Climate change and community renewables

+4C is considered incompatible with organised global community. 2 Average surface temperature at height of last ice age was around -5C. 3Clean energy supplies must at least treble to avoid catastrophic CC.In April 2014 Asda announced that 95% of their entire fresh produce range is already at risk from climate change.UK Envoy to Foreign Secretary says, climate change poses as grave a threat to the UK's security and economic resilience as terrorism.Human impact now 'unequivocal'; 'incontrovertible'.Positive forcing of 2C by 2046. Perhaps +4C by 2046, and +5.5C by 2100. To avoid +2C would require cuts by the UK, EU & USA of around 80-90% by 2030.1 Global context 2013 IPCC Report

Impacts on WiltshireHeavy rain, strong winds, fierce heat leading to more frequent flooding, storm damage, soil erosion, pro-longed drought & greater fire risk.Damage to infrastructure roads, bridges, utilities, property.Pressure on public services & public spending; increases in council tax.Loss of precious landscape & habitat; reduced biodiversity.Bad harvests here & globally, leading to food shortages; price increases.Northward migration of bugs & diseases and people.

Legally binding requirement for 80% CO2 reductions by 2050.National renewable energy target of 15% by 2020, including 30% of electricity from renewables by 2020. 1 Wiltshire Council has recognised that 367MW of renewable electricity needs to be installed to meet target for 2020. 2This equates to about 655,000 MWh/year. 3Wiltshire is less than way there.Camco recorded these key opportunities for Wiltshire:Large wind (1/2 of 2020 target)Biomass (2/5 of target)Solar (unknown)

Emissions reductions in context

Home scaleCommunity scale The energy patchwork

Potential to deliver half of the 30% target in Wiltshire by 2020 64 x 2.5 MW turbines, up to100m.Wind is a cheap, efficient & reliable renewable electricity option.Competitive with fossil fuels and nuclear.

No large-scale wind in Wiltshire.Potential sites are limited.

Wind is badly misrepresented in most mainstream media, and so public opinion is divided. Large-scale wind

100% community owned, and started generating, March 2008.5 x 1.3 MW turbines; 49m to tip.Electricity for 2,500 homes.Earns around 1m per year for the 2,374 shareholders.Most shareholders live locally.

Turbines are now more productive.Land use for farming unaffected.Community funds are now mandatory, at 5K/MW installed.

Community wind case study Westmill

Large and small scale biomass technologies: e.g. wood chip, AD.Unclear if incineration is included CHP incinerators are eligible for ROCs, but not truly renewable.

Genuinely local, low carbon biomass is a good option:E.g. From locally grown energy crops such as willow and maize, sustainable forestry, and anaerobic digestion from animal or human waste.

Biomass

Dairy farm, with 350 500 cows.Anaerobic digester fed 50:50 by animal waste & locally grown maize.Electricity for 4000 homes.20m upgrade, including 6.5m AD.As with all energy infrastructure, relies on grid payments that reflect cost of development.

Heat for schools & leisure centre is possible, but requires good will and a further 350K investment.

AD should not be used as an eco-fig leaf for factory farming.

Biomass case study Sharcott Pennings, Pewsey

Increasingly popular due to recent fall in the price of solar PV.Green field solar growth in Wiltshire is ahead of Camco predictions.Unfortunately, solar has a lower capacity/load factor, at 9%.On-site biodiversity can be enhanced.

Solar farmsFarming options are more limited, but sheep are often grazed.Community funds are not required, but are often given.Sites for solar are also limited, and low-hanging fruit has largely gone.Solar Strategy includes a non-binding goal of 20GW of installed solar capacity by 2020, up from around 2.7GW currently.Greenfield solar will be essential to meet this goal.

Pewsey is well located for grid connections.

Installation of 208 solar panels, at a cost of about 70,000.Installed capacity of 50 kilowatt-peak (kWp).Payback expected in 6.4 years with 20% interest per annum.Payback is based on a 20-year working life, with FITs at 13.5p/kwh400% return on investment.Holly Lodge will consume most of the electricity, saving 15,000 p.a. CO2 savings of 412 tonnes over 20 years. Solar case study Holly Lodge Care Home, Pewsey

Strict laws to govern new building are essential, but Most of the UKs buildings are already built! Retrofitting gets older buildings up to modern standards.The Green Deal can help with:Leaky doors and windows,Roof, wall and under-floor insulation and draft proofing, Hot water and grey water systems,Micro-generation and renewables,Efficient heating systems.

Retrofitting your home

Opportunities for Pewsey ValeAONB (rightly) restricts opportunities.Large wind highly unlikely community scale wind, perhaps.Additional AD (CHP).Well-screened community solar.

PPC not currently investigating renewables, but should now prioritise this responsibility.Should help identify potential sites for renewables; willing landowners; potential beneficiaries; and attract potential investors.Community consent is also critical.

Raise awareness of the need for renewable energy.Build your knowledge. Help break down prejudice and myths.Urge council to take action.Get involved in neighbourhood planning processes.Help identify possible sites particularly council land and property, other public buildings, churches, farm land.Support existing community projects.

What can you do?

