could you imagine wanting anything else? Exactly this scenario is planned for Denmark by 2011 and is also being explored in the UK by regional authorities in the West Midlands and beyond. Perhaps our greatest asset is our imagination and our willingness to believe in what it can offer.

- Andris Bankovskis, associate director at SQW Energy.