What are the issues?

After the use of less energy through sustainable design, the efficient supply of energy and the use of renewable energy are highly effective and inter-linked ways in which to contribute to the mitigation of climate change. This is in line with the Mayor of London’s energy hierarchy and the ‘lean’, ‘clean’, and ‘green’ concept:

One of the most effective ways to provide energy ef-ficiently is through decentralised heating and cooling networks, using Combined Heat and Power (CHP) or in some cases Combined Cooling, Heat and Power (CCHP). These networks are energy efficient because:

• They are ‘decentralised’ so they lose less electricity through transmission than centralised power supplies from the national grid.

• It is networked system with a mix of uses draw-ing heat and energy. It can therefore balance demand from domestic and commercial users which have different peak periods to make the use of energy more efficient.

• CHP usually consists of an engine which pow-ers a generator producing electricity. Heat is recovered and distributed (in the form of hot wa-ter) as a side-effect of this electrical generation, and can also be stored for use when demand is high.

• CHP can use gas or low carbon fuels

• As it is a networked system, it can ‘free up’ plant space within buildings for other uses.

Decentralised heating and cooling networks can be very effective in city areas such as Westminster, due to the dense character of the built environment and the complex mix of uses, which produces a high and relatively even density of heat demand. Heat-ing and cooling networks can also be a relatively unobtrusive form of energy use within the historic built environment, in comparison to other forms of energy provision.

Westminster contains the Pimlico District Heating Undertaking, which is the oldest district heating system in the UK and provides heat and power to a large number of homes together with commercial and other premises in the south of the borough. This network together with the Whitehall District Heating

City Management Plan workshop briefing notes

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

6pm to 9 pm, 23rd July 2009

17th floor City Hall - Committee Rooms 3 & 4

2 - City Management Plan - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Renewable energy is energy generated from sources that do not require significant use of exhaustible materials. The main renewable and low-carbon technologies are as follows:

Technology Potential Issues

Ground source heating and cooling – draws heat from the ground.

Requires electricity to power pumps, which can reduce carbon effi-ciency by about a third compared with other renewables. Appropriate only for larger developments, and there will be limits to how many can be installed in an area.

Solar thermal – Solar collectors which use the sun’s energy to heat a liquid which transfers heat to water.

Requires a generally southern aspect. Potential implications for town-scape and compatibility with historic environment. This may limit ap-plication to more concealed locations.

Solar photovoltaic cells which con-vert light energy (rather than direct sunlight) into electricity.

Potential implications for townscape and compatibility with historic environment.

Wind power usually through wind turbines, which generate electricity directly.

Amount of wind in built up areas (in order to be effective), structural support, and impact on townscape.

Biomass – organic matter such as wood chip/pellet that is burnt to generate heat.

With current technology it will negatively impact on air quality. Inappro-priate in an Air Quality Management Area (covers Westminster), unless abatement technology can provide sufficient mitigation. Requires space for storage and delivery of fuel, but has transport implications, and requires a source of fuel.

Biogas – such as methane from anaerobic digestion of waste.

May require space for storage and delivery of fuel, but likely to have less impact on local air quality than biomass.

Not every renewable energy technology will be appropriate for all sites and consideration needs to be given to which technology best suits individual developments and sites.

Borehole drilling for Eaton Square geothermal heating and cooling system

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy - City Management Plan - 3

System offer potential to connect and expand district heating in the south of the city.

What you have told us?

• Policy should include a more flexible approach which achieves higher levels of energy efficiency on some sites and lower on others.

• The Council should require developers of large schemes to use energy efficient measures.

• Standards must be achievable and realistic and grounded in proper research.

• Issue of retrofitting existing buildings with energy efficient measures needs to be addressed.

• Ways need to be explored to achieve substantial energy efficiency improvements without damag-ing the integrity of historic buildings and conser-vation areas.

• Use of canal water should be a source for heat-ing/cooling systems.

• Targets should be in line with London Plan

• Policies should take into account practicality and viability issues.

National and Regional Policy

The reduction in energy use, in addition to use of renewable energy and decentralised energy net-works are being strongly pushed by both national and regional policy.

The Government’s Planning Policy Statement (PPS) 1: ‘Delivering Sustainable Development’ states that “local planning authorities should ensure that development plans contribute to global sustainability by addressing the causes and potential impacts of climate change – through policies which reduce energy use, reduce emissions, promote the devel-opment of renewable resources, and take climate change impacts into account in the location and design of development.”

Further national policy note PPS1a: ‘Planning and Climate Change’ states that there is a need to use and expand existing decentralised energy supply systems, and ensure a significant proportion of en-ergy supply is gained from on-site renewable energy and/or from a decentralised energy supply.

