5. Greening London

Powering London into the 21st century, a new report from PB Power, for Greenpeace and the Mayor of London, claims that decentralising London’s energy would be more efficient in cutting the city’s CO2 emissions, and the demand for imported gas, as opposed to pursuing a centralised nuclear power focused national energy policy. Greenpeace says, the report provides ‘a practical blueprint for shifting London’s energy away from dependence on centralised production, which wastes two thirds of energy generated, towards a more independent, decentralised approach to energy production which gets more value for taxpayers’ money’ and ‘lays out a vision for London that builds on approaches already successfully adopted in Denmark, where decentralised energy provides over 50% of energy supplies and the Netherlands where it supplies over 40% Closer to home, Woking Council has cut its own CO2 emissions by 77.4% between 1991 and 2004 a result of decentralising its energy supplies’.
Mayor Ken Livingstone said: ‘As this new study shows, we stand a far better chance of achieving Government targets on carbon reductions by investing in decentralised energy. Nuclear power is neither the cheapest, the safest, or the most reliable way to reduce greenhouse gases. We don’t have time to make mistakes in tackling climate change. The nuclear lobby is working overtime. Rather than spending taxpayers’ money on the failed technology of the past, I hope the Government will invest in the most efficient, proven solutions to combat global warming: greater energy efficiency, decentralised energy and renewable energy.’
The report examines four different paths London could take to supply its future energy needs. It found that if a high decentral energy scenario is adopted, London could reduce CO2 emissions from buildings by almost 32%; cut its primary energy demand by up to 35% compared to a scenario involving centralised, new nuclear plants; reduce its gas consumption by up to 15% compared to a nuclear scenario; and enable London to generate 64% of its own electricity and 43% of its own heat in London.
See: www.greenpeace.org.uk/poweringlondon/ More in Renew 163.

But not Devon…
Torridge District Council in Devon has rejected Peninsular Powers plans for a £43m 23 MW biomass plant on the former World War II Winkleigh airfield. Local objectors said it was would be too big and would involve excessive transport. The SW Regional Development Agency, which had spent £589,000 on the project, said the decision was a setback to the development of biomass in the region.