Future of Energy / Sustainable Cities

GROUND FORCE The energy source that’s directly beneath your feet…

CITY LIMITS Turning urban sprawls into modern metropolises

FULL OF BEANS How one entrepreneur stumbled on a caffeine-fuelled source of alternative energy

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AWARD-WINNING BUSINESS JOURNALISM • JULY 2016

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Street smart power Special report on the future of energy and sustainable cities

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INSIDE: Inspector Dogberry pays a visit to some of the world’s most thriving (and problematic) megacities

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World Energy Outlook calls for global clean air act as worldwide pollution death rate rises JOANNE FREARSON

D

EATHS LINKED to air pollution are set to increase significantly in the coming decades unless the energy sector takes greater action to curb emissions, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Each year an estimated 6.5 million deaths are linked to air pollution. Around 3.5 million of these are linked to energy poverty due to the use of biomass for cooking and kerosene for lighting, while three million deaths are linked to outdoor air pollution, mostly in cities.

According to IEA’s World Energy Outlook (WEO), the majority of air pollutant emissions come from energy production and use – mostly from unregulated, poorly regulated or inefficient fuel combustion.

Millions of tons of these key air pollutant emissions are released into the atmosphere each year, from factories, power plants, cars, trucks, as well as the 2.7 billion people still relying on polluting stoves and fuels for cooking (mainly wood, charcoal and other biomass).

Coal is responsible for around 60 per cent of global combustion-related sulphur-dioxide emissions, while fuels used for transport, primarily diesel, generate more than half the nitrogen oxides that is emitted globally.

Currently only 8 per cent of global energy production is combustion-free and more than half of the rest has no effective technology in place to control emissions.

The WEO report suggests that if the energy industry invests an additional 7 per cent in the sector in reducing these harmful emissions, more than three million lives could be saved by 2040.

Fatih Birol, executive director at IEA, says: “Clean air is a basic human right that most of the world’s population lacks. No country – rich or poor – can claim that the task of tackling air pollution is complete.

“But governments are far from powerless to act and need to act now. Proven energy policies and technologies can deliver major cuts in air

Mortality rates due to air pollution, 2012

Deaths per 100,000 people High (>100) Medium (50-100) Low (0-50) SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCT

pollution around the world and bring health benefits, provide broa der access to energy and improve sustainability.”

The WEO report is calling for governments to implement a Clean Air Scenario. Firstly, this involves governments setting an ambitious longterm air quality goal, to which all stakeholders can subscribe and against which the efficacy of the various pollution mitigation options can be assessed.

Secondly, it involves putting in place a package of clean air policies for the energy sector to achieve the long-term goal, drawing on a cost-effective mix of direct emissions controls, regulation and other measures, giving due weight to the cobenefits for other energy policy objectives. Lastly to also ensure these goals are effectively monitored and evaluated.

“We need to revise our approach to energy development so that communities are not forced to sacrifice clean air in return for economic growth,” said Dr Birol. “Implementing the IEA strategy in the Clean Air Scenario can push energyrelated pollution levels into a steep decline in all countries.

“It can also deliver universal access to modern energy, a rapid peak and decline in global greenhouse-gas emissions and lower fossil-fuel import bills in many countries.”

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MIT scientists praise worldwide efforts as ozone hole set to close by 2050s ANNABELLE GREEN

S Experts claim that the UK’s ability to secure foreign investment into energy infrastructure – such as at Hinkley Point power station – will be hampered by Brexit

Energy sector warns of rising costs post-Brexit ILYAS CHRISTOFIDES

T

HE ECONOMIC and political uncertainty surrounding the UK’s decision to leave the European Union has permeated firmly through to the energy sector, and it is possible Brexit could impact investment in the industry and raise costs.

According to energy consultancy Ineco, the UK requires up to £19million of investment in new infrastructure every year between now and 2020, or 60 per cent of the UK’s total infrastructure costs for the rest of the decade.

Matt Osborne, principal risk manager at Inenco, says: “The ability of the UK to secure muchneeded investment in new energy infrastructure will be decided by the way in which Brexit is managed, including the need to create new trade agreements. Investment would

JULY 2016

almost certainly be put on hold until this has been agreed.”

Much of our energy investment comes from foreign-owned organisations, from new nuclear to gas power stations and offshore wind farms. Investors need long-term stability and political certainty from the market they invest in.