Thanks for your time Any questions?

*Written by world's top climate scientists 209 lead authors and 50 editors from 39 countries.IPCC: "Each of the last three decades has been successively warmer at the Earth's surface than any preceding decade since 1850. In the northern hemisphere, 1983-2012 was likely the warmest 30-year period of the last 1,400 years.Friends of the Earth - http://www.foe.co.uk/news/IPCC_report_41243.htmlProf Kevin Anderson, Tyndall Centre, one of UKs leading climate scientists: 4C future is incompatible with an organized global community, is likely to be beyond adaptation,Science Museum http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/climatechanging/climatescienceinfozone/exploringearthsclimate/1point3/1point3point1.aspx - Scientists estimate that global average surface temperature was about 5 C lower than at present, with larger changes at the poles.

*Defra estimates that 3.6 million people will be at risk of flooding by 2050, requiring billions of pounds of investment.

Swifts were in trouble in 2012 because of the cold and wet - they couldn't catch enough insects to feed their young partly because they had to brood the young to protect them from the cold so couldn't get out hunting for long enough.

Although the bluebell is widespread in Britain, it is globally threatened, and British populations represent 25-49% of the world's total. The organisation Plantlife have identified the bluebell as a species which will struggle to maintain its range in the face of climate change. During periods of cold weather, spring flowers such as bluebells have already started the process of growth by preparing leaves and flowers in underground bulbs in summer and autumn. They are then able to grow in the cold of winter or early spring by using these resources stored in their bulb. Other species -such as cow parsley or dandelions - are more temperature dependent, and require warm weather before they are able to germinate and grow. With the warmer springs induced by climate change, bluebells will lose their 'early start' advantage, and be outcompeted by temperature sensitive plants that start growing earlier than in the past.

*1. DECC - UK Renewable Energy Roadmap Update 2012, page 11. The Coalition is committed to increasing the deployment of renewable energy across the UK, and were confident that the UK can deliver 30% of electricity from renewable sources by 2020. See also: http://www.renewableuk.com/en/news/press-releases.cfm/2012-12-27-roadmap-update-renewables-on-track-with-wind-at-the-forefront2. Wiltshire Core Strategy Topic Paper 1 Climate Change, January 2012 & addendum February 2012 It is clear that progress to deliver renewable energy in Wiltshire is inadequate [] around 367 MW of renewable electricity would need to be installed to meet the UK Government target for 2020. At the current rate of delivery this would take several hundred years to achieve.3. Camco Study: Wiltshire Sustainable Energy Planning Study, January 2011 http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/wiltshire_sustainable_energy_planning_study__january_2011.pdf4. DECC/National Renewables Statistics: https://restats.decc.gov.uk/cms/national-renewables-statistics/ Renewables contribution to UK electricity generation was 11.3% in 2012, 1.9% higher than 2011. However, using normalised load factors to take account of fluctuations in wind and hydro, the contribution of renewables to gross electricity consumption increased by 2.0% to 10.8%.

*Whatever happens, well need new power stations.Over 25% of our electricity capacity must be replaced in the next few years because its too old or polluting.Over half a trillion dollars a year are spent subsidising fossil fuels six times more than spent supporting renewable energyChina's vast coal burning represents a huge challenge but a new analysis from Greenpeace, published on Friday, suggests it may have reached a turning point. "The range of coal caps and anti-smog measures put in place by the Chinese authorities could see the country cut its carbon emissions by more than twice the UK's annual footprint by 2020, making it possible for global carbon levels to peak before climate change spirals out of control," said Li Shuo, Greenpeace East Asia's climate and energy campaigner.

*1. Camco26th Sept 2013 R-UK: RenewableUK has welcomed new official Government statistics published today by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) showing that the amount of electricity generated from renewable energy sources reached a new record high of 15.5% of total electricity generation in the second quarter of this year. This is a jump of 5.8% compared with the same period in 2012, when the figure stood at 9.7%. - See more at: http://www.renewableuk.com/en/news/press-releases.cfm/2013-09-26-another-big-leap-in-clean-power-generated-from-renewables#sthash.YHirZqPH.dpufDECC: https://restats.decc.gov.uk/cms/national-renewables-statistics/ Renewables contribution to UK electricity generation was 11.3% in 2012, 1.9% higher than 2011. However, using normalised load factors to take account of fluctuations in wind and hydro, the contribution of renewables to gross electricity consumption increased by 2.0% to 10.8%.

Other figures from Camco: Wiltshire Sustainable Energy Planning Study, January 2011 http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/wiltshire_sustainable_energy_planning_study__january_2011.pdf

*2. Other figures from Camco: Wiltshire Sustainable Energy Planning Study, January 2011 http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/wiltshire_sustainable_energy_planning_study__january_2011.pdf

*2. Other figures from Camco: Wiltshire Sustainable Energy Planning Study, January 2011 http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/wiltshire_sustainable_energy_planning_study__january_2011.pdf

******https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/giving-communities-more-power-in-planning-local-development/supporting-pages/neighbourhood-planning

An NDP establishes general planning policies for the development and use of land in a neighbourhood.The plan can be detailed or general, depending what local people want.**