Planning Policy Statement 22: ‘Renewable Energy’ states that planning authorities may include policies that require a percentage of the energy to be used in new residential, commercial or industrial devel-opments to come from on-site renewable energy developments. Such policies should ensure that the requirement is only applied where viable given the type of development proposed, location, and design, and should not place undue burden on de-velopers, i.e. by specifying that all energy to be used in a development should come from on-site renew-able generation.

Policy 4A.5 of The London Plan requires boroughs to safeguard existing heating and cooling networks, maximise opportunities for new networks, and to ensure that all development is designed for future connection to a heating and cooling network. Fur-thermore, it states that new network opportunities should be identified and established.

Policy 4A.6 of The London Plan relates to decentral-ised energy: heat, cooling and power, and ensuring that all developments demonstrate that heating, cooling, and power systems have been selected to minimise carbon dioxide emissions.

Policy 4A.7 of The London Plan states that “…bor-oughs should adopt a presumption that develop-ments will achieve a reduction in CO2 emissions of 20% from on-site renewable energy generation unless it can be demonstrated that such provision is not feasible.”

Borehole drilling for Eaton Square geothermal heating and cooling system

4 - City Management Plan - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Current Unitary Development Plan Policy 2007

Policy ENV 1 ‘Sustainable and resource efficient buildings’ states that “the City Council will expect the efficient use of energy and other non-renewable resources through careful orientation, design, choice of materials, equipment, and landscaping”. It also states that “the council will encourage use of renew-able energy installations that achieve good design solutions, particularly in sensitive areas, and that avoid detrimental effects on the surrounding area. Where feasible, new developments will be required to incorporate renewable energy generating plant to meet a proportion of the development’s overall energy demand.”

Core Strategy Publication Draft 2009 (subject to agreement)

The proposed Core Strategy is likely to contain an energy infrastructure policy which will protect existing energy networks, and require major new development to link to and extend energy networks unless not practical or viable. Where it is not pos-sible to link to an existing heat and energy network, major development will be required to provide site-wide decentralised energy generation which has the potential to be extended to serve other development sites in the vicinity. It is likely that smaller develop-ments will be encouraged to be enabled to connect into heat and energy networks.

Alongside effective energy-efficient/low carbon design, it is likely that the City Council will seek development to maximise on-site renewable energy generation to achieve at least 20% reduction of car-bon dioxide emissions, and where feasible, towards zero carbon emissions, except where the council considers that it is not appropriate or practicable due to the local historic environment, air quality and/or site constraints.

Further information

PPS1: Delivering Sustainable Development (Janu-ary 2005)

Supplement to PPS1: Planning and Climate Change (December 2007)

PPS22: Renewable Energy (August 2004)

PPG 15: Planning and the Historic Environment (September 1994)

The London Plan - consolidated with alterations since 2004 (February 2008)

Adopted Unitary Development Plan (January 2007)

Core Strategy Publication Draft

Pimlico District Heating Undertaking ‘accumulator tower’

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy - City Management Plan - 5

The agenda for the Energy Efficiency and Renew-able Energy part of the workshop is as follows:

Welcome and introduction

Decentralised energy

The Core Strategy requires major new develop-ment to link to and extend energy networks unless not practical or viable.

1. Should all types and sizes of new development be required to connect to existing decentralised energy networks (or in the absence of existing net-work install decentralised energy generation with the potential to be extended)?

2. Should all types and sizes of smaller develop-ments be encouraged to include gas-fired CHP energy generation when there is no likelihood of connection to existing networks?

Renewable energy

The Core Strategy will seek development to maxim-ise on-site renewable energy generation to achieve at least 20% reduction of carbon dioxide emis-sions, and where feasible, towards zero carbon emissions.

3. Which forms of on-site renewable energy are most effective in Westminster, taking into account local historic environment, air quality, and potential for site constraints?

4. Are there certain types, sizes or locations of de-velopment where seeking reductions in emissions greater than 20% from renewable energy genera-tion are more appropriate?

Planning obligations

5. Should the City Council require planning obliga-tions to fund:

• decentralised energy generation on other sites?

• expansion of existing energy networks, includ-ing linking to existing buildings?

• on-going energy network management else-where in the borough?

• offsite renewable energy generation and/or renewable energy elsewhere in the borough?

• energy efficiency measures in existing proper-ties?

Other issues

6. Are there any other relevant issues that have not been covered above?

Workshop time – 3 hours.

ContactTom KimberCity Planning Group, Westminster City Council,11th Floor, Westminster City Hall64 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6QP020 641 3478 tkimber@westminster.gov.uk

Westminster City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6QPPlanning helpline: 020 7641 2513 www.westminster.gov.uk