David Oliver, non-commodity charges expert at Inenco, says: “Capacity margins are already looking tight into the future – and new power stations take years to plan and construct – so any further delays in that investment could have a detrimental effect on security of supply.”

The fall in the pound is also likely to see energy costs increase, which would make all imports more expensive in the short to medium term. Osborne says: “While we’re likely to see short-term volatility, over the longer term energy markets will

continue to be driven largely by the underlying supply/demand fundamental and technical drivers.

“The cost of power, gas and oil could increase in the short term as part of this – energy from interconnectors, continental gas and crude oil are traded in euros and dollars.”

There are also concern about whether the UK remains in the Internal Energy Market (IEM), which makes it easier to trade across borders, boosting liquidity and cross-border balancing.

Meanwhile, the government has announced it is committed to delivering secure, affordable and clean energy to families and businesses. Amber Rudd, former Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, said in a speech at the Business & Climate Summit after the EU referendum: “The key challenge now, as the Prime Minister and

THE INNER GEEK

the Chancellor have stressed, is to work towards a settlement that is in the best interests of Britain. As a Government, we are fully committed to delivering the best outcome for the British people – and that includes delivering the secure, affordable, clean energy our families and business need. That commitment has not changed.

“Because while the decision to leave the EU is undoubtedly significant, the challenges we face as a country remain the same. Climate change has not been downgraded as a threat.

It remains one of the most serious long-term risks to our e c onom ic a nd n at ion a l security.

“So while I think the UK’s role in dealing with a warming planet may have been made harder by the EU Referendum decision, our commitment to dea li ng w it h it has not gone away.”

CIENTISTS AT MIT have seen the first signs that the hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic is starting to heal, shrinking by more than four million square kilometres since 2000 – nearly half the area of the United States.

While conducting extensive tests over different seasons and at different altitudes, researchers found decreased emissions of chlorofluorocarbons, specifically chlorine, in the ozone layer over the month of September.

Chlorine chemical compounds have been emitted into the atmosphere through aerosol canisters, old refrigerators and dry-cleaning processes, and have been responsible for more than half of the levels of shrinkage recorded.

In 1987, nearly every country in the world signed the Montreal Protocol in a concerted effort to ban the use of CFCs and repair the ozone hole.

Susan Solomon, the Ellen Swallow Richards professor of atmospheric chemistry and climate science at the Massachusets Institute of Technology (MIT), says: “We can now be confident that the things we’ve done have put the planet on a path to heal, which is pretty good for us, isn’t it?

“Aren’t we amazing humans, that we did something that

created a situation that we decided collectively, as a world, ‘Let’s get rid of these molecules’?

We got rid of them, and now we’re seeing t he pla net respond.”

However, during the testing, the researchers found the recovery in the ozone hole slowed after volcanic eruptions.

More recently, after the eruption of the Chilean volcano Calbuco in 2015 the hole in the ozone layer reached a record size, despite atmospheric chlorine continuing to drop. Though volcanos do not inject significant chlorine into the stratosphere, they do increase small particles, which increase the amount of polar stratospheric clouds with which the human-made chlorine reacts.

The researchers believe that, with an absence of future large eruptions, the ozone layer should completely close up by the 2050s.

“We can now be confident that the things we’ve done have put the planet on a path to healing, which is pretty good for us, isn’t it?”

– Susan Solomon, MIT

MOZ & BRADDERS

Publisher Bradley Scheffer Editor Georges Banna Production editor Dan Geary Client manager Michele Taylor: production@business-reporter.co.uk Project manager Tom Turnbull Contact us: info@lyonsdown.co.uk

The Montreal Protocol introduced CFC-free aerosols in 1987 – the ozone hole is now predicted to close entirely by mid-century

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Bridging the gap between innovation and the consumer The future of technology looks bright, but how should companies handle the delays in trickling innovation down to the consumer?

I Sarah Musgrove is editor in chief at Opus Energy

T WOULDN’T be unfair to say that technology has an elite inner circle. Take Elon Musk: inventor, business mogul, technology seer. Every year, Musk holds prestigious, invitation-only conferences to discuss his latest product launches and predictions for the world of tech and innovation.

This year he revealed his plans to get cargo flights to Mars in two years, ready for humanity’s first scheduled trip there in 2024 (Project SpaceX). He also announced that he has more than 100,000 pre-orders for his latest electric car (the Tesla Model 3) and that he has created a non-profit artificial intelligence (OpenAI).

