Author Archive Debbie

More firms see Lancashire as their low-carbon manufacturing home

A sharp up-tick in enquiries – Lancashire’s drive to raise its reputation and ‘brand’ as a preferred business base for developing and expanding vital low-carbon technologies is beginning to pay dividends with an increasing number of companies from across the UK getting in touch.

Innovative net-zero technology is crucial in the battle to halt, minimise, and learning to live with rising temperatures and the worst effects of climate change. It is also a major regional, national and international business opportunity.

Which is why forward-looking companies are increasingly searching for good homes for their R&D and manufacturing activities that offer technical and financial support, a modern skills base, plus collaborative cross-working opportunities with similar new or well-established green enterprises.

Lancashire is rapidly being recognised as a leading low-carbon cluster, with a rising number of enquiries from as far afield as Cornwall and Durham, explains East Lancs Chamber CEO Miranda Barker OBE.

“Innovative low carbon firms are talking to each other, and the word on the street is that Lancashire is the place to come for not only a growing low carbon cluster, but real support to help commercialise your tech”.

Widening low-carbon technology focus

This is not happening by chance. Members of the Chamber Low Carbon Programme (CLC) team actively promoted Lancashire at both November 2021’s COP26 international UN climate conference in Glasgow and COP27 in November 2022 at Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt.

Another extremely important factor in Lancashire growing reputation is that the county already has world-class aerospace and automotive manufacturing hubs.

However, there is now a growing emphasis on the key role of SMEs as efficient and reliable supply chain partners equipped, trained and ready to provide low-carbon support services and take ground-breaking technical products to existing and swiftly emerging markets.

Join us to celebrate CLC’s first five years

At 11.30am on Wednesday 21st June 2023, the Chamber Low Carbon Programme (CLC) Lancashire Business Environment Awards will take place at Mecure Dunkenhalgh, Blackburn. For more information, please go to https://www.chamberelancs.co.uk/services/awards-2023/.

The awards will celebrate the programme’s first successful five years, during which the CLC specialist team has help hundreds of local companies switch from fossil to renewable energy, improve energy efficiency, use low-carbon materials, minimise waste, join the circular economy, and prototype, refine and take original technologies to market.

If you think CLC could help you, please talk to Debbie Treadwell via d.treadwell@chamberelancs.co.uk. Our work will continue after June.

You could be a winner!

We are also keen to hear from companies ready to put their green hats into the ring and be considered for the awards. To do so, please contact Debbie before our 14th April deadline.

The categories are: the Innovation Award;  Public Sector Award;  Sustainable Social Enterprise Award; Circular Economy Award; Community Engagement Award; Net Zero Award; Energy Efficiency Award; and Green Champion Award.

Good luck!

RedCAT

The growth in manufacturing-base enquiries are also a result of RedCAT (https://www.red-cat.uk/) start-up companies talking to and spreading the good word with kindred young enterprises around the UK. CLC and RedCAT are both based at the Chamber’s Clayton Business Park head offices.

Companies with strong commercial potential can join RedCAT on a wider journey to overcome the tough technical, environmental, communication, marketing – but also very importantly financial – challenges involved in breaking successfully into competitive global markets.

Capturing global investment

The good news is that green projects are now boosting UK growth. A new CBI-backed report – ‘Mapping The Net Zero Economy’ (https://eciu.net/analysis/reports/2023/mapping-the-uk-net-zero-economy) says the transition to a greener economy worth £71 billion is bringing jobs and investment to parts of the UK in industrial decline.

The sector now involves more than 20,000 businesses and some 840,000 jobs, the authors calculate. Green jobs pay an average wage of £42,600 compared to the national average of £33,400. The net zero economy is also said to be important in levelling up and solving the UK’s productivity problem.

Underinvestment

But other parts of the world – including the US with its new Inflation Reduction Act – are also keen to capture the world’s green investment; many companies now see America as the best place for their money. The challenge is to “reignite the excitement back in the UK,” says Climate Change Committee CEO Chris Stark.

Another report, this time from Energy UK (https://www.energy-uk.org.uk/index.php/publication.html?task=file.download&id=8423), also warns the UK faces a £62 billion clean energy investment shortfall – equivalent to 54GW of potential wind and solar capacity. Investment in low-carbon power generation, it says, has ‘deteriorated significantly’ and now requires ‘rapid government intervention’.

Otherwise, UK energy security and net zero targets will suffer, with ‘crippling consequences for the country’. The conclusion again is that investors are looking very carefully where to put their capital.

The Economist, meanwhile, sees a ‘glimmer of good news’ in the misery of war in Ukraine and global energy crisis, because many consumers are using energy more efficiently. Last year, global capital spending on wind and solar assets was greater than that in new and existing oil and gas wells for the first time, it notes. This may have accelerated the green transition by five to ten years, it adds.

Meanwhile, the UK’s National Grid Electricity System Operator is planning to reform rules around access to the UK energy system to ‘make it easier and faster to ramp up renewable capacity’.

£56 million for EV chargepoints across the UK

February also saw the Government commit funding for 2,400 more low-carbon electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints in the short term, with the promise of tens of thousands more in the long term.

This will expand the current Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) pilot scheme, boost the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS), and help councils to coordinate their chargepoint plans while working with private operators.

Windy news

There have also been important UK wind industry developments.

– A Bristol project has set a precedent by overcoming planning hurdles to erect England’s tallest onshore wind turbine – 150m from ground to blade tip with a generating capacity of up to 4.2MW.

Owned by a group of nearby housing estate residents who raised funding over seven years, it will generate some £100,000 annually to help the local community with improvements that include draught-proofing homes and providing energy-saving devices like slow cookers,. The group hopes their achievement will give others confidence to do the same.

– Meanwhile, further research shows that the UK imported gas worth more than £60 billion from October 2022 to January 2023 while wasting enough wind energy to power 1.2 million homes.

Low-carbon sources accounted for 82.5% of UK power generation between 27th December and 9th January. However, cold weather with low winds meant little to no wind energy for heating. Unfortunately, from October 2022 to January 2023, the UK had no capacity to store up to 1.35 TWh of wind during peak conditions – enough to power homes during cold days with no wind.

This raises issues of better energy efficiency and the development of energy storage technologies.

– The positive news from RenewableUK is that the UK’s offshore wind pipeline now totals 99.8GW, but it warns the UK’s share of the global pipeline is shrinking as markets like Brazil and Australia expand.

At adds that a 14GW year-on-year pipeline increase brings the UK total to 99.8GW, with projects worth 13.7GW fully operational, and 13.6GW either under construction or near construction. A further 1.075GW are in partial operations.

