Climate change: making a difference

By joining forces, local government can translate high level thinking into locally focused problem solving, and must become the largest voice in the sphere of climate change.

With a combined expenditure topping billions of pounds, we must start to dictate working practices and decisions that will help to mitigate the effects of climate change across key areas in our control, including transport, regeneration, waste, energy conservation, planning and water management, to name but a few.

As councils we are the client, universities are our research team, and businesses are the future which can carry forward the ideas that we help to put in place.

And by working together, we can do more than pay lip-service to climate change. We can develop a clear understanding of our combined needs and give real direction for a practical way forward.

 At Lichfield district council, we are passionate about the council’s role as a community leader, in tackling the causes and impacts of climate change, both locally and further afield.

Commitment

We took our first step towards tackling climate change by signing the Nottingham declaration on climate change in November 2001. And then in June 2008, we signed up to the Staffordshire declaration on climate change.

The council’s commitment was first demonstrated through two very significant initiatives; the early championing of kerbside recycling, which saw it at the top of the nation’s recycling charts in 2003, and the sustainable design of its nationally acclaimed theatre, the Lichfield Garrick.

Then, in March 2008, the council launched the ‘Warmer homes, greener district’ initiative, which has helped hundreds of homeowners to cut their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient.

Prestigious award

In 2009, Lichfield district council joined forces with a host of local organisations, including the University of Birmingham and Staffordshire county council, through an initiative called Chasewater Green Park Projects.

Projects included in the initiative range from researching greener ways to manage the energy needs of historic buildings, such as Lichfield Cathedral , looking at ways to create carbon neutral business parks, through to demonstrating how to harness unused energy from coal-fired power stations.

In November 2009, Chasewater Green Park Projects was awarded a prestigious Green Apple Award at the House of Commons. The award firmly cemented the initiative’s role at the forefront of helping to cut carbon emissions and reduce consumption of non-renewable energy sources across the district and further afield.

The work of the initiative will also help to boost our local economy, by providing opportunities for new green businesses and products.

Chasewater Green Park takes the climate change agenda out of the realms of theory and delivers real projects, commissions actual research, and will lead to practical applications at a local level.

On the back of the initiative, the University of Birmingham is bidding on two major projects for funding to deliver improvements in the energy efficiency of the built environment.

Professor Nigel Weatherill, head of the University of Birmingham’s college of engineering and physical sciences, says: “The University of Birmingham is delighted to be involved in the Chasewater Green Park Projects.

“Energy and climate change are key themes for our researchers and the expertise of our scientists and engineers is crucial in tackling the serious global challenges we face.

“This is an example of a project where our research can have a real and direct impact on the local community.”

Other Chasewater Green Park Projects include modelling methods of installing micropower stations in existing housing developments and distributing the energy to homes by utilising existing infrastructure, and helping to establish community action groups that can deliver eco-initiatives locally. Find out more at  www.chasewatergreenpark.org  

Rugeley power Station

The power station is being used to research the concept of creating local energy networks at coal-fired power stations, using otherwise wasted steam, to serve both residential and commercial properties.

Local energy networks are highly economical, as they heat new homes by reusing existing and otherwise lost energy sources. They can also free up land being used by cooling towers for alternative uses. This project, led by University of Birmingham, is working to update and extend this concept, and associated technologies, for potential future use. The concept is being modelled as part of an undergraduate degree course.

Local energy networks, whether powered from surplus electricity, ground source heat pumps, wind turbines, or other sources, should be seen as one of the ways forward for domestic power supply. If successful, this project could influence future plans for local energy networks nationwide. 

Lichfield Cathedral

Like many historic buildings, Lichfield Cathedral and those in The Close are suffering from major increases in energy costs.

As the cathedral is currently undertaking a major refurbishment and restoration programme, the opportunity was seized to develop new techniques and approaches to reduce costs and energy use. Two graduates from the University of Birmingham, who are working in partnership with the Dean and Chapter, are looking to identify new technologies and processes that will be sympathetic to the significant commercial and historic constraints posed by such buildings. Should the project produce workable solutions, the market potential for commercial development is vast.