London readies for ‘energy revolution’

London Vice-Mayor Nicky Gavron plans to spearhead decentralised generation so that every household in the city can eventually produce its own energy and cut CO2 emissions. New fines for polluting trucks and coaches are also planned for 2008, she has told EurActiv in an interview.

“When it comes to practical action on the ground, cities have to be centre stage,” Gavron said. And she believes that cities can have an easier time filling ambitious environmental objectives. “That’s because they have the planning ability. They in fact run most of the environmental infrastructure – and build it. They run transport. They also have that density of property, and activity, and population, which means that it is going to be easier – in a way – to reduce emissions in cities.”
Key to meeting the CO2-reduction target is replacing existing power stations with new, more efficient equipment. “The majority of emissions globally come from inefficient power stations, whether they are coal, gas, oil, nuclear,” Gavron explains. “These power stations lose up to 70% of their primary energy. They also waste all their heat, so there is a double loss.”

What the London authority intends to do now is replace the equipment. “Of course, you are not going to completely replace power stations or the grid,” says Gavron. “But you do not need to invest as much in new power stations or in an ageing infrastructure if you go for the new infrastructure – which is the energy revolution – which is generating your energy locally.”

The mayor’s top priority for reducing CO2 is to move away from reliance on the national grid and on to local, low-carbon energy supply. These include combined cooling, heat and power (CCHP) stations, energy from waste and on-site renewable energy such as solar panels that can also be fitted to individual homes.

Gavron says decentralised generation is also raising a lot of interest from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg after the big blackout of 2006. “It means that the whole of south London or part of Manhattan does not black out, because you have neighbourhood islands, and you can trade between these islands, and you could balance loads, and you could complement the grid too. It is extremely efficient – both in terms of CO2 and in terms of money.”

EurActiv