The Government wants to see 50GW of offshore wind online by 2030. Fortunately, the pipeline projection is twice this. Only China has both a larger operational capacity and offshore wind pipeline.

The Earth rocks

Our home planet has warmed by circa 10C in the past century. Researchers know a lot about the last 6,000 years. But what happened thousands of years before the Industrial Revolution?

New research hopes to understand conditions between the ice ages to pinpoint any ‘slow-moving’ climate trends before thermometers and satellites were invented that could still affect us today.

Planet Earth has a ‘geological thermostat’ it seems. Rock weathering has helped to keep our climate relatively stable for millions of years. But it cannot cope with human carbon emissions. Pennsylvania State University is studying better ways to trap CO2 and slow climate change.

The anomaly is that over a million years, gas emissions from Earth’s volcanoes should have tripled the amount of carbon in the atmosphere and oceans – leading to much higher temperatures. Instead, the climate has remained relatively stable, allowing and life to flourish.

Previous studies have found that chemical weathering can speed up with higher temperatures, taking more CO2 out of the atmosphere, and acting like a climate thermostat. The aim is now to find out how the system works with more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Rising seas could mean a ‘mass exodus on a biblical scale’

Sea levels are now rising faster than for 3,000 years, and could bring a “torrent of trouble” to almost one billion people, UN secretary-general António Guterres has warned. It could mean a mass exodus of entire populations, with some nations ceasing to exist.

As a threat-multiplier, this could have ‘dramatic implications’ for global peace and security. He quoted World Meteorological Organization (WMO) research showing that even if global warming is limited to 1.50C, there will still be considerable sea level rises.

He said ‘mega-cities’ under threat include Cairo, Dhaka, Shanghai, London, New York and Buenos Aires. Rises are also ‘a death sentence’ for vulnerable countries, plus many small island nations.

Britain’s ‘shadow woods’ could offer a fast route to reforestation

When William the Conqueror surveyed his new kingdom in 1066, much of Britain was covered with tall white willows trees and alders in ‘wet woodlands’ that lined great rivers.

Extensive Atlantic rainforest on Britain’s west coast were a mesh of trees, boulders, mosses, lichens and ferns that covered the lower slopes of hills and clifftops where peasants grazed their pigs. Today’s surviving ancient woods were enclosed from these landscapes circa 1,000 years ago.

Why is this important? Because these remnants ‘shadow woods’ could indicate where reforestation is most likely to succeed with high levels of biodiversity. The reason is that the components of former woodlands – including important soil fungi – are already in place to support regeneration.

Cacti threatens the Alps

Snow in winter and edelweiss flowers in summer have traditionally covered the slopes of the Alps. Now invasive cacti are taking over. Once again the driver is global warming.

Despite the best efforts of local people to uproot them, in some areas cacti occupy one-third of the available surface.

The Opuntia species were imported from North America in the late 18th century. It may have seemed like a good idea at the time. But a warmer Alpine climate with longer vegetation growth periods and less snow cover are creating ideal conditions for them to spread …

… And that is creating a prickly environmental problem.

 

 

 

 

 

Lancashire Business Environment Awards 2023

We are pleased to launch the Lancashire Business Environment Awards 2023 delivered by Chamber Low Carbon, in partnership with East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, BOOST, North & Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce and Business Wise Solutions.
The Lancashire Business Environment Awards are designed to recognise and reward those Businesses that are working towards a greener, sustainable and prosperous future.
The awards will be judged in advance of the ceremony by the Chamber Low Carbon team, with ratification from an independent sustainability consultant.
Applicants do not need to have attended the Chamber Low Carbon programme in order to apply. For more information and to apply click here.

Lancashire Business Environment Awards

2023 is the year of the launch of the first Lancashire Business Environment Awards. The awards are delivered by East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce in partnership with North and Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, Boost and Businesswise Solutions.

This exciting new competition recognises the businesses in Lancashire that are passionate about working towards a greener, sustainable, and prosperous future.

The Lancashire Business Environment Awards celebrates excellence in our communities from a wide variety of sectors, recognising and rewarding those businesses that really do put theory into practice.

Details of award categories will follow

Net-zero will lengthen our lives by two million human-years!

Low-carbon living is good for you! The Government’s January Net-Zero Review may have rekindled the UK’s commitment to protect the environment. But other research says cutting carbon is excellent news for our health. There is also mounting pressure to save lives in the natural world.

Is January really a gloomy month? The findings of a new health study published at the beginning of 2023 suggest otherwise and contains encouraging news for our health, longevity and well-being.

According to ‘The Lancet Planetary Health’ journal (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(22)00310-2/fulltext)  a strict net-zero greenhouse gas emissions policy in England and Wales by 2050 will create the equivalent of at least 2 million extra human-years of life.

Legally-binding UK net-zero proposals first set out in 2019, and embedded in 2021’s ‘Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener’ are designed to reduce harmful environmental threats such as air pollution with additional health bonuses.

Now, for the first time researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine have modelled in detail the ways in which net-zero can affect and improve health.

Low carbon programme expands

The findings come hot on the heels of an important new review (mentioned below) that supports the wider aims of the East Lancs Chamber’s ‘Chamber Low Carbon Programme’ (CLC).

The extremely good news is that the CLC programme itself will be changing up a gear this year.

To mark five years of success, CLC will hold as a celebration event the Lancashire Business Environment Awards on Wednesday 21st June 2023 at Mecure Dunkenhalgh, Blackburn. The aim will be to recognise and reward businesses that are already working towards a greener, sustainable and prosperous future, and encourage others to do the same. More details will be released soon.

Then, from summer 2023 onwards, please watch out for new announcements!

Net-Zero Review

After three month of consultations, the new ‘Mission Zero: Independent Review of Net Zero’ led by former Energy and Clean Growth Minister Chris Skidmore (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1128689/mission-zero-independent-review.pdf) was published in January.

Among many pages of detailed analysis it makes 129 recommendations, many aimed at making the carbon-reduction target easier for SMES to achieve.

Northwest companies contributed strongly to, and should benefit from, the review’s proposals, explains East Lancs Chamber CEO Miranda Barker OBE.

“We really welcome Chris’ conclusions and recommendations,” she says. “The Government must act quickly on the intelligence local companies have provided. That is now vitally important.”

In fact, Lancashire businesses had three bites at the feedback cherry. The first was via the British Chamber of Commerce ‘Chamber Climate Challenge Group’ which Miranda chairs (https://www.britishchambers.org.uk/page/climate-challenge). The second was through the Lancashire Low Carbon and Energy Plan (LEP) she co-chairs (https://lancashirelep.co.uk/2021/06/10/lancashire-enterprise-partnership-launches-energy-low-carbon-sector-plan/).

