RENEWABLE ENERGY
A POSITION STATEMENT FROM
CPRE GLOUCESTERSHIRE BRANCH
What is renewable energy?
Renewable energy is the term used to describe those energy flows that occur
naturally and repeatedly in the environment, e.g. from the sun, the wind and
the oceans, and from plants and the fall of water.
Why do we need to exploit renewable energy?
Burning of fossil fuels (coal, gas and oil) and other factors are increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse gases” in the earth's atmosphere. At the same time, changes in the Earth's average temperature, increased glacier melting, rising sea levels and other undesirable climate change effects are being observed. Fossil fuels are also a finite resource and there are concerns about security of supplies in the longer term. It is irrelevant whether the unwanted changes being observed are natural or man made. What is important is that the precautionary principle is applied.
The UK is responsible for 3% of global “greenhouse gas” emissions even though it only has 1% of the world's population.
UK energy industries are the largest single contributors to UK greenhouse gas emissions, responsible for over a third (54 million tonnes) of the total carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere in the UK. Currently, around 80% of the UK's electricity supply is generated from coal, gas or oil fired power stations. Most of the remainder is generated from nuclear power which, while not contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, has its own unresolved challenges surrounding waste disposal.
Using alternative and renewable sources of energy will
contribute to cutting carbon dioxide emissions, and provide a portion of a more
diverse energy supply for
the future.
What is the Government's position?
In 2001, the UK Government formally signed up to the Kyoto Protocol. It is thus legally bound to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions to 12.5% below 1990 levels by 2008-2012, while the
government's Climate Change Programme of 2000 seeks to reduce emissions to 20%
below 1990 levels by 2010.
In its 2003 White Paper Our Energy Future – creating a low carbon economy, the Government pledged to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 60 % by 2050. It also set an 'aspirational' target that by 2020 20% of the UK's electricity requirements should be met by renewable energy, achieved via intermediate targets of 5% by 2005 and 10% by 2010. This would be encouraged through the Renewables Obligation (introduced in 2002) which calls on all licensed electricity suppliers to supply a specified and growing proportion of their electricity sales from a choice of eligible renewable sources, and provides financial incentives for them to do so.
In April 2009 the UK signed up to the EU Renewable Energy Directive which includes a UK target of 15% from renewables by 2020, the equivalent of a 7 fold increase in UK renewable energy consumption from 2008. In July 2009 the Government published a Renewable Energy Strategy indicating how this ambitious goal was to be achieved. It envisages that by 2020 over 30% of our electricity will come from renewables (up from 5.5%), 12% of our heat (up from a negligible contribution today) and 10% of our road and rail transport energy (up from 2.6%).
The Planning Context
1.
Renewable energy developments should be capable of being accommodated
throughout England in locations where the technology is viable and
environmental, economic, and social impacts can be addressed satisfactorily.
2.
Regional spatial strategies and local development documents should
contain policies
designed to promote and encourage, rather than
restrict, the development of renewable energy resources. Regional planning
bodies and local planning authorities should recognise the full range of
renewable energy sources, their differing characteristics, locational
requirements and the potential for exploiting them subject to appropriate
environmental safeguards.
3. At the
local level, planning authorities should set out the criteria that will be
applied in assessing applications for planning permission for renewable energy
projects. Planning policies that rule
out or place constraints on the development of all, or specific types of,
renewable energy technologies should not be included in regional spatial
strategies or local development documents without sufficient reasoned
justification. The Government may intervene in the plan making process where it
considers that the constraints being proposed by local authorities are too
great or have been poorly justified.
4. The
wider environmental and economic benefits of all proposals for renewable energy
projects, whatever their scale, are material considerations that should be
given significant weight in determining whether proposals should be granted
planning permission.
5. Regional
planning bodies and local planning authorities should not make assumptions
about the technical and commercial feasibility of renewable energy projects
(e.g. identifying generalised locations for development based on mean wind
speeds). Technological change can mean that sites currently excluded as
locations for particular types of renewable energy development may in future be
suitable.
6.
Small-scale projects can provide a limited but valuable contribution to
overall outputs of renewable energy and to meeting energy needs both locally
and nationally. Planning authorities
should not therefore reject planning applications simply because the level of
output is small.
