CLEAN GROWTH

Geothermally heated Jubilee Pool in Penzance

GLENN CAPLIN-GREY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE CORNWALL & ISLES OF SCILLY LOCAL ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP, EXPLAINS HOW CORNWALL IS PUTTING THE GREEN INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AT THE HEART OF ITS ECONOMIC PLANS.

ornwall has long been a renewable energy pioneer, from the early ‘hot rocks’ research projects of the 1970s, to the UK’s first commercial windfarm in the 1990s, to today’s groundbreaking developments with geothermal energy, floating offshore wind ambitions and energy market trials.

As G7 leaders convened at Carbis Bay in June, climate change was near the top of their agenda. National government including the UK and US have this year accelerated the pace at which they intend to decarbonise their economies, describing climate change as an existential threat.

In Cornwall, we have declared a climate emergency and pledged to become net zero carbon by 2030, a full 20 years ahead of the rest of the UK.

In the last eight years, Cornwall has cut its carbon footprint by almost a fifth, and two-thirds of emissions reductions have been achieved by decarbonising electricity.

We are the sunniest place in the UK with one of the best wind climates in Western Europe, so we are ideal for solar and wind power.

That has helped Cornwall meet 40% of its electricity demand from renewables, up from just 6% in 2009. Now we are looking at how floating wind turbines, anchored miles offshore, can deliver power, jobs and prosperity to our coastal communities and create a global export market.

Beneath our feet, the action of cooling molten rock 280 million years ago has blessed us with the best geothermal resources in the country, abundant metals like tin and tungsten, and one of the largest concentrations of lithium-enriched granite in the world.

That geological blessing could provide an endless source of heat and electricity for our homes and businesses, and provide secure, sustainable and ethically sourced raw materials like lithium for electric car battery production.

Cornwall will soon have the UK’s first commercial geothermal power plant, and Europe’s first plant for extracting lithium from geothermal waters. On the Isles of Scilly, 28 miles offshore, we’re working with Hitachi to pioneer bi-directional charging for electric cars, figuring out how stored energy in vehicles can help meet local energy demand. With Centrica we have achieved a world-first with a groundbreaking Local Energy Market trial that completed last year.

This vital research is helping shape how we create a more flexible, efficient and low carbon energy system.

And we are proud of innovators like Bennamann, a local company intent on driving a shake-up of the energy market through the production of net-zero biomethane.

By combining our natural assets with our centuries-old spirit of discovery and invention, Cornwall is driving innovation, creating jobs and tackling some of the most pressing social and environmental challenges of our age.

Clean growth is not a contradiction. By generating our own heat and power from renewable sources we can drive our economy, secure our supply, tackle energy inequality in our communities and respond to climate change.