A third channel was via RedCAT (https://www.red-cat.uk/) to stimulate the development of low-carbon technologies.

Sharp focus on biodiversity

However, not only human lives that are at stake.

As we reported at the end of December 2022, the COP15 UN biodiversity conference in Canada before Christmas agreed in the nick of time to ’30 by 30’ – a commitment to protect and conserve 30% of the world’s land and sea surface by 2030.

Later, we look at how small businesses can support this target seen as the natural world twin of the 2015 Paris Agreement to resist climate change.

Living longer

The positive Lancet news is that if net-zero targets are met, people will live with fewer health problems.

Some reasons are obvious. Retrofitting home insulation accounts for some 8636,000 extra life-years; the caveat being that ventilation measures must be provided.

Specifically, researchers looked at six net-zero policies in four different areas – electricity supply; transport; housing; and food. Modelling then took into account reduced air pollution, healthier diets, and more exercise.

The next two changes with health benefits were powering homes with renewable energy, and eating less red meat – the longevity gains were 657,000 and 412,000 life-years respectively.

Replacing car journeys with walking or cycling led to a 125,000 year gain. Switching to renewable energy for transport was linked to a 30,000 year gain.

Pathways

The researchers also looked at two different scenarios. The first, a balanced pathway, would see 60% of emissions cut by 2035. In the second, diet and travel choices changed are more rapidly.

In the first, the total life benefits were circa 2 million life-years. However, the second led to an extra 2.5 million life-years by 2050!

Net-Zero Review – changing up a gear

Chris Skidmore as Energy and Clean Growth Minister introduced new legislation in 2019 making it legally-binding for the UK to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 under the 2015 Paris climate change agreement.

‘Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener’ followed in 2021 after ‘a ten point plan for the green revolution’ was published in 2020 to help the UK meet its carbon budgets and Paris commitments.

As Chair of the newly-published net-zero review, he now hopes far-reaching changes will take the UK’s low-carbon drive up a gear to net-zero – with a central role for businesses (‘Mission Zero: Independent Review of Net-Zero’ – https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1128689/mission-zero-independent-review.pdf).

Published in mid-January, it makes 129 recommendations based on 50 roundtable table meetings and 1,800 comments from businesses and climate experts over the final three months of 2022.

Its specific aim is to ‘assess the best way for the UK to reach its legally-binding 2050 climate target while maximising opportunities for economic growth, business prosperity, innovation and social sustainability’.

Skidmore sees decarbonisation as a great opportunity.

A ‘high emission future’ with severe disruptions would mean “normal economic activity will become very challenging”. Net-zero is environmentally essential. But its global economic advantages will let UK people “… reap the benefits of this both in their communities, and in their pockets,” he says.

SME net-zero problems

The UK has some 5.5 million SMEs – more than 90% of its total number of businesses. They employ a majority of the UK workforce, and release some 40% of non-domestic emissions.

Among key benefits, the review wants a ‘Help to Grow Green’ campaign launched in 2024 as a one-stop-shop to help SMEs access Government grant and loan schemes. It is also pressing for a new mentoring scheme in 2023 for micro-businesses with less than ten staff and the self-employed.

However, many SMEs say they face critical resource, funding, and skills challenges. But the review recognises that the main difficulty for the smallest businesses is soaring costs

Bank group survey

The review needs be seen in conjunction with survey carried by Lloyds Bank ‘Net Zero Monitor’ journal in January 2023 (‘The Journey to Net Zero – A SME opportunity’ – https://www.lloydsbank.com/business/resource-centre/insight/net-zero-monitor.html).

It found that 87% of SMEs say they now understand what the UK’s 2050 net-zero target means for them. But 40% feel they have insufficient financial resources to cut their emissions as required.

Circa 72% say high energy and material costs are damaging their net-zero journey. Some 59% add that supply chain disruption takes up vital time and resources; 33% say outside collaboration is difficult. Rising interest rates were cited by 57% as a significant challenge.

Approximately 64% reported having plans to reach net-zero by 2050. But of these only 7% are already net-zero businesses; nearly all said this was difficult with multiple other crises to manage – Covid-19, recession, and adapting to Brexit.

Of those already at net zero, 37% say protecting the natural environment for future generations was the biggest benefit. A further 32% said the largest benefit is cutting waste. Circa 27% cite employee wellbeing and engagement.

Carbon data

Another problem, especially for smaller SMEs with limited resources, is data. Some 49% already measure their emissions footprint; a further 15% are researching data gathering for an emissions baseline. More than one-third are in limbo.

If you are struggling to find data sources, once again the CLC programme can help. Please contact programme manager and Chamber Director of Sustainability Stephen Sykes directly (s.sykes@chamberelancs.co.uk) who will provide you with our free data guide.

A mix of recommendations

The review says the UK “enjoys a comparative advantage over other advanced economies” in sectors that include offshore wind, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and green finance. But it makes recommendations across key sectors that could help SMEs of all sizes: – financial, energy, skills, and the circular economy.

December 2022’s COP15 agreement – what it means

It may not have been everything expected. But the COP15 international biodiversity summit in Canada did achieve a landmark ‘Paris-style’ deal to protect and restore nature globally (‘The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework – https://www.cbd.int/doc/c/e6d3/cd1d/daf663719a03902a9b116c34/cop-15-l-25-en.pdf).

In the words of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, “We are finally starting to forge a peace pact with nature.” Biodiversity refers to all the Earth’s living things and how they are connected in a complex web of life that sustains the planet.

Miranda Barker welcomed the news before Christmas as a ‘victory’, adding that “It was a great relief that a deal was finally signed.”

The question is what next? As one observer at COP15 noted, “Now it’s done, governments, companies and communities need to figure out how they’ll help make these commitments a reality.”

As Miranda explains in a moment, this is now a major responsibility and opportunity for Northwest companies.

 

– What are the international targets?

The global aim is for at least 30% of degraded land, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems to be under restoration by 2030 – and specifically to ‘eliminate, phase out or reform incentives, including subsidies harmful for biodiversity’ by 2025 … and a total of $500 billion by 2030.

The ‘sustainable use’ of biodiversity means ensuring that species and habitats can provide services for humanity, such as food and clean water. Resources from nature, like medicines from plants, must be shared fairly and equally. Money and conservation efforts must be applied where needed.

– Individual national actions

Governments must set numerical targets to restore degraded land and habitat, and similarly, expand protected areas, cut harmful subsidies, and increase resources to protect biodiversity.

They must also set their own biodiversity strategies, and by 2030 mobilise major annual funding. Harvesting and trade-of-nature must also be ‘sustainable, safe and legal’.

