Livingstone launches radical green plan for London

Under proposals outlined in his Climate Change Action Plan, Livingstone is aiming to slash 60% of the capital’s CO2 emissions by 2025. The plan, which targets homes, businesses, energy generation and transport, intends to reduce CO2 emissions from commercial and public sector buildings by about 7 million tonnes a year.

Part of the savings will come from tightening the requirements for new developments under the London Plan, which are currently being revised. Ultimately this will see a quarter of London’s electricity coming from decentralised energy generation, with all major new developments required to establish or connect to a local CHP plant. In addition, the London plan raises the requirement for the proportion of on-site renewable energy from 10% to 20%.

The mayor will also use his Climate Change Agency and its joint venture with EDF Energy, the London Energy Services Company, to spearhead the take-up of energy from CHP to existing buildings. The London ESCo will do this by designing, financing, building and operating local decentralised energy schemes.

To tie in with this Livingstone will also be working with boroughs and industry to facilitate and accelerate the potential of energy from waste – such as anaerobic digestion, mechanical biological treatment, pyrolysis and gasification – through pilots and showcasing technologies at several large sites.

To reduce emissions from existing buildings, a Green Organisations Programme will be established that could potentially cut CO2 emission by 7.6 million tonnes a year. The programme includes the Better Buildings Partnership, which will incentivise commercial landlords to upgrade their buildings, particularly during routine refurbishments. It also includes the Green Organisations Badging Scheme, which aims to work with tenants to reduce emissions through staff behavioural changes and improved building operations. This will provide clear sets of targets and associated green badging levels.

Residential buildings will also be targeted through the Green Homes Plan. This includes a “concierge service”, providing bespoke energy audits and project management for the installation of energy efficiency improvements, microrenewables and water conservation measures for the “able-to-pay” sector.

Mayor Livingstone said: “The actions set out in this plan are radical – the most comprehensive for any city I know. But they will need to be accompanied by further action from government. It is completely inadequate to simply talk about climate change or make purely token actions. This plan sets out the beginning of a comprehensive programme to tackle climate change in London in the next 20 years.”

The Action Plan alone is not enough to slash emissions by the intended 60%. Livingstone is calling for government to introduce regulatory changes to incentivise the widespread rollout of decentralised energy, including simplifying the process for connecting CCHP to the grid and fair payment for electricity sold back to the grid.