Jon Kellett

Community-based energy policy: A practical approach to carbon reduction

Abstract Whilst the existence of global climate change is no longer seriously contested and most governments are seeking to adopt appropriate responses, the rate of engagement with these measures is slow. Top-down policies and reliance on market mechanisms are failing to produce the reductions in energy demand and shifts away from fossil fuel reliance that are required. This paper outlines an example of a research programme that seeks to deliver more rapid change. It focuses on the potential for carbon emission reduction in a deprived community in South Yorkshire, UK, and reports on an approach that could be replicated elsewhere. The method includes estimation of baseline energy demand, energy efficiency potential and renewable energy resource assessment as a precursor to action. An innovative community-based energy service company is described and the benefits of a community-based bottom-up approach to carbon reduction are outlined.

Renewable Energy and the UK Planning System

The recent United Kingdom (UK) government White Paper on Energy (Department of Trade & Industry (DTI), 2003) maps out a future energy strategy which places a significant reliance on renewable energy resources. The enhanced importance of renewable energy is seen as one inevitable consequence of the acceptance of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution’s (RCEP’s) recommendation that the UK should attempt to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by about 60% from current levels by 2050 (RCEP, 2000). An estimated 30–40% of electricity demand will need to be derived from renewable sources in order to achieve this objective, a target which implies a massive increase in development of renewable energy schemes. All of the usual range of technologies for exploiting these resources is discussed, including wind, wave, tidal, solar, hydro, geothermal and biomass. The potential for offshore development is stressed, partly because it is seen as a way of reducing the scale of environmental impact from onshore renewables development. Even so, an increase in renewable energy development activity of the scale envisaged in the White Paper raises significant questions regarding environmental impact, public attitudes and the role of planning policy. The planning system is noted as an obstacle to the development of renewables, so the White Paper suggests streamlining and simplifying planning as a solution. Whilst the planning system may be a source of delay, or in some cases form an absolute barrier, a policy which seeks to downgrade the importance of planning in the development process may prove to be counter productive to the long-term ambitions of the renewables industry. The history of antagonism between objectors and the electricity generation and supply industry over schemes granted permission under deemed consent procedures does not set a good precedent. There is sufficient evidence of both public support and opposition to renewable energy development to view its expansion as a contentious issue in much the same way that the location of new retail or housing provision has been in recent years. Any modifications to the planning process need to take all views, constraints and impacts into account, in a similar fashion to other forms of development. Planning, nevertheless, is regarded as the key obstacle in the White Paper, so this paper seeks to examine how the planning system could adapt to both facilitate renewables developments and maintain a legitimate role as mediator in the development process.

Assessing urban sustainability from a social democratic perspective: a thematic approach

Conventional typologies that seek to categorise indicators of urban sustainability tend to draw upon the neoliberal, silo approach for conceptualising sustainability, which positions sustainability as having economic, social and environmental dimensions. This approach has been critiqued for its inability to account for challenges to sustainability arising from interactions between social, economic and environmental variables. Models that are incapable of assessing dimensional interactions and their collective outcomes are also incapable of providing critiques that address entrenched structural challenges to sustainability. This paper proposes a new thematic approach based on Australian research to classify indicators for urban sustainability. The proposed approach shifts the categorisation of indicators from a neoliberal ontology to a social democratic foundation by proposing a model for assessing urban development relational to themes of amenity, accessibility, equity and environmental performance relative to resource conservation. The proposed approach is intended to be sensitive to integrating social, economic and environmental considerations with land use planning to improve the natural and built environments of communities.

The Elements of a Sustainable Aggregates Policy

This paper explains the UK policy framework outlined in Mineral Planning Guidance Note 6, draws a distinction between concepts of sustainability in relation to minerals in general and aggregates in particular, and questions the conventional wisdom that sustainability is an all-embracing concept in planning policy. The discussion also examines the actual and potential relationships between minerals local plans and sustainability and outlines the most likely way forward for planning policy at the local level.

Sea-level rise and planning: retrospect and prospect

Twenty-five years on from Graeme Pearmans review of coastal planning issues arising from climate change-induced sea-level rise, this article reviews the progress of our understanding of the scientific and geomorphological processes that are beginning to impact upon coastal communities. We outline legal and policy developments and specifically address perhaps the thorniest question facing governments – namely, how to address existing coastal developments threatened by rising sea levels. A Decision Mapping approach designed to assist local councils in analysing threats and developing policy initiatives is described.

More than a Roof Over Our Head: Can Planning Safeguard Rooftop Resources?