Reducing pollution sources, minimising climate change impacts, managing agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and forestry sustainably, increasing green and blue urban spaces, and protecting ecosystems such as rainforests and wetlands, are other priorities.

– Business ahead of the curve

A specific target for businesses is to ‘regularly monitor, assess, and transparently disclose their risks, dependencies and impacts on biodiversity’ through supply chain and in consumer information.

Many are already in the lead. Progressive businesses and financial institutions at COP15 showed that they understand the relationship between a thriving natural environment and stable global and national economies.

In fact, businesses have urged governments to be bolder in incentivising business action, arguing there is a gap to fill and the real work is just beginning.”

– Action Northwest

“Global biodiversity is important in saving species, cutting carbon and climate change adaptation. But so is local biodiversity. We must conserve our local peatlands in the Northwest to prevent more flooding and high carbon emission levels,” explains Miranda.

Warmer than ever this year

The UK Met Office says 2023 will be hotter than 2022 – the 10th year in a row that global temperatures will be at least 1OC above average.

The reason is that the ‘La Niña’ Pacific Ocean cooling effect is expected to end after influencing the world’s weather for three years as part of a natural global weather cycle.

However, all is not lost …

 

Hazelnut and walnuts trees are taking over from vegetables on many English farms and proving to be economically viable in a warming climate.

 

They help to support farm biodiversity, increase soil health with roots that improve the soil’s ability to absorb water, and reduce the risk of wind erosion.

 

No, you are not going nuts!

The Energy Bills Discount Scheme

The Energy Bills Discount Scheme

The Energy Prices Act 2022 provided government with the powers to establish the EBRS (Energy Bill Relief Scheme), a support package that was put in place for businesses to manage the energy prices throughout the winter.

As this comes to an end on 31st March the government has announced The Energy Bills Discount Scheme which will be set out in regulations under these powers.

For Government guidance please see https://www.gov.uk/guidance/energy-bills-discount-scheme or for an explanation of how this may affect you please see this information piece (link below) by our Chamber Low Carbon sponsor Business Wise Solutions.

Download Infographic

Looking forward to a warmer – and cooler – 2023

In the middle of a cold winter with high energy prices it is hard not to look forward to warmer spring weather … though cooler than summer 2022. Before then, the world managed to make important decisions at COP15, the biodiversity twin of the recent COP27 climate summit.

It is hard to remember with the recent bout of cold weather that 2022 is likely to go down as one of the warmest years yet on record. However, whatever the weather, climate change is now a major challenge for biodiversity.

In early December, world leaders gathered in Montreal, Canada, for the second crucial global summit of the year to hammer out an international agreement committing 196 member states to precise targets to end the loss of species while also protecting and restoring nature

COP15 focussed on the living world through the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) – a treaty for the ‘conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity’.

The 196 broadly agreed that ecological degradation and deterioration must end in 2030. But once again, getting there, and the finance to do so, were key sticking points. Also once again, China, Russia, the US and India were absent, which makes reaching an agreement difficult.

Detailed aims are shown later (https://www.cbd.int/). East Lancs Chamber CEO Miranda Barker OBE also explains in a moment why COP15 has been so important.

Trees, revolutionary food, plus hot and wet energy

However, the natural world, biotechnology and green energy technology made low-carbon headlines for other reasons in the last month of the year.

We seem to have undervalued the true value of local neighbour trees by billions of pounds (https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/). At the other end of the scale, carefully engineered microbes could replace most of the world’s agricultural sector – and the harmful impacts that go with it.

As we slipped from 2022 into 2023, the war to replace reliance on fossil-fuel energy from Russia also continued on numerous fronts.

The UK has concluded a deal with the US to tanker LNG supplies eastwards across the Atlantic in 2023 equivalent to some 10% of the UK’s national needs.

There is also a plan by start-up Xlinks (https://xlinks.co/) to transmit bulk solar and wind power from the Moroccan desert through a 3,800km subsea cable to meet 8% of our national power demand – unfortunately, this will now be delayed by at least a year.

Meanwhile, in the same way that offshore wind and land-based solar power cost fell rapidly in recent years to become commercially viable, the costs of a fledgling UK subsea tidal stream power sector off the Caithness coast have fallen by 40% since 2018.

With projected prices as low as £78 per MWh by 2035, compared to £92.50 per MWh from the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant, the industry is now gaining its sea-legs – although it will always be on a smaller scale. More details on these developments in a moment.

The COP15 mission

Why is biodiversity so important? Because it is half of the answer needed to create a sustainable world. Miranda Barker explains why COP15 was a success, albeit after a nail-biting finish!

“The main priority from a business perspective is that we don’t destroy the huge free carbon sink nature provides of billions of tonnes of captured and stored atmospheric CO2. That would make trying to reverse our existing emissions to net-zero even more difficult,” she says. “COP15 was a victory.

“The other cliff-hanger moment was watching the world edge slowly towards a ’30 by 30’ agreement to protect 30% of the planet for nature by 2030. Brazil was one of the last nations to hold back and great hopes were pinned on the new president elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

 

“It was a great relief that a deal was finally signed,” she adds.

 

“The final point is that the world needs to reverse the ecological damage already caused – there is hope for a pledge that that should happen by 2050. All this means that COP15 was being regarded on an equal footing with the importance of the 2015 COP21 Paris climate agreement.”

Businesses at COP15

As at COP27 in Egypt in November, business organisations were obviously present at COP15, not pushing for a weaker CBD agreement, but lobbying for a strong nature-positive mission statement because they recognise the negative impacts a weaker natural world will have on business.

In particular, they want to ‘Make it mandatory‘ for large businesses to disclose their nature-related activities by 2030 (https://www.businessfornature.org/make-it-mandatory-campaign).

Draft CBD COP15 objectives have been to: –

  • Set aside 30% of land and water-based habitats for ‘protection, conservation and statuses’
  • Impose stricter rules to curb the spread of invasive species
  • Mandate businesses to report on their biodiversity impacts, dependencies, and risks
  • Mandate a reduction in pesticide use in agriculture
  • Reform or eliminate subsidies for industries that deplete nature
  • Provide private finance to help redirect financial flows that harm nature
  • Provide more international finance and increasing flows from wealthy to low-income nations

UK pushes for a strong Plastics Treaty

Meanwhile, the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on Plastic Pollution (https://www.unep.org/about-un-environment/inc-plastic-pollution) took place in Uruguay at the end of November and start of December. Some 160 countries came together to negotiate a new legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution, including in the marine environment.

The UK made its presence felt by continued to push for an ambitious and effective treaty to end plastic pollution, including through the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution which now has over 50 members (https://hactoendplasticpollution.org/).