7. Local
planning authorities, regional stakeholders and Local Strategic Partnerships should
foster community involvement in renewable energy projects and seek to promote
knowledge of and greater acceptance by the public of prospective renewable
energy developments that are appropriately located. Developers of renewable
energy projects should engage in active consultation and discussion with local
communities at an early stage in the planning process, and before any planning
application is formally submitted.
8.
Development proposals should demonstrate any environmental, economic and
social benefits as well as how any environmental and social impacts have been
minimised through careful consideration of location, scale, design and other
measures.
These
planning policies need to be read alongside the policies in PPS 7 Sustainable Development in Rural Areas. These
make it clear that planning authorities should continue to ensure that the
quality and character of the countryside is protected, particularly in
designated areas such as AONBs where the conservation of the natural beauty of
the landscape should be given special weight in planning policies and
development control.
Regional Targets
RPG
10 (Regional Planning Guidance for the South West) published in 2001 translates
the Government's national targets and looks to the supply of a minimum of
11-15% of electricity production from renewable sources by 2010 in the south
west. The sub-regional target for
Gloucestershire is 40 – 50 megawatts.
The Challenge for CPRE
There
will be more renewable energy projects in Gloucestershire. CPRE needs to engage in the debate and to do
so positively.
The
appendix to this paper reviews the main renewable energy technologies available
and their impact on the countryside.
CPRE should
recognise the desirable potential of producing more energy from renewable
sources, but that from some technologies there are significant negative impacts
on the environment and a poor cost versus benefit balance. CPRE will wish to oppose developments where
the environmental dis-benefits clearly outweigh the benefits of renewable
energy. This will be a matter of
careful judgement.
At
the same time, we should press for greater efforts in energy conservation, as a
first priority.
CPRE Gloucestershire Branch Position
RENEWABLE
ENERGY
This position statement relates
to the production of electricity or heat from renewable sources. It does not address biofuels for transport,
and only generically does it address the methods available for minimising
energy use.
Reducing energy use
CPRE fully recognises
the desirability of meeting a higher proportion of our energy needs from
renewable sources, but as a first priority greater effort must be put into
reducing energy use and increasing the conservation of energy.
In the UK, one quarter
of all carbon dioxide emissions come from energy used to heat and light houses,
and power household appliances. We
support public awareness campaigns to encourage energy conservation in the
home. Reducing the energy wasted in
houses can have a direct beneficial effect on the environment as well as saving
consumers money. The same holds true of
commercial and industrial facilities and activities.
All companies and
public authorities should be set ambitious targets for reducing energy use.
Energy conservation
measures should be widely promoted in buildings, for example through careful
design and orientation of new buildings to maximise solar gain in the winter
and minimise it in the summer, by the use of construction materials with good
thermal efficiency, and through better insulation.
Developers should be
encouraged to produce sustainability audits, and lifetime carbon emissions from
developments should be considered within the planning process.
Options for
generating energy from renewable resources
A range of
technologies can be exploited to generate energy from renewable resources. We are concerned that undue emphasis is
being placed on generating energy from onshore wind.
All renewable energy
supply systems should be removed at the end of their useful life, as should all
associated infrastructure equipment such as buildings, cabling, transformers
and switchgear, and this should be a condition of any planning consent.
Large wind turbines
can be difficult to accommodate in the landscape and should not be permitted in
nationally designated landscapes such as AONBs or where they would harm the
setting of nationally designated landscapes.
Promoted by individual
small business and local communities and designed to produce electricity for
local use, small wind turbines can be more readily assimilated into the
landscape.
At present, with care,
solar photovoltaic and solar thermal applications can be installed with only
limited visual impact and should be encouraged. However, this is may not hold true when larger commercial size
facilities become available. Like large
wind farms they may prove difficult to accommodate in the landscape and if this
proves to be the case they should not be permitted in nationally designated
landscapes such as AONBs or where they would harm the setting of nationally
designated landscapes.
Small-scale hydro
applications would be welcome, particularly where they can contribute to
regeneration initiatives and be designed and constructed to fit in with the
landscape.
Low environmental
impact ground source and air source heat pumps should be encouraged in new
construction.
Greater generation of
energy from biomass would also be welcome for its contribution to farm
diversification (e.g. short rotation coppice and Miscanthus) and as a
means to develop new markets for low grade timber and forest residues with
benefits for woodland management and conservation.
Wider adoption of
anaerobic digestion to produce biogas should be encouraged for its contribution
both to energy generation and the treatment of agricultural and other waste.