Mitigation of climate change demands significant changes in the way we design and manage urban areas and individual buildings. Calls for greater resource efficiency and urban self-sufficiency alongside rising energy prices are likely to stimulate the market for renewable energy production to be embedded in the urban fabric. Rooftops will increasingly come to be viewed as a resource which will have value both financially and in terms of urban sustainability. The detrimental impact of overshadowing on rooftop energy production is likely to lead to calls for a review of regulation in respect of building siting. This article reviews the key issues involved in revising our perspectives on rooftops. In particular, it addresses the legal and policy mechanisms which may be appropriate and explores planning and other approaches to addressing this new resource availability question. International models and local case studies are used to arrive at recommendations for future action.

Prospects for energy efficiency in Australian buildings: a review of current opportunities

This article explores the potential for energy performance contracting (EPC) to improve the energy consumption of existing buildings, using Australia as an example of a gradually maturing market. A review of EPC around the world is provided as the context and the question of the expansion of this activity into the non-commercial building sector is investigated. To determine the scope for expanded activities, a survey of energy efficiency organizations was carried out. It was found that some organizations were more prepared to extend beyond their current areas of activity and saw the potential of new markets, possibly by entering into partnerships with energy suppliers. Almost all the organizations surveyed were optimistic about growing their activity in the future. The article concludes by indicating considerable potential for action given changes to regulatory and market conditions.

Conflicts between state planning, market development and environmental sustainability: A case study of the electric power industry in Shandong Province

The Electric power industry in Shandong Province faces the dual challenge of economic growth and environmental protection. Analysis of the Electric Power Development Plan of Shandong Province indicates that Shandong Provinces current power generation capacity can satisfy demand until 2013. After that, electric power shortages will appear and the gap between supply and demand will reach 149.25 billion kWh by 2020. Projected new coal-fired power stations will consume 103.28 million tonnes of coal and 474.07 million m3 of water resources producing significant extra emissions of SO2, soot, CO2, NOx, waste water, coal ash and slag. These emissions will exceed established environmental capacity and enhance the greenhouse gas contribution by around 50%. Water shortage and depleting coal reserves will restrict electric power development in Shandong Province. Increasing levels of pollutants, especially SO2 and soot, released by the coal-fired power industry, will bring serious pressures to Shandong Provinces human population and urban and natural environments. These predictions suggest that a radically new approach to meeting the demands of economic growth is required if Shandong is to improve its air quality and meet international targets for greenhouse gas emissions.

The comparative sustainability of resources

SUMMARY This paper attempts the classification of resources in terms of their sustainability. In order to make this classification, an analysis of traditional resource classification is undertaken and, in order to incorporate different types of renewable resource, a general classification of all natural resources available to mankind is adopted. Resources are then described as: continuous natural resources (e.g. solar power); critical zone resources (e.g. fish stocks); and depletable resources (e.g. oil). The concept of sustainability is then examined critically and described in its constituent parts in order that each resource can be analysed in terms of its contribution to (or impact upon) each element of sustainability. The total contribution (or impact) of each resource to sustainability is depicted in a ‘sustainability spectrum’ which differs in several respects from conventional theory and provides a basis for practical policy-making.

Can Industrial Restructuring Lead to a Sustainable Future? A Critical Environmental Risk Assessment of Industrial Policy in Shandong Province, China

ABSTRACT Shandong Province is attempting to realize a sustainable development path by industrial restructuring. This article attempts to forecast the outcomes of this policy, looking ahead to 2010 and 2020 by quantifying its resource demand and environmental effects. Prediction and analysis indicate that the industrial restructuring policy of Shandong Province is likely to prove beneficial to the environment, reducing energy and water consumption from the 2004 baseline. However, the analysis also indicates that the high anticipated economic growth rates will override any resource saving and pollutants reduction achieved. Natural resource supplies are insufficient to meet demand, and environmental quality is likely to deteriorate, rendering economic growth targets unachievable. However, if Shandong puts in place policies designed to achieve average energy and water consumption efficiency, SO2 emission efficiency and wastewater treatment efficiency of OECD countries in 2004, then energy consumption, SO2 emissions, wastewater, and Chemical Oxygen Demand discharges in 2020 will reduce in real terms with only water demand showing a slight increase over the 2004 baseline. The assessment suggests that further measures such as developing new and alternative energy sources, raising the utilization efficiency of energy and water resources, and improving pollution treatment are required if Shandong Province is to realize a balanced and sustainable development for its society, economy, and environment.