The coalition’s aims are to: – ‘restrain plastic consumption and production to sustainable levels’; ‘enable a circular economy for plastics that protects the environment and human health’; and ‘achieve environmentally sound management and recycling of plastic waste’.

Building low-carbon momentum

Another late 2022 milestone was the Government’ release of ‘Building for 2050’ (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1121448/Building_for_2050_Low_cost_low_carbon_homes.pdf). Its evidence will be used to develop low-carbon building construction policies and future emissions reductions plans.

This £1.64 million research project studies the construction of low-cost, low-carbon buildings. Its aims are to understand: – ‘the attitudes towards and challenges of this type of home’; ‘the costs and cost drivers associated with their construction’; and ‘their energy performance once occupied’.

Innovative technical developments

A key goal of the Chamber Low Carbon Programme is to promote new low-carbon technologies in Lancashire to help fill the gap created by ending the West’s dependence of fossil-fuels. However, the rest of the world is not far behind!

A new US example is Aeromine Technologies (https://www.aerominetechnologies.com/) which has designed a ‘motionless’ rooftop wind power generation system that can deliver 50% more power than comparable solar plants.

The units occupy a tenth of the space needed by a solar system and are silent – though at 3m high they still have a significant profile. However, by amplifying air flows at speeds as low as 8km/h in a similar way to aerofoils on racing cars, they work with no mechanical spinning parts.

Some more large-scale energy developments are described later. But first, modern ‘brewing’ could bring revolutionary food production changes.

Not trouble but solutions brewing – precision fermentation

Brewing may be popular in the festive season. However, its successors are pushing an old technology into the realms of replacing a large part of the world’s essential farming sector and its negative environmental impacts. Here are the basics according to its advocates: –

Enough food to feed the world – With pressure on food production in a warming world, there are estimates that precision fermentation could replace 80% of the world’s traditional farmlands and produce enough food to feed eight billion people on a small fraction of the land.

Precision fermentation – This has been described as possibly the most important green technology ever devised. It is a refined type of brewing that multiplies the quantity of microbes needed to produce very specific products.

Microbes fed on green hydrogen – Crucially, the bio-technology would use no agricultural feedstock. Instead, microbes will be fed on either hydrogen (green hydrogen) or methanol created with renewable electricity, water, carbon dioxide, and very small quantities of fertiliser.

Protein-rich – The resulting ‘flour’ is said to be circa 60% protein. In comparison, soy beans contain 37% and chick peas 20%. Importantly, microbes can be bred to create specific proteins and fats that could be more effective alternatives than plant products to replace meat, fish, milk and eggs.

Minute areas of land – By one estimate precision fermentation based on methanol will only need 1/1,700th of the land used to grow US soya beans. Extrapolating this logic, 138,000 and 157,000 less land would be needed than agriculturally reared beef and lamb.

Minimal waste and emissions – In addition, depending on sources of green power and recycling rates, water use and greenhouse gas emissions fall, while the self-controlling characteristics of the technology prevent waste overspills into the environment.

No livestock waste – The absence of livestock would also resolve the balance in favour of biodiversity and allow natural rewilding on a huge scale. Fishing from the seas could potentially be replaced too.

Downside – There are serious scientific objections too in terms of genetic modification and commercial-sensitive monopoly products, but given the size of world’s current problems could count against them.

Tidal turbines

For decades the practical difficulties of harnessing powerful tides flowing around Britain’s shorelines have put off investors and government officials searching for major renewable energy sources.

But as the costs have fallen, more people are seeing the potential of a renewable resource that creates energy as the tides ebb and flow predictably, regularly and not intermittently every day.

A report from Offshore Marine Catapult (https://ore.catapult.org.uk/?orecatapultreports=cost-reduction-pathway-of-tidal-stream-energy-in-the-uk-and-france) says tidal stream energy is at the “point of commercialisation” with companies keen to scale up turbine production and deployment.

But the sector will need careful nurturing to follow the successful trajectory of offshore wind, which in 11 years grew from generating energy for 4% of British homes to 33%. Government support played a key role then and advocates hope it will be part of ‘the perfect blueprint for tidal stream energy’ now. These three companies are precedents: –

 – Orbital Marine, which operates powerful turbines below a floating platform near Orkney, has government funding for three more turbines next year, each generating power for 2,000 homes.

– Simec Atlantis Energy plans to install up to 56 turbines on the seabed in northern Scotland by 2027; it has won a government contract to expand the site from 6 MW to 34 MW – enough to power 68,000 homes.

– Nova Innovation is doubling its seabed-mounted Shetland tidal array from three to six turbines. It has exported its first turbine to Canada and won a feasibility study for potential for an array in Indonesia.

Unlike tidal barrages and lagoons with seawall-mounted turbines, tidal stream turbines are lowered into strong tides out at sea which until now has made installing and testing them in turbulent waters costly.

Meanwhile, we wish you a warm or cold happy New Year depending on your preferences!

Net zero – the ball passes back to businesses

 

Action needed. COP27 disappointingly did little to cut more carbon as the environmental crisis deepens. But there are new incentives, fresh support, and growing calls for responsible companies to step up urgently and reap the multiple-benefits of net zero by closing the low-carbon gap.

A global mustard shortage, mysterious exploding holes in the arctic tundra, and a lack of female bearded dragons in Australia might seem to be odd examples of global warming’s side-effects.

What they show, however, is that unchecked climate change will have unexpected and potentially quite weird impacts that we must learn to live with unless the world can turn words and promises into decisive low-carbon action … quickly!

Action this day … or sooner!

Chamber CEO Miranda Barker OBE and Chamber Director of Sustainability Stephen Sykes were busy on the ground at November’s COP27 climate summit making new export contacts for Lancashire, watching complex decisions being made, and monitoring whether the world is serious about action.

Miranda shares her observations of the major international conference in Egypt below.

Whatever the world does, concrete action is taking place across Lancashire where Chamber Low Carbon (CLC) Programme’s ‘Destination Net Zero’ workshop is being offered across the county because of its popularity in Community Renewal Fund areas. Again, details in a moment. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-community-renewal-fund-prospectus).

There is other UK net zero progress too. The Government’s three-month autumn review designed to streamline and make net zero more ‘pro-growth’ and ‘pro-business will report before New Year.

In addition, a new internationally recognised ISO standard to make net zero easier to implement was also released at COP27. Meanwhile, from early 2023 a new Treasury Transition Plan Taskforce Disclosure Framework will actively push the UK towards a net zero future.

Reporting from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

Miranda and Stephen were able to work in COP27’s ultra-secure ‘Blue Zone’ where advisors worked furiously in Week One to draft proposals for political leaders to try to refine and sign in Week Two.

