City best in UK for green energy
NOTTINGHAM is leading the country in creating its own renewable energy.
But a "low-carbon revolution" is still needed to meet tough national targets over the next decade.
The city generated four per cent of its own energy from renewable sources and waste in 2006 – more than five times higher than the next best city.
Nottingham City Council owns Enviroenergy, which uses heat from Eastcroft incinerator to supply heat – through the district heating system – and electricity to city customers.
But previously published data incorrectly assumed the heat from the incinerator was only used to create electricity.
The Nottingham Energy Partnership noticed this and realised that, when the heat was also taken into account, Nottingham has a huge lead on other cities.
The second best city, Coventry, generated just 0.74% of its own energy in 2006.
The revised figures have been confirmed by the consultants who compiled the data for the Department for the Environment and Climate Change.
Coun Katrina Bull, portfolio holder for environment and climate change, said: "Nottingham is leading the UK in a number of key energy areas, particularly through the work of the city council, the Nottingham Energy Partnership (NEP) and Enviroenergy, the city district heating operator.
"We are starting from an excellent position, helped by the largest district heating scheme in the country which provides low cost, low carbon heat to St Ann's and parts of Sneinton.
"Imagine the potential for increasing this resilience through adding further district heating schemes and using other renewable technology to provide low-cost, stable energy to Nottingham residents and businesses.
"As we face years ahead of steep energy price hikes, and certainly an end to cheap energy – we as a city must invest further in generating local, cheap, low-carbon energy to further protect our city's residents and businesses.
"The city council and NEP are delivering and supporting several groundbreaking projects in the city. These projects are at the forefront of the UK's transition to a low carbon economy; particularly The Nottingham Warm Zone, in partnership with Scottish and Southern Energy, providing energy-efficiency measures to all private households."
The district heating system is due for a £1.9m expansion from January to enable heat to be provided to new housing, offices and shops in south Nottingham.
The system could potentially serve another 3,000 properties when Eastcroft incinerator's capacity is increased.
NEP sustainable energy development manager Jerome Baddley said: "The targets are for 30% of electricity and 12% or heat to come from renewable sources by 2020.
"Achieving the national targets for renewable energy may require doubling the size of the heat and power network over the next 10 years, as well as rapidly expanding other city renewable energy technologies such as solar water heating, photovoltaics and biomass.
"This represents nothing short of a low -carbon revolution over the next decade."
11 Comments
View all
by Art, Nottingham
Saturday, November 07 2009, 12:40PM
“This is yet another example of the NEP''s low, low standards of journalism. Quite apart from the fact that an article which reads just like a city council press release has been allowed to see print, is anyone else wondering why no counter arguments against incineration at Eastcroft are even mentioned in this? Wouldn't that make the article at least balanced - even if you totally disagree, as many people do, that incineration of waste can be classified as 'green energy'. God knows we do need a low carbon revolution but ill-informed, lazy, lopsided crap like this isn't going to help us get there.”
by Plonk, Heanor at work
Saturday, November 07 2009, 3:23AM
“Taking into account all the factors and seeing through the bits they choose not to reveal we see a very different picture.”
by Inoff the red, Peoples Republic of Sneinton
Friday, November 06 2009, 3:43PM
“Jerome,
You sound like a council mouthpiece.
You talk about hard decisions, but how can you possibly justify a loss of £1m per year to subsidise a mere 4,500 homes?
This inept council is like a rabbit in headlights, not knowing which way to turn over this fiasco.
Also, if you read the minutes of council meetings on the subject, the pipework servicing these 4,500 homes needs replacing at what will be an horrendous cost.
Still, like most Gnu Labour diehards, the city council will spin the pollution at Eastcroft and the financial black hole of Enviroenergy as being something that Nottingham should be proud of, but unfortunately for Collins, Chapman and the postman that sits on the board of Enviroenergy, the councils deceit has been rumbled.”
by jerome, Nottingham
Friday, November 06 2009, 3:29PM
“¿Yes the council subsidises the district heating scheme. By doing so it is subsidising the heating bills of 4,700 homes in St Anns.
Incineration is not green, as rightly pointed out green fairy. Snappy headlines have a habit of glossing over important nuances. Note though the important distinction 'renewable energy and waste' in the text.
There are legitimate concerns about burning waste, which after all does contain recyclable materials and plastic based components, however the energy arising from the incinerator, while not renewable or zero carbon, is a lot less carbon intensive than gas and doesn¿t come from Russia or Iran. There are also legitimate concerns about security of gas supply, peak oil, rapidly rising gas prices, fuel poverty and climate change that have to be balanced against the continuing use of state of the ark, bonfire in a box waste incineration.
While EfW is understandably contentious and very unpopular, expanding our exceptional district heating network is a good thing. In the coming years we will also need to look at ways of changing the balance of fuels that feed the network, increasing recycling and diverting fractions of the waste stream to more advanced processes such as anaerobic digestion.
If we were to start again from scratch now, I don¿t think the city would have opted from an incinerator, there are many more clean and efficient options available these days. Unfortunately that is not where we are starting from. For now we are stuck with the incinerator, so we at least need to make the best use of the energy arising from it while we are trying to develop other better, secure and low carbon ways to supply the city with affordable heat and power. The looming energy crisis and only 85 months now to turn the tide on carbon emissions to avert climate chaos are going to have to lead to some hard decisions We will need to make the best use of what we have, while planning urgently for the next step down in fossil fuel dependence and carbon emissions.”
by Green fairy, Moving away from toxic fallout area Sneinton
Friday, November 06 2009, 1:01PM
“This is the most ridiculous article Ive ever read in the NEP! All that work that N.A.I.L have done and its still being reported that the Eastcroft incinerator is 'green' in burning rubbish!? Crazy!! OK using the heat byproduct is a good idea but not when Eastcroft consistently breaches the safe emissions levels - at the expense of air quality and the health of those living close to this toxic chimney.”