Energy in Government: practicing what you preach

In this focus on the UK Government's energy policies and practices, Andrew Lee, Chief Executive of The Sustainable Development Commission discusses the role of government in reducing carbon emissions in the country and asks the question - is it leading by example?

While the debate continues over how we will meet the ambitious targets for greenhouse gas reductions contained in the UK’s Climate Change Bill, it would be good to report that the Government is leading by example by setting its own house in order.

However, while Government as a whole has made significant progress towards achieving greater sustainability in many areas, carbon emissions from offices are still not falling fast enough to meet the target of a 12.5 per cent reduction by 2011/12. This means that radical action is still needed if the Government is to be in a position to lead by example and contribute appropriately to UK wide emissions reduction targets.

The Sustainable Development Commission is the UK Government’s sustainability adviser and watchdog, holding the government to account on its own sustainability targets. Ironically, while our latest analysis found that emissions from heating and fossil fuels were down 22 per cent on the baseline year, this has been offset by poor performance on reducing carbon emissions from electricity. In fact, electricity consumption has actually increased. And, as electricity is more carbon intensive than other types of fuel used for heating (grid electricity emits about twice as much carbon per kWh as kerosene, and 2.5 times that of natural gas), this has a grave impact on the Government’s overall carbon emissions.

It’s likely that the proliferation of computers, printers, laptops, chargers, lobby televisions and the air conditioning of server rooms is in no small way to blame for the increase in electricity consumption. While the Greening ICT Strategy introduced in July 2008 is an encouraging step, it’s clear that ambition levels need to be raised. As the strategy itself acknowledges, there’s an urgent need for the government to work with departments and industry to explore and invest in radical green ICT solutions – judged not only on electricity consumption, but carbon emissions too.

As of January 2009 all public sector buildings with a total floor area of over 1000m2 are required to have a Display Energy Certificate showing the energy usage of a building and its operational rating. While compliance is likely to have increased in recent months, at the end of October 2008 only 49.5 per cent of the buildings required to have a certificate actually did, with 59 per cent of these buildings achieving a rating below the average benchmark.

Our research has found that a £3.8 bn investment into on-site photovoltaic solar cells and wind turbines could potentially save 68 per cent of carbon emissions from central government offices. 8.7 per cent of electricity was derived from the other cleaner source of energy, CHP. While this is an improvement, the Government is still not on track to meet its 2010 CHP target.

This is not to say that no progress is being made. Innovative approaches are being taken by departments across government to increase energy efficiency. Defra, for example, has opted for Voltage Optimisation to lower voltage across a whole site, reducing energy bills and increasing the lifespan of the site’s electrical equipment. The powerPerfector products installed in six pilot sites considered most suitable are estimated to cut electricity consumption by up to 15 per cent in some instances, saving at least £500,000 on electricity bills and 475 tonnes of carbon every year.

Elsewhere, the Cabinet Office has developed a PCs Off project to run IT system updates during the night and then turn them off again, as well as automatically switching off computers left on for long periods of time. It is estimated that the project will save 550 tonnes of carbon and £65,000 a year.

Departments making forward looking changes to their estate to minimise future energy requirements include the Department for Children, Schools and Families, where improved solar shading is reducing the need for air conditioning, and again Defra, whose Lion House development in Alnwick, Northumberland, incorporates photovoltaic solar shading arrays expected to generate 12,000kWh every year; solar thermal hot water, and naturally ventilated offices with exposed thermal mass to allow for passive night cooling.

The Government is currently undertaking a much needed review of the targets and commitments against which the sustainability of its operations and procurement are measured. While departments are clearly getting to grips with many of their sustainability targets, energy efficiency is clearly set to become an increasing challenge. A dramatic scaling up of ambitions is to be hoped for, because unless government truly leads by example by ensuring that its internal commitments match or go beyond national targets, it cannot make good on its groundbreaking climate change ambitions for the country.

Published: Tuesday, 10th November 2009

Comment on this article

Comments

No comments for this article, be the first to comment