Their first and second YouTube reports and high-level interviews can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzLUHXacadE and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkGqcIUXg_Y.

This is also a good point to mention that if you would like to join our 13th December ‘Destination Net Zero’ workshop, please go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/destination-net-zero-workshop-tickets-471135558137. More will be held in 2023.

This is a leading Lancashire initiative. For the last four and a half years, the CLC programme has helped companies to cut their carbon footprints by systematically eliminating energy losses and improving the efficiency of energy – preferably renewable energy – that they do use.

Action, no action, and delayed action

The results of COP27 were mixed. The good news is that a milestone ‘loss and damage’ financial compensation breakthrough will help countries like badly flooded Pakistan as part of a long campaign for climate change justice.

However, questions of who will pay, how much, and when, must be thrashed out at 2023’s COP28 in Dubai – an oil and gas producing state. Complex international diplomacy moves at a snail’s pace!

Also on the down side, there was a failure to implement a 2021 COP26 promise to ‘phase down unabated coal power’. Successful diplomacy is fraught with difficulties and requires an enormous amount of time, commitment, leadership, management, and advanced negotiating skills.

But on the plus side, the idea that keeping world temperature rises down to 1.50C is dead and gone after COP27 is untrue, according to executive director of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol.

“It is factually incorrect, and politically it is very wrong,” he says. “The fact is that the chances of 1.50C are narrowing, but it is still achievable,” he explains, adding that such conclusions are not borne out by the data.

Dateline Egypt

The watchword at COP27 was meant to be action, says Miranda. It was good that a strong ‘loss and damage’ agreement was reached. But it came at the expense of other priorities. Egypt was meant to be a call to action. Instead, time was wasted talking and blaming each other for a lack of progress.

“The focus must now shift urgently to actively reducing greenhouse gas emissions as agreed in the 2015 Paris climate agreement”, she says, “That means making achievable pledges to put innovative low-carbon technologies to work of the type Lancashire has a world reputation for producing,

“And we really have a year to do this because COP28 will review global progress and where we are on the pathway.”

Business to the rescue?

Between high-level events like COP27 and COP28, it is easy to forget well-meant promises and commitment. Which makes it essential to keep on delivering the UK’s ‘Nationally determined contribution’ (NDC). However, this is a business opportunity.

“We can’t keep going back to an ‘everything is normal’ state of mind,” Miranda adds. “We need a strong underlying business commitment. I think one huge mistake made at COP27 was not to write business in as responsible partners.”

County role

“Lancashire is well placed to meet two priorities. The first is developing globally viable technologies, and this is where RedCAT (https://www.red-cat.uk/) attracted a lot of interest. For advanced manufacturing, we also have AMRC (https://www.amrc.co.uk/).

“The second is that we must decarbonise Lancashire quickly, particularly transport systems, buildings, and energy systems. But we have a head start. Lancashire has the highest potential number of future regional low-carbon jobs in the UK, according to the Local Government Association.”

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund will also be important in replacing post-Brexit European funding (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus).

Positive UK action – good DIY energy cuts

How attitudes change. A decision made by David Cameron in 2013 will cost households up to £150 annually, according to a new Carbon Brief analysis.

It explains that, “Cutting the so-called ‘green crap’ has left UK households highly exposed to soaring global gas prices and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Energy efficiency and cheap renewables are the fastest and most effective ways to cut gas imports – and household bills.”

With an international failure at the top, the onus for cutting carbon has fallen on to the shoulders of individual nations, people and companies. However, there is encouraging UK news.

Through November, gas and electricity consumption fell by more than 10%, energy suppliers report. E.ON and Telecom Plus – which owns Utility Warehouse – recorded ‘double-digit’ cuts in recent weeks.

E.ON says it is “seeing reductions of 10% to 15% against seasonal averages” by its 5.6 million customers. CEO Michael Lewis said E.ON expected to find “people putting their heating on for shorter periods or turning down the thermostats in their houses. These are the two big levers.”

Telecom Plus CEO Andrew Lindsey explains that gas use dropped by some 10%, and is expecting a further fall as “people self-regulate”. However, “unseasonably mild weather” in October and November has made analysing consumer behaviour more difficult.

But, as Lindsey adds, “…they can’t self-regulate to zero”.

Net zero review

In October, we mentioned the Government’s autumn net-zero review focused on maximising ‘pro-growth’ and ‘pro-business’ innovation, investment, exports, jobs, and the real economic costs and benefits of new policies and technologies (‘Review of Net Zero’ – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-net-zero).

Official statistics show there are already some 400,000 low-carbon jobs in UK companies and supply chains, with an estimated 2020 turnover of £41.2 billion.

Net zero guidelines to help deliver action

However, the introduction of new international net zero standard will also help. For small organisations, knowing how to achieve net zero practically can be difficult – which is why the Chamber Low Carbon programme is both popular and successful with Lancashire companies!

Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale, many ‘creative’ organisations have been accused of ‘greenwashing’ and setting themselves vague sustainability targets.

Announced at COP27, the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has now stepped in and published a set of definitions and guiding principles for the creation of ‘credible’ net-zero targets and plans for ‘all actors and organisations’ in the public and private sectors (see ‘Net Zero Guidelines‘ – https://www.iso.org/netzero); ‘Defining net zero‘-https://www.iso.org/contents/news/2022/06/defining-net-zero.html; and ‘IWA 42:2022 – Net zero guidelines’ – https://www.iso.org/standard/85089.html).

What the guidelines do

Offered as a free download, or for online browsing, the guidelines – known as a ‘single core reference text’ – the guidelines provide common terms, definitions, and specific recommendations on net zero guiding principles.

They give advice on incorporating net zero into strategies and policies, plus what net zero means at different levels for organisations that including countries, regions, cities … and SMEs.

Guidelines technical author Kaya Axelsson explains that, “People are tired of having the wool pulled over their eyes when it comes to false climate claims.”

She adds, “These new guidelines mean when we see products and labels that say ‘net zero’ or ‘carbon neutral’ we now have a rubric against which to question whether these organisations are actually doing what it takes to get there.”

A common understanding of ‘net zero’

The Net Zero Guidelines set ‘a common path’ for the definition of ‘net zero’ – and related terms such as greenhouse gas removal, offsetting, value chain, etc. They also clarify the differences between direct emissions (Scope 1), indirect emissions from purchased energy (Scope 2), and other indirect emissions created during business activities (Scope 3).

They consider high-level principles for ‘all actors who want to achieve climate neutrality’. Similarly, they provide ‘actionable guidance’ for reaching net zero as soon as possible, or by 2050 at the latest. Transparent communication, credible claims, and consistent reporting on emissions, reductions and removals is a further priority.

