Memorandum submitted by Micropower Council
SUMMARY
1. The Micropower Council welcomes the Environmental
Audit Committee's inquiry into the role of local, regional and
devolved government in tackling climate change. This inquiry is
timely because we have major concerns that progressive local and
regional authorities are not having their voice heard when it
comes to setting national policy for housing, planning and other
policies that will impact on the UK response to Climate Change.
2. The recent debate over the Merton rule
is symptomatic of a wider issue in that the house building industry
has greater access to and is allowed greater influence over initial
policy discussions in areas such as planning and housing. This
makes it much harder for local, regional and devolved bodies,
along with green groups to engage in the policy making process
and to raise concerns at the right stage.
WHO WE
ARE
3. The Micropower Council is a cross-industry
body that represents the interests of the micropower sector. The
terms "micropower" and "microgeneration" are
interchangeable and relate to low carbon and renewable energy
producing technologies that can be installed on domestic and small
scale commercial properties. Examples of such technology include
but are not limited to micro-wind, fuel cells, microCHP, solar
thermal, PV, ground source heat pumps, biomass boilers, and micro-hydro.
Microgeneration technologies offer huge potential for the generation
of renewable heat and power in the future.
A list of our members is available at: http://www.micropower.co.uk/council/members.html
4. We provide the Micropower industry's
main focal point for Government, regulators, Parliament, opinion
formers and the general public on regulation and public policy
issues affecting the production by consumers of their own sustainable
heat and power.
WHY MICROGENERATION
5. We believe that microgeneration can,
given the right policy framework, play an important role in tackling
climate change and addressing the key goals of energy policy for
two principal reasons:
(a) The direct impact of the technology through
production of energy from low or zero carbon sources. In large
volumes the potential is significant.
(b) The increased use of energy efficiency
and conservation measures as consumers and businesses become more
engaged and interested in their own use of energy, and of its
consequences.
INTRODUCTION
6. It is of paramount importance that local,
regional and devolved levels of government play their part in
helping the UK move towards a reduced emissions low carbon economy.
We are working closely with a number of tiers of government to
promote greater take up of microgeneration, including leading
local authorities such as Merton, the devolved administrations
in Wales and Scotland and many other organisations, including
the Greater London Assembly.
7. A recent report by the Government's Renewables
Advisory Board suggested that the market for microgeneration technologies
could be worth up to £3 billion by 2016, but only if Government
does more to encourage microgeneration adoption. We believe that
local, regional and devolved layers of government are vital to
achieving this, not only through the policies they implement,
but also by taking a lead in demonstrating to Government how it
can be achieved and in pressuring Government into action.
MERTON RULE
8. The Secretary of State for Communities
and Local Government recently published the Government's Planning
Policy Statement (PPS) on Climate Change. Earlier draft versions
of the statement suggested that the successful "Merton Rule"
policy would be discarded as a result of pressure from the buildings
industry. The mobilisation of local authority and environmental
group's support for the Merton Rule prevented the Government from
discarding Merton in the PPS.
9. The "Merton Rule" should remain
in place until 2016, and be developed to create a greater carbon
focus. Merton has been a key driver of capacity building in the
microgeneration industry in recent years. Between now and 2016,
Merton style policies will enable local planning authorities to
insist on the road-testing of renewables and low carbon homes.
Only by acting now to develop design and standards, will we be
able to achieve zero-carbon homes in 2016.
10. Despite claims by the Government that
it has introduced "Merton Plus" the finalised PPS document
looks to remove the right of planning authorities to set renewable
energy targets across their jurisdiction. Instead each development
must be assessed individually and no renewable energy target can
be attached to an individual planning application. This will make
it extremely difficult to have a Merton style Rule to boost the
UK's renewable energy generation and reduce household carbon emissions.
The gulf between CLG's rhetoric and the actual detail of the policy
has created confusion amongst both those campaigning for and against
the Merton Rule as to the Government's true position. This is
likely to prevent pioneering councils from implementing the policies
that would require housebuilders to test design standards and
techniques for low carbon homes. This will make it almost impossible
to achieve the Government's aspirational target of zero-carbon
homes by 2016.
