Tackling Energy

Renewable energy is about a lot more than just windfarms. A regional conference later this week will provide important new information about the small scale renewable energy revolution that is only a few years ahead.

Rising fuel prices for gas and electricity are driving increased interest in renewable energy, with underlying reasons for future rises being the reduction in indigenous supplies of gas and oil and an increasing reliance in overseas imports.

The Yorkshire and Humber Assembly, in partnership with the Energy Saving Trust, will be holding its first Microgeneration Conference, entitled ‘Maximising the Micro’ on Friday (March 24) in Huddersfield to address the planning policy, skills and technical implications of new approaches to tackling renewable energy issues.

There are now a number of developments across the region where a range of renewable energy technologies have been successfully integrated into new or existing buildings.

These include:

More than 5% of the Uk’s solar electricity is now generated in Huddersfield. This is due to a significant investment by Kirklees Council;

Calderdale Council has recently introduced a policy that will ensure that all major new developments will have to include some element of renewable energy;

Barnsley Council is now firmly established as the national leader in using biomass (wood pellets and wood chips) to provide heat and hot water to many of its own buildings as well as hundreds of council houses.

“Experience in installing new renewable energy technologies is definitely making an impact. What is important now is for these demonstration projects to become the norm for all developments.” said Andrew Cooper, the Assembly’s Energy Policy Manager.

In addition, the new draft Regional Spatial Strategy drawn up by the Assembly and which is currently out to consultation, says all new sizeable developments should generate at least 10% of their energy from onsite renewable sources. This will have a significant impact on Local Development Frameworks, which oversee planning applications, currently being drawn up across the region.

“The Assembly has commissioned work to assess the implications of this new policy with a particular focus on skills in the building industry and planning sector. This will be presented at the Conference along with many examples of best practice in terms of policy and technical expertise from local authorities in the region,” added Andrew.

In addition, there will also be a presentation by Kirk Archibald from the Energy Saving Trust on microregeneration’s potential to help us achieve the environmental targets detailed in the government’s Energy White Paper.

For more details on the conference or on energy issues contact Andrew Cooper on 01924 331603, e-mail andew.cooper@yhassembly.gov.uk