We support the idea in
principle of harnessing the unique tidal power of the Severn Estuary to
generate renewable electricity. It is a
matter for the current Government sponsored studies to determine whether this can
be done economically. However it is not only a question of economics: the
Severn Estuary is unique in terms of its ecology and landscape. Any project will cause some changes but it
is essential that a balance is struck between economics and maintaining
sufficient of what makes the environment special. Because this balance is not maintained we oppose the largest of
the possible projects (the Cardiff-Weston Barrage) and support continued
investigation of newer technology which is likely to be less environmentally
damaging. In considering the
alternatives, the effects of onshore facilities on the landscape - both locally
and from a distance - must be assessed.
Likewise, irrespective
of cost versus benefit considerations, any renewable energy project, large or
small, should be assessed against its impact on the landscape and built
environment, and rejected if there are significant environmental dis-benefits from the individual proposal or from the cumulative impact
of proposals.
What is an acceptable
size, in terms of visual impact, will be influenced by the nature of the local
landscape.
Planning for
Renewable Energy
Local Development
Documents (LDDs) should contain policies to encourage uptake of appropriate renewable energy technologies. Targets should be set for a proportion of on
site renewable energy generation in all major developments.
We support the use of
landscape character studies and assessments to help determine the capacity of
landscapes to accommodate renewable energy systems and their supporting
infrastructures (e.g. wind turbine installations, solar cell arrays, and
biomass plantations).
Updated December 2009
APPENDIX
What renewable energy technologies are available, and what
are their implications for the countryside?
The
following table reviews the main technologies currently available.
|
Technology |
|
Environmental impact |
|
Solar
Photovoltaic (PV) PV panels convert sunlight directly into electricity. The amount of electricity
generated is dependent upon the panel’s energy conversion efficiency, and proportional
to the size of the panel and the
intensity of the light. They can
either be stand alone units or grid connected to export any surplus
electricity. Panels are normally roof
mounted, facing the sun but may be free standing. |
Costs are high but are
expected to fall as the technology is taken up more widely and cheaper types
of unit become commercially available.
|
Roof mounted panels may be damaging to the built
environment and must be sited with care.
There may be particular problems in conservation areas and with listed
buildings. Commercial buildings and
structures such as leisure facilities, swimming pools and petrol station
canopies may provide good opportunities for use of this technology. Large commercial arrays could become a
significant challenge to the landscape. |
|
Solar Thermal Solar thermal
installations use the sun's heat to heat water. A heating fluid is warmed by the sun's infra red rays, and then pumped through a heat exchange coil in
a hot water tank. There are two main types of heating surface - flat-plate
and evacuated-tube. As with PV, for domestic and small scale commercial use
the system would usually be roof mounted, inclined towards the sun in a south
facing direction. The heat output is
dependent upon the panel’s energy conversion efficiency, and proportional to
the amount of infra red energy absorbed by the unit. |
This technology is well
established and in summer can often provide all the hot water needed. However, solar-thermal systems need a
conventional water heater - powered by gas or electricity - to provide back
up for the rest of the year. |
Environmental considerations are essentially the
same as for PV systems. |
|
Wind turbines Wind turbines come in various
sizes. The
amount of electricity generated largely depends on the size of the rotor, the
height of the tower and the speed of the wind. They can only operate over a limited range of wind speeds, and
their output varies exponentially over a significant proportion of that
range. Small turbines at peak output
capacity produce up to a few hundred watts of electricity: the biggest
turbines presently installed, up to 3 megawatts. Large turbines tend to be promoted commercially to feed the
national grid. They may be single (as
at Nympsfield) or multiple (windfarms).
Smaller turbines are often promoted by individual businesses (eg
isolated farms) or by communities to meet local needs, although any surplus
may be exported. Vertical axis
turbines are also available but to date are less efficient. |
The technology is well
established and larger and more efficient turbines are being developed. Wind energy currently makes the largest
contribution to meeting renewable energy targets. However, wind energy is intermittent and cannot wholly
substitute for conventional non-renewable generation sources. In most instances, annual output is no
more than a quarter of theoretical peak rated output. |
For maximum efficiency, wind
turbines require exposed sites. In
Gloucestershire the Cotswolds scarp and Severn estuary are likely to meet
that requirement and could be targeted for commercial development. Large turbines are difficult to
accommodate in the landscape and should be firmly resisted within the
Cotswolds AONB and in locations where the setting of the AONB would be harmed. Sites on the estuary might prove more
acceptable, particularly at industrialised locations such as the former
Berkeley Power Station site. Small
scale turbines to serve individual businesses or communities may be more
readily assimilated into the landscape.