REGIONAL GOVERNMENT
11. In too many cases, policy makers are
divorcing the issue of affordable housing and planning policy
from measures to improve energy efficiency and use of microgeneration.
The Mayor of London has demonstrated that positive results can
be achieved by involving energy suppliers, technology manufacturers
and others early in the planning policy process.
12. In London, the Mayor's London Plan or
Spatial Development Strategy, was published in February 2004.
It provided London with its first planning and development strategy
in a generation. The plan's policies are proving influential in
improving delivery in a range of areas including energy efficiency
and microgeneration, helping to tackle climate change. The Mayor
has recently proposed further alterations which will double the
onsite renewable energy requirements for new buildings from the
10% target in the current Plan.
13. As part of his statutory duty to regularly
review the London Plan, in October 2007 the Mayor proposed that
all new developments in London must achieve a reduction in carbon
dioxide emissions of at least 20 per cent by using renewable sources
of energy. He also proposed new objectives for planners and developers
to adopt energy saving approaches, such as requiring new developments
to connect to "decentralised" local energy supplies
and achieve the highest standards of sustainable building design.
14. Microgeneration is at the cutting edge
of new "green technology" and the industry is already
a UK success story. A number of regional bodies have recognised
that progress in this sector can help to increase economic prosperity
and employment prospects.
15. For example, the North West Regional
Development Agency (NWDA) has identified Energy and Environmental
Technologies as a key sector for economic growth in the Northwest
and is investing heavily in them. This has led the NWDA to invest
in projects such as the Joule Centre for Energy Research. The
Joule Centre was officially launched in 2006 and marks the creation
of the Northwest's first centre for the development of sustainable
energy technologies. Based at Manchester University, it will pioneer
smart and low-carbon technologies for the home and industry, including
wave, tidal and micro-hydro technologies.
16. The Regional Assembly for Yorkshire
and Humber sponsors its own Microgeneration Awards, offering local
people the chance to show off their pioneering green energy projects.
Yorkshire and Humber is also one of the first Regional Assemblies
to adopt a "Merton Rule" type planning policy by requiring
at least 10% of the energy to be used in sizeable new development
to come from on-site renewable sources.
17. Many other regional bodies have also
recognised the economic and environmental benefits that can be
achieved and are providing leadership on climate change.
DEVOLVED GOVERNMENT
18. Devolution has created new opportunities
for developing policies for tackling climate change. For the microgeneration
sector, the Welsh Assembly Government has taken significant steps
to promote greater take-up and has taken forward a number of steps,
including an action plan for microgeneration published in March
2007. The action plan went a step further than measures proposed
for microgeneration elsewhere in that it outlined aspirational
targets for take up.
19. The Plan sets out significant targets
and identifies a number of key actions that need to be implemented
to achieve results. These range from new training initiatives,
planning guidance for microgeneration systems and increased use
of microgeneration technologies across the public sector.
20. The aspirational targets for installing
new microgeneration installations in Wales are:
— 20,000 microgeneration heating units
by 2012;
— approximately 100,000 micro heating
units installed by 2020;
— 10,000 micro electricity units installed
by 2012;
— circa 200,000 micro electricity units
by 2020;
— 50 combined heat and power and/or
district heating systems by 2020.
21. The Welsh Assembly Government is currently
reviewing permitted development rights for householder microgeneration
with the intention of easing planning red tape for consumers who
wish to install it.
22. "A Low Carbon Building Standards
Strategy for Scotland" was published in December 2007. The
report was commissioned by the Scottish Executive and undertaken
by an expert group from the house building industry. It sets out
the issues confronting the house building industry in Scotland
as it tries to move towards zero carbon homes and looks to set
in motion several work streams. However the process, at present,
excludes relevant input from both the local government and energy
sector. Many of the assumptions being made about zero and low
carbon technologies, and their application, could be improved
by engaging with those local authorities which have implemented
Merton Rule policies to encourage low carbon energy in new developments.
3 January 2008
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