A ‘stick’ with benefits

However, the ISO ‘carrot’ is tempered with a new action ‘stick’. The Treasury’s Transition Plan Taskforce Disclosure Framework (https://transitiontaskforce.net/uk-transition-plan-taskforce-launches-new-gold-standard-for-best-practice-climate-transition-plans-by-private-sector-firms/) is designed to drive the UK towards a net zero future (also see https://www.e3g.org/wp-content/uploads/TPT-Implementation-Guidance_embargoed.pdf. Its three guiding principles are ‘ambition, action and accountability’.

Issued in November, in February 2023 after a period of consultation the framework will require that businesses produce and implement ‘concrete, short term’ net zero action plans formatted to deliver their emission cut promises. The aim is to identify risks, opportunities and vital investment areas.

While helping to make the UK a true net zero economy and global leader, the initiative is regarded as a significant step in enabling the world reach net zero.

Broad action call

To do this, the guidance urge businesses to develop plans covering their own decarbonisation priorities, but also how these fit into the UK and global net zero transition – in many cases businesses may have to go much further than their current net zero planning.

With a focus on strategy and planning, the guidelines want businesses to consider practical actions needed to realise their plans. Behavioural change and change management will figure highly. TPT plans will act as bespoke net zero roadmaps, and allow businesses to be compared to each other.

The underlying message is that impressive pledges will no longer be enough!

Keen as mustard

To clarify statements made above, Canada, one of the world’s main brown mustard seed suppliers, has suffered an intense drought. Meanwhile, spontaneously exploding methane released from melting permafrost is now thought to cause massive craters.

And bearded dragons are one species where global warming is turning nearly all eggs into females!

Smart meters are a smart decision for your business this winter

Firms of all sizes are currently confronted by a host of challenges, from soaring energy bills, labour shortages, spiralling inflation, and climbing interest rates.

As a business owner, you need to ensure that your doors stay open and that your business can thrive no matter what the season brings.

Did you know that a smart meter could help your business this winter and beyond? Smart meters are the next generation of gas and electricity meters currently being rolled out in homes and small businesses across Great Britain by energy suppliers.

If you are looking for practical advice to help tackle these challenges, a smart meter could be a positive step for your business.

Make informed choices about your firm’s energy usage

A smart meter could give you valuable insights into how your business uses energy, day and night, helping you to identify ways to reduce your energy use.

Close the door on estimated bills

Installing a smart meter is a positive step in taking control of business outgoings. Once installed, smart meters digitally measure how much energy you’re using and send your meter reading directly to your energy supplier at agreed intervals, putting an end to estimated bills.

Don’t let energy costs keep you awake at night

Installing a smart meter can help you closely monitor where you spend your money, helping with planning and projection of costs in the short, medium, and long term. They allow you to spend less time worrying about cash flow and more time running your business.

Find out if you are eligible for a smart meter

Whether you rent or own your business premises, you could still be eligible. If you don’t have your own gas and/or electricity meter, ask your landlord if they plan to get one for your building.

Half of eligible businesses across Great Britain already have a smart or advanced meter installed.

Firms with 10 employees or less could be eligible for a smart meter.  Click here  to find out whether you are eligible. You can also contact your energy supplier or broker.

Counting down to ‘zero’

Green government? While the UK waits for details of No 10’s latest environmental agenda, Lancashire is taking a strong pro-growth message for regional businesses and developing nations to November’s COP27 climate summit in Egypt where net-zero could have a much-needed reboot.

In a last minute U-turn, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak finally decided it was important that he goes to wave the UK’s green flag at the UN’s global forum in Sharm el-Sheikh where vital decision about the environment’s increasingly precarious future need to be taken urgently.

Former PM Boris Johnson who during his premiership developed very pro-environmental credentials will also be there. But King Charles who has been a pioneering environmental campaigner for decades will not be going, even though he was a respected and popular figure at previous summits.

However, on 4th November the King hosted a reception for 200 prominent international business figures at Buckingham Palace to mark the importance of the COP27 summit.

Lancashire in Egypt

For continuity, the East Lancs Chamber team who helped to promote Lancashire’s innovative low-carbon strengths at 2021’s partially-successful COP26 summit in Glasgow will be flying the regional design and manufacturing flag again at COP27 in Egypt.

However, Chamber CEO Miranda Barker OBE and Chamber Director of Sustainability Stephen Sykes will have an important new proposal to discuss in the many one-to-one meetings where information is shared and opinions formed, as explained in a moment.

“We, along with every other climate action advocate, are hoping and praying that world leaders will make real progress at COP27 because precision little came out of COP26,” says Miranda.

But like COP26, COP27 will also be a major international opportunity to make worldwide contacts and develop new business partnerships.

Pivotal net-zero moment

During 2023, the marker point will be passed where there are 10,000 days left to meet the 2050 net-zero delivery deadline.

Whether that sounds like a large reassuring or worryingly small number, the world is currently way off course to meet its scientifically defined targets and needs to take urgent remedial action.

With multiple-crises pushing the environmental emergency on to a backburner, COP27 is the forum for an international fight-back to keep average surface temperature rises down to a manageable 1.50C this century to stop the world from overheating on an irreversible scale.

What comes out of Egypt, and whether individual countries are willing to deliver on the greenhouse gas reduction promises they made in Glasgow, could seal the fate of the planet as we know it.

News summary

The brief look below at hurdles facing Downing Street. But also a Lancashire solution in which the Government can help open vital markets for Northwest, UK and worldwide technology in developing countries where it is most needed. Both put the challenges ahead into wider context.

Meanwhile, there is a chilling warning from the UN secretary general, plus worrying reports from other UN agencies and scientific studies, of what failing to act soon will mean.

On the positive side, the Government has commissioned a three-month research programme to sharpen up the UK’s net-zero delivery. There is also a small, sad, but welcome silver lining that the war in Ukraine is accelerating the phasing out of fossil-fuels.

Remember vaccine-equity? What we need now is green-tech-equity

The Prime Minister faces a complex agenda that includes confirming the Environment Bill’s goals, avoiding a post-Brexit decline in standards, promoting greater energy-efficiency, passing the Energy Security Bill, and reviewing the High Court’s ruling that the UK’s Net-Zero Strategy is unlawful.

However, governments can also play a pivotal role in closing the large financial gap that currently prevents well-established industrial hubs like Lancashire and the Northwest from helping developing nations.

As Miranda Barker explains, the key aims of COP27 are to firm up commitments made at COP26 and deliver them in countries where global warming is causing havoc – but which with support also have a huge potential to cut their own carbon footprints.

