Opinion: Accelerating local authority Opinion: Accelerating local authority investment in low carbon
Independent consultant on climate change, low carbon and renewable energy, Stephen explores how the Public Sector Fund could spur local authority investment in low carbon projects
Independent consultant on climate change, low carbon and renewable energy, Stephen explores how the Public Sector Fund could spur local authority investment in low carbon projects.in arrival, putting pressure a certain threshold of pounds spent per tonne of carbon savings. Again, rising supply chain costs, often after orders had been placed, put some schemes in jeopardy.
So whilst the allocation of the next batch of funding under the PSDS is to be welcomed, the view in local government is that lessons need to be from earlier rounds. Government if they are to create the conditions which will see a noticeable increase in momentum in this area the funding there has to be a better understanding of the on a Council to conceive a project, present it to Members for approval, undertaking of all feasibility work bringing it to completion, particularly when other timeframes (such as procurement) are
Only time will tell whether these lessons have been Even if radical retrofit of that nature is not possible, simply improving windows and doors and adding further insulation will have a noticeable effect. What the Government should have done is to launch a nationwide energy efficiency for domestic housing as part of the ‘build back better’ initiative after the Covid pandemic. To do so would have addressed this earlier and created hundreds of thousands of local jobs, whilst reducing everyone’s heating costs.
Many of the buildings and housing requiring such treatment reside public sector. The now seems that earmarked the PSDS as the main vehicle for this work in England and Wales, with the recent announcement of another £531m of funding over the period of the next 2 – 3 years.
However, despite some success, the PSDS has been the subject of significant criticism from local government in the way that it has been operated. These criticisms fall into a number of a very short timescale for applications to the fund. Bearing in mind that substantial sums of money might be being applied for, naturally there were evidential and other governance requirements in place. Many authorities found these so tight as to be its application was only possible because two years of preliminary and feasibility work (including a full business case) had already been completed. Were that not the case, then the project would have had no chance of completing the application in the timescales set building standards demand much higher levels of insulation as part of a better design to prevent thermal bridging and keeping heat in. Combined with air tightness, MHVR and renewable heating systems, heating costs can be reduced to historically low levels. As an owner of a certified gas prices, it certainly matters now. The cost of fuel is a major concern, with many households simply not able to raise the large extra expense now being demanded by energy suppliers and therefore being forced into fuel poverty for the first time. Moves by the Chancellor to ameliorate this situation are merely a sticking plaster over a wound that needs proper surgery area where sadly lacking is efficiency. Whilst a huge effort has been made to electricity supply – with some considerable success – and good progress is being made on transport, there has been a much lower focus on energy efficiency of buildings. This is now starting to stand out as one of the key areas that has to be urgently addressed.
The problem in the UK is decades of poor building practices, which have resulted in virtually no building stock that will comply with the Climate Change Act 2008 targets. But the area providing more political headaches is housing. There are around 30 million houses in general standard of
Perhaps this didn’t matter too much in the past, but in the light of the Russian invasion of and the
You must be logged in to post a comment.