Reuters News Service – Woking in England is a town of 90,000 people that has slashed emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from civic buildings by 77 percent and its success is proving a model for giants like nearby London and other cities.

“We see ourselves as a pathfinder for others,” said Mick Company, Woking’s climate change project manager. “We are very proud of our successes. Our long-term strategy is to spread what we are doing here to the world.” Woking’s main Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant provides heating, lighting and cooling to the main carpark, the town hall, a local hotel, a conference centre and an amusement arcade. It will soon power an art gallery and museum as well.

The plant burns gas to generate electricity, captures the exhaust heat — most of which is lost from conventional power stations — and uses it to supply hot water. It has a maximum capacity to generate 1,300 kilowatts of electricity, 1,600 KW of heat and 1,200 KW of cooling. Woking is even testing self-powered street lights, comprising two arms with energy-generating solar panels and a cylindrical wind turbine as a head.

For London’s deputy mayor Nicky Gavron, Woking offers a glimpse of a possible revolution. “We are aiming for a low-carbon London,” said Gavron, who has hired Allan Jones, one of the designers of Woking’s energy scheme, to work his magic in the capital, home to 8 million. “We are looking at making a big dent in the next five years. This is not just a small Woking model. This is a huge scale-up,” she told Reuters. “Every London borough is bigger than Woking.”

GREEN POWER

The World Meteorological Organisation said that greenhouse gases, like CO2, had reached their highest ever levels in the atmosphere. Such gases, released from burning fossil fuels, are widely blamed for rising temperatures. “Cities are centre stage. They are the most vulnerable to climate change but at the same time they make significant contributions to the problem,” Gavron said. The United Nations estimates that by 2030, around 4.9 billion people, or 60 percent of the world’s population, will live in cities. (Note: In Australia the figure is over 85% already)

Woking’s green plan was driven initially by the need to save money, but the town found it was also cutting CO2 emissions. As well as the CHP plant, a large hydrogen fuel cell — the first of its kind in Britain — provides heat and power to the local leisure centre, small-scale CHP units provide heat and light elsewhere and roof-top photovoltaic cells, or solar panels, power sheltered accommodation for pensioners. Fuel bills in the buildings supplied are lower than in the past, and Woking even sells power back to the national grid.

Gavron’s team want to take this basic model and adapt it to London, where they hope to cut CO2 emissions by 60 percent by 2050. One third of carbon emissions come from buildings. They plan neighbourhood CHP plants and microgeneration systems such as solar, photovoltaic and small wind turbines. Starting with new developments and civic buildings from police stations to town halls, Gavron’s Climate Change Agency is also enlisting business in the battle to deliver clean power.

London has signed up EDF Energy, subsidiary of Electricite de France to help develop community energy schemes. “There is plenty for us there to lead by example. We can’t preach to others if we don’t get our own house in order,” Gavron said. “After all, 70 percent of London’s CO2 emissions are from buildings, and 44 percent of the total is from homes.” “We want to catalyse the market,” she said.

Gavron accepts costs are an obstacle — whether developing the energy infrastructure or installing domestic wind turbines. She believes rising demand will bring down prices for the latter and a 25-year investment period should neutralise the former. London is not alone in its search for greener pastures. Last year, officials from cities around the world met in London to discuss conserving energy. A core group from around 20 cities are now working to push the agenda forward, looking at building standards, energy efficiency, sustainability and security of power supply.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has volunteered his city to host a follow-up meeting. “We are working very closely with Toronto,” Gavron said. “We are using the Canadian energy efficiency model … and working on a pilot for London.”

Would this be a good energy building block for the transition towns strategy? The catchment of the Southern Highlands is not too far from that of Woking…

andrew General

At last month’s committee meeting it was resolved that there should be a debate within Canwin to determine a policy regarding nuclear energy. What we now need is for ALL Canwin members to submit their opinions on this subject so that we can frame a/some suitable policy statement(s) for consideration by the general membership of Canwin. This is YOUR climate action network – please make sure that YOU have YOUR say. If people don’t contribute to the debate then they may end up with something that they don’t like as Canwin policy. So GET INVOLVED!!!

Thankyou to all those people who have emailed me so far. The response has been very encouraging, but we need feedback from as many as possible. Please ask/prod/chivvy all those who you know in the group to make sure they have submitted something on this issue. The deadline for submissions is 31st July, 2008. All submissions will then be collated and reviewed with a view to summarising the majority and/or minority position(s) ahead of a vote at our quarterly meeting in August 2008.

Members will have the opportunity to put their views at the meeting in what I hope will be a frank and open discussion of the issues surrounding nuclear energy. It is my hope that everyone will come to the debate with an open mind – willing to listen to ALL viewpoints – even if they may not agree.

We will be looking for a consensus position, however should that not prove possible we will seek a democratic majority vote on the nuclear issue, subject to this being agreed and accepted as a method of determining policy positions by the group.

Please email me at aforbes@hinet.net.au to lodge your submission prior to the 31st July, 2008.

Thanks,

Andrew

andrew General