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NEWS


Scotland to cut renewables red tape


Scotland will reduce bureaucracy to speed up the adoption of renewables, according to one of the country’s most prominent politicians. Fergus Ewing, Minister


for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism, told last month’s World Plumbing Conference in Edinburgh that he was committed to reducing red tape and its associated costs to speed up growth in the renewables market. Scotland has set a target


of producing 100% of its electricity and 11% of its heat from renewables by 2020. This means up to 200,000 homes will have to be retrofitted at the rate of 20,000 a year. However, the current adoption rate of renewable technologies is too slow to meet these targets, according to David McKenzie of Scotland’s Micro-renewables Working Group. ‘We have a massive challenge on our hands, but nobody seems to know how to make it happen,’ McKenzie told the conference.


M&E firms seek workforce reform


Eight of the UK’s largest construction contractors have begun the process of reforming the way mechanical-and- electrical (M&E) operatives’ pay and working conditions are agreed. They want to adopt a new,


single unified agreement: The Building Engineering Services National Agreement (BESNA), which was drafted by the Heating and Ventilating Contractors’ Association. It would replace the five separate agreements that have been developed since the 1960s. The eight firms, NG Bailey,


Balfour Beatty Engineering Services, T Clarke, Crown House Technologies, Gratte Brothers, MJN Colston, Shepherd Engineering Services and SPIE Matthew Hall, said that the agreement would provide the flexibility needed to create the multi-skilled and integrated workforce. www.besna.info


12 CIBSE Journal October 2011


Minister put under pressure over renewables target


l Doubts raised at conference over viability of green technology ambitions


A poll taken in the presence of the Climate Change Minister at The Energy Event found that no one believed the government’s target to produce 30% of the UK’s energy from renewable sources by 2020 was realistic. Charles Hendry watched as presenter John Humphrys asked the audience at the conference in Birmingham last month whether they believed the target was credible, and described it as a ‘pipe dream’. In response, Hendry said: ‘We have clearly got


to persuade people of the importance of it, of its achievability and affordability. At the same time, we need that balance in the energy mix.’ During the session on carbon reduction and management, Hendry told delegates that ‘we are facing the biggest energy challenge of our lifetimes’, with a third of the UK’s energy plant being decommissioned this decade. The government is now looking at a range of


possible energy sources, including renewables and nuclear. It is estimated that the building of the nuclear plant alone would create about 5,000 engineering jobs in the UK. But Hendry stressed that gas would still be an important part of the energy mix, as new nuclear generation wouldn’t be available until the end of the decade, with renewables becoming more prominent from 2015 onwards. The UK’s energy consumption is also expected to


double by 2050 with the advent of electric cars, for example. This reform, the minister said, will require a £200bn financial injection by 2025. One of the major challenges, he added, is how to


build the new energy plant required faster than ever before – if nothing is done, prices will soar before the lights eventually go out.


Charles Hendry comes under fire at the event Part of his goal now, he explained, was to make the


UK more attractive to investors to finance the reforms. Putting a price on carbon and reforming the planning rules was part of making this happen, he added. ‘We’ve got to get energy off the energy pages of


newspapers and onto the front page. It’s literally hundreds of thousands of jobs in the energy and energy efficiency sector that can be created in the course of this decade.’ CIBSE technical director Hywel Davies said: ‘The Minister’s comments show why we need to do far, far more to reduce demand for energy, which will reduce the levels of investment he has to attract to the UK, cut consumers’ bills and create long-term jobs in the energy efficiency sector now.’


For more information visit: www.decc.gov.uk www.cibse.org


Renewables investment ‘will pay off’


Businesses that invest in renewable energy could make returns of up to 2o%, according to figures released by the Carbon Trust Advisory team. According to the trust’s analysis,


new financial incentives, energy market trends and building regulations are combining to create a ‘compelling case’ for UK businesses to generate their own renewable energy. As part of the project, the


Carbon Trust Advisory conducted


interviews with leading companies to find out about the challenges, opportunities and best practice associated with implementing renewable energy measures. The industries with the most to


gain are utilities, manufacturing, retail, hospitality and agricultural sectors. Retail and consumer goods brands are tending to lead the way, with ASDA, IKEA, John Lewis and Marks & Spencer having all set a target of moving to 100% renewable energy.


Carbon Trust Advisory’s managing director Hugh Jones said: ‘Selecting the right strategy for renewable energy can be a complex area and we recommend that businesses make a staged approach to adoption. This includes trialling different measures, testing their viability and doing this sooner rather than later before energy price increases and regulatory pressure become more pressing.’ www carbontrust.co.uk


www.cibsejournal.com


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