For this to happen, low-carbon technological solutions developed by advanced northern countries are needed urgently in the Global South where the climate change battle is most likely to be won or lost. But growth is also important.

The question is how to fund this north to south transfer?

A silver lining to Covid-19?

“Fortunately, the pandemic gave us a powerful precedent,” says Miranda. “The Government – and other governments under the UN umbrella – need to step in with their financial resources to duplicate the successful distribution of Covid-19 vaccines around the world.”

“This might sound expensive, but everyone will gain,” she adds. “It will help to create new markets for our regional entrepreneurs and low-carbon technology suppliers.

“At the same time, developing nations will have opportunities to benefit from sustainable economic growth that prevents them from developing dangerously high emission footprints while going through their own 21st century industrial revolutions.

“Just to be quite clear, this will not involve any transfer or loss of valuable intellectual property. We are simply talking about financially-priming and kick-starting essential markets.

“And neither is this about loading global south nations with any more debt. It’s about the technology being given to them free of charge!”

Priorities in Egypt

When countries convene for COP27 – the 27th UN conference on climate change – they will pick up three main unresolved points carried over from COP26.

The first, as mentioned by Miranda, will cover financial loss and damage issues that need to be decided quickly to help badly affected countries recover from existing climate change destruction – and not just prepare for more distant future impacts.

The second is to set up a global carbon market that puts a price on the effects of emissions. Last but not least is the goal of strengthening commitments made by states to reduce coal use. Again, despite strong words, delivery is very slow.

Act now to avoid catastrophe says UN chief

UN secretary general António Guterres warned this month that Planet Earth must tackle climate change now or ‘face catastrophe’. War, energy, and compromised food supplies are already disrupting growth with “a tendency to put climate change on the back burner”. If this trend cannot be reversed, ‘we will be doomed’, he said emphatically.

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths added that climate finance is not reaching the levels needed.

In Glasgow, 193 nations made individual pledges – known as ‘nationally determined contributions (NDC) – to cut their emissions. So far only 24 have revisited or increased these as promised.

However, a detailed UN analysis has shown that current plans will actually increase emissions by 10.6% by 2030 – putting the world on course for damaging warming of 2.10C to 2.90C with a 2.50C average.

That could mean a future with more intense flooding of the type seen globally in 2022, widespread wildfires, more droughts and heatwaves, plus the inevitable extinction of species.

Vital infrastructure left at risk

As if that was not enough, the joint committee on national security strategy says the UK Government is evading its responsibilities in a ‘severe dereliction of duty’ by failing to prepare for the increasing risks of extreme weather.

In a recent inquiry, the committee said critical national infrastructure (CNI), including railways, have been left exposed because of ‘extreme weaknesses’ at the heart of government.

Vital power, transport and construction networks need much greater resilience to avoid blackouts, flooding, landslides and buckled train lines with the potential to create a series of ‘cascading’ risks that could affect other essential infrastructure services.

Climate change’s growing threat to health

The chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, Professor Dame Jenny Harries, has also challenged the misconception that a warmer climate with milder winters will improve health generally.

On the contrary, she says, the climate emergency will increase threats from food, security, flooding and mosquito-borne diseases.

Referring to the stagnant water and sewage overflows into public water seen recently in Pakistan’s disastrous floods, she warns that the same could happen in the UK.

On the brighter side

The slightly better news is that, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will speed up the peak use of fossil-fuels by the end of this decade. This will include an end to ‘the golden age of gas’ and see a shift towards renewables and greater energy-efficiency.

But investments in renewable energy of $1.3 trillion will be needed every year up to 2030 to meet Paris Agreement goals, the IEA believes.

On the downside, the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) says methane emissions to atmosphere from ‘biological and human processes’ reached new highs in 2022, as concentrations of all three major greenhouse gases grew.

A CO2 jump from 2020 to 2021 to 415.7 parts per million (ppm) was larger than the average over the whole previous decade mainly because fossil fuel use rebounded after Covid-19 lockdown gains.

Net zero review to ‘double down’ on clean energy transition

While key UK policies are still adrift, net-zero is undergoing a makeover to make it more fit for purpose in tough times.

Former energy minister Chris Skidmore MP is leading a three-month net-zero review to sharpen up the UK’s climate change fight, but also increase energy security and affordability for private consumers and businesses – with the term pro-growth woven carefully into the text.

The emphasis will be on maximising innovation, investments, exports, jobs, and identifying the real economic costs and benefits of new policies and technologies.

The review announced in late September will call for evidence from consumers and innovators, plus individual leaders and experts in energy, land use and transport. All being well, his report and recommendations will be published before the end of 2022.

Government statistics indicate that the UK has grown its economy by 76%, but also cut emissions by 44% since 1990.

Hydrogen to be injected into a peak power station for first time

‘Peaking plants’ like the 49MW gas-fired Brigg power station in Lincolnshire generally only run when there is a high power demand, or generation from renewables falls to less than three hours a day.

Centrica working with British Gas will trial the use of hydrogen at the Brigg plant in the second half of 2023 to examine what role hydrogen can play in power production.

The pilot is one of 20 projects part-funded by an £8 million programme from the Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC) which receives funding from the UK and Scottish governments.

The project is designed to test the practicalities of mixing hydrogen with natural gas to reduce overall carbon intensity.

End of a Rough ride?

Centrica is also reopening its ageing Rough gas storage facility 29km off the North Yorkshire which closed in June 2017 because of operational issues with the first injection of natural gas in five years.

Unlike Germany which holds an 89 day gas supply, France 103 days, and the Netherlands 123 days, the UK only keeps a nine day capacity in reserve. However, the former Rough gas field which has now been upgraded could store up to 30 billion cubic feet for UK homes and businesses this winter.

The icy end

Little of which helps to solve the world’s deep-seated warming problem directly. Humans are resourceful, however.

A group of Scandinavian engineering companies are considering a major geoengineering project to build a huge barrier that will stop warm sea water from nibbling away at the base of Greenland’s Jakobshavn glacier.

If the scheme works – and can be financed – it might be possible for monumental interventions of this kind to help slow down sea level rises from the melting Antarctic too.

How smart meters are helping independent caterers focus on the bigger picture

Running an independent restaurant, coffee shop or bar is a round-the-clock job and for business owners, supplying energy readings is often not a top priority. Smart meters send your gas and electricity readings directly to your energy supplier, saving you time to focus on other jobs.

A smart meter could give businesses additional visibility over energy use and costs to make it easier to identify where changes and savings can be made.

If your firm has 10 employees or less, your business could be eligible. To see whether smart metering can work for your business, contact your energy supplier. To find out more please click here