Britain on a green energy drive
NST (Life&Times), Tuesday, May 5, 2003
A campaign to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than half and to increase the use of renewable and cleaner energy sources through a variety of incentives is afoot in Britain . DEBORAH LOH writes.
An international group of scientists, government officials and environmental advocates were attending a week-long seminar on climate change when the war in Iraq broke out.
While the seminar discussed ways in which participating countries could reduce their output of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas responsible for global warming, there was a war going on which was adding more of this gas into the atmosphere.
Amid discussions about the use of cleaner, renewable energy sources, the war in (or for, as some might say) an oil-rich country was the most current and vivid object lesson about our age-old dependency on fossil fuels - and how it's time to change.
Climate change and energy use are closely related. Energy - whether electricity heat, or for driving your car - has traditionally been derived from fossil fuels, such as oil, gas and coal.
When these fuels burn, carbon dioxide is emitted. Unfortunately, carbon dioxide is a stubborn gas that stays in the atmosphere for up to 100 years.
Its presence traps the sun's heat around the earth, creating a warming, or "greenhouse" effect.
Because this gas is most commonly emitted and because of its long lifespan, we need to make major cuts in our output of carbon dioxide. This is the best way to combat climate change.
This means, besides using less energy, changing our fuel source. It's unrealistic to expect everyone to stop driving or to stop using electricity.
Britain , however, has accepted climate change and global warming as a reality and has set about overhauling its energy sector to shift from fossil-fuel based power generation to cleaner, renewable fuel source.
Britain employs a carrot-and-stick approach in promoting renewable energy. Using a combination of legislation and funding, it is attempting to get power providers, businesses and citizens to lower their carbon emissions.
The British government outlined its measured in a White Paper on Energy, issued recently in February. It adopts a national target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 60 per cent by 2050. This target was set by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution in 2000.
Beside the 60 per cent reduction target, the White Paper also sets the country's energy goals as such: to maintain the reliability of energy supplies, to promote competitive energy markets, and to ensure adequate and affordable heating for every one.
For starters, Britain wants 10 per cent of its total power generation to be renewable by 2010, up from the current three per cent, which mainly comes from hydro-electricity in Scotland .
Power providers are now compelled by law to produce 10 per cent of their electricity output from renewable sources. They can do this by any means whether from biomass, solar, wind or waves, or even importation.
Households and non-profit organizations can also get grants that will foot 20 to 65 per cent of the cost of installing non-fossil from systems, such as solar water heaters, photovoltaic panels, wind energy generators, micro hydro generators, ground source heat pumps and biomass heating. These systems, on a small scale are able to generate enough electricity for individual homes.
These grants total £10 million (RM60 million) and is part of a £350 million that the government will use over the next three years to support technological and business development of renewable energy.
Energy-efficient steps, meanwhile, are imposed on businesses through a climate change levy for the carbon dioxide emitted in their operations.
Businesses that use energy-saving devices or have reduces their carbon output are exempted from this tax.
Builders and architects also have an important role in lowering total carbon emissions as buildings in seasonal countries like Britain use a lot of heat energy.
New building regulations are being drafted and should be already by 2005 to impose certain requirements on new-built and refurbished buildings to maximize energy use, for example, by having better insulation.
It was found that Britain loses 140 Kilowatts per hour per square meter of energy through houses that were built on minimum building standards. Each winter, the country is faced with a "fuel poverty" problem which has seen the deaths of many poor people who can't afford to heat their homes.
Another approach, which aims to change the way people view electricity supply, is to get power supplies to provide a holistic package of energy services.
This includes selling customers energy saving appliances. So instead of selling electricity alone, they will sell a package of services that equal the nett result that electricity provides such as heating cooling and lighting.
"These are the ways the government is altering the market to facilitate the shift from fossil-fuel to renewable energy, and to bring in private sector investment," said Dr. Barbara Hammond, the Department of Trade and Industry's head of Energy and Resources, who introduced the White Paper at the seminar.
Where ordinary citizens are concerned, however, the use of energy-efficient devices such as low- energy bulbs, is largely a mindset hurdle, say advocates like Richard Davies, director of Marches Energy Agency, a non-governmental organization that addresses climate change through green energy solutions.
Davies' agency conducted low-energy lighting for a shop in the Shropshire County town centre, replacing 16 inefficient light bulbs that used nearly 1,000W of electricity, with 16 low energy bulbs that used less than 200W.
The store's annual saving in electricity bills was three times the amount spent on switching of the new bulbs. The cost of the lighting was recovered in three months, and the whole exercises cut 120kg of carbon dioxide a year from its operations.
"The savings and benefits are so obvious, but still we need more effort to change people's minds," Davies said.
Isn't green energy more costly than brown, consumers asked? Yes, proponents agree, but argue that the cost of investing in newer technology and energy-saving devices pays back in the form of cheaper energy bills over the long-team. And the cost of these systems shouldn't stay expensive for too long once demand starts picking up.
In case of some homes which rely on self-produced electricity from domestic non-fossil fuel systems, the amount of electricity generated is more than enough that homeowners are able to load their excess Kilowatts into the national power grid for sale.
Other benefits of creating a green energy industry are new jobs and business, and better health and air quality.
Green energy advocates also note that consumers will be protected from rising fuel prices, which is likely to happen in the future as a resource be depleted.
Britain 's advancement into renewable energy is also driven by the fact that it expects to be nett importer of fossil fuels in coming years as its national supplies run out.
It realizes that imported fuel supply can be undependable as the major oil-producing countries are in politically volatile areas.
The world is using its natural resources faster than they can regenerate. By 2020, global demand for energy is expected to have increased three-fold. When that happens, countries with renewable energy systems in place can expect to be in a better position than those which don't. Wars will be fought in the future, but with renewable energy, maybe the fight won't be over oil.
• Note: The writer was sponsored by the British Council to attend its International seminar on "Local Solutions to Climate Change" held in Cambridge Britain .
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