Each proposal should be considered on its merits. |
|
Small scale hydro Small hydropower plants are
available, producing outputs from a few kilowatts to several megawatts. The technology is simple: moving water
drives a turbine to produce electricity.
Similar power output can be generated from large volumes of water
falling a short distance (low head) or smaller volumes of water falling a
longer distance (high head).
Typically, in a low head system river water will be diverted at a weir
and fed directly into a turbine.
These are the most frequent applications. |
The technology is well proven
and easy to install where sites are suitable. Generation will normally be continuous. |
The main environmental impact
is the weir. Potential schemes are likely
to be found within the built environment, such as at former mill locations. |
|
Tidal This also uses moving
water to drive a turbine, but instead of using a head of water it relies on
tidal currents. It can involve the
use of barrages (as at La Rance in France), lagoons, or underwater
equivalents of wind turbines. Studies
are on-going to see whether a barrage or lagoon scheme is worth pursuing for
the Severn Estuary. |
Still mainly
experimental, but a few commercial size installations are in operation or are
planned. The amount of power that can
be generated is a function of the unit’s installed capacity, the tidal range
and state of the tide. |
It is predicted
that river estuary schemes will have the greatest on-shore environmental
impact. |
|
Biomass Burning biomass is
carbon dioxide neutral as the carbon dioxide produced from combustion is
matched by the carbon dioxide adsorbed through photosynthesis in the next
generation of the crop. Biomass
includes wood and forest residues, and crops such as short rotation coppice
and Miscanthus grown specially. |
Efficient biomass
boilers are now available for commercial, community and domestic use for heat
and electricity. A £3.5 million
UK-wide Bio-Energy Infrastructure Scheme has been introduced (October 2004)
offering grants to help harvest, store, process and supply biomass for energy
production. |
For
biomass projects, the crop or forest product has to be transported to the
point of utilisation, with implications for traffic generation. Major generation plants should be located
as close as possible to their sources of fuel. Biomass crops will have landscape implications. |
|
Biogas Produced by the
anaerobic digestion of animal and plant materials. The main product is
methane gas that can either be burnt for heat or electricity generation. Biogas has the potential for both local
use and grid supply. |
Already used at sewage
treatment facilities to generate power for the electrical plant, etc. Has considerable potential for expansion
to make farms and waste treatment facilities more energy self- sufficient and
even grid gas suppliers. |
Large scale
installations could have environmental impact implications on the landscape,
but in the case of farms experience to date is that it should be fairly limited. There is also scope for avoiding the need
for large slurry tanks, etc., while still producing a post digestion
product that can be used as fertiliser.
|
|
Landfill Gas Landfill gas is generated by the natural degradation of municipal
waste. The gas can be drawn off and
burnt to drive a turbine to generate electricity. The gas includes methane (c 50%) which is a potent greenhouse
gas. |
This technology is well
established. The Hempsted landfill
site generator produces 4.27MW of electricity and is currently the largest
contributor to renewable energy production in the County. New projects are likely to be limited in
number. |
Minimal. |
|
Ground Source Heat
Pumps The earth, a few metres down, keeps a constant
temperature of about 11oC.
Ground source heat pumps extract heat via a closed pipe system filled
with a mixture of water and antifreeze buried in the ground or laid at the
bottom of a lake. The heat extracted
is delivered in a concentrated form via a heat exchanger. The heat can be used in water or space
heating. For every unit of
electricity used to pump the heat, 3 – 4 units of heat are produced. |
Ground source heat
pumps can be installed anywhere, assuming suitable conditions. Installation is straightforward with new
construction. |
Environmental impacts are negligible, so long as
sites are reinstated properly after installation. |
|
Air source Heat Pumps Like
a ground source heat pump, air source heat pumps have a motor powered by
electricity that supplies more energy than it consumes. However, rather than
concentrating energy taken from the ground they take it from the
atmosphere. For every KW unit of
energy purchased as electricity, around four units of heat are delivered. |
Air
source heat pumps are becoming an increasingly popular choice for home
heating. They can be installed in new homes and just as easily retrofitted in
renovation projects. |
Environmental impacts
are negligible, so long as sites are reinstated properly after installation. |