Most sensationally, he threw out his theory that we are almost definitely living in a simulated reality – like in another reality’s videogame, he says.

The VIPs who get in grab their phones and tweet his paradigmshifting words. These tweets get picked up by the online media and stories are churned out within the hour, before hitting the print press within 24 hours.

It ’s a quick turnaround, and among the more headlinegrabbing statements are some awe-inspiring examples of humanity’s leaps forward. Advancements in technology are surpassing even our own predictions – a speedier, less-predictable version of Moore’s law.

So it’s a harsh bump back to reality when we return to the real world, one that isn’t populated by billionaire geniuses, and find that the everyday consumer isn’t seeing a fraction of the advancements that are available.

No more so is this apparent than in the most day-to-day administrative duties of business owners. But can the business world be entirely blamed for this glacial pace of customer-facing innovation?

Firstly, there are the obvious financial hurdles of new technologies. Everything has a price tag – the newer and shinier, the heftier

the sign-up fee. Then, you need to consider that you can’t dump cutting-edge technology on customers with no acclimatisation (however much it will improve their lives).

When mapped on a graph, the rate of adopting new technologies typically forms an S-curve. Keen early adopters jump on new trends almost immediately, while some time passes before the significant majority of people accept the next big thing (although it should be noted that this warm-up period is decreasing rapidly).

So, it may be unrealistic to expect companies with thousands of customers to suddenly, for example, integrate an augmented reality service that allows you to view holographic product demonstrations in the space of your own office. Such endeavours are still but a dream.

However, what businesses can focus on is the way in which these advancements are bringing about a change in consumer expectation.

If an individual accesses a social media service on a daily basis that is lightning-fast, can handle large files and can contact thousands of people with just a click (for free) it’s natural that they would expect a similar standard of service from a business they’re giving their custom to. Once you’ve had a taste of great service, it can’t be forgotten – your palate has changed.

The savvy company needs to recognise these developing expectations and adjust their service providing accordingly. You may not have driverless cars, but you can make sure your business mentality maintains pace with the pedal-to-the-metal approach that has evolved.

Take Opus Energy, a leading B2B supplier. Opus Energy recognised this appetite for better functionality and on-demand services. In response, a new online customer portal was launched that allows 24/7 access to almost every aspect of a customer’s energy management – with an ergonomic

and intuitive design to boot. Gone are the days of waiting until business hours and sitting on hold to report in multiple site meter readings one by one. An Opus Energy customer can log in, tap in months’ worth of data within seconds and then, if they fancy, bulk download historical information from any

number of their sites. Wherever they are, at any time of day, and on any device they have to hand.

When the headline-hitting technology is bounding light years ahead, no business can afford to let themselves – or their customers – fall behind. So look for companies that prioritise an innovative and

forward-thinking approach. You might not own a self-learning robot to sort your admin yet, but you can make sure you’re not being left in the dark ages.

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0843 634 9805 www.opusenergy.com/switch

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JOANNE FREARSON

T

HE NEXT time you visit West Ham station, Westfield Stratford or London’s Oxford Street, your footsteps could be powering the lights on the streets you’re walking on.

At West Ham Tube station in the runup to the Olympics, tiles which generate energy as you walk over them were installed on a pedestrian walkway, which connected the station to the Olympic Village. A million footsteps were registered on the walkway during the games, helping to power the lights in the station.

At Westfield Stratford, outdoor lights will also soon be powered by footsteps.

In September, the tiles will be installed at the main entrance of the shopping centre, through which around 45 million people a year walk – they have the potential to supply half of the centre’s outdoor lighting energy needs.

Laurence Kemball-Cook, who founded clean technology firm Pavegen, is the brains behind the tiles. As pedestrians walk across them the weight from their footsteps causes generators to vertically displace, creating energy through electromagnetic induction. The company has also just closed a deal with Transport for London and the New West End group to install tiles at Oxford Circus.

Kemball-Cook says: “We have 80,000 people a day walking on Oxford Street.

Just off Oxford Street, on Bird Street, we will be installing 200 of our generators, powering all the lights in the area, in partnership with the New West End group and Transport for London.

“Ultimately we have to shift our reliance on fossil fuel generation. We’ve got to cut the amount of energy we use – 20 per cent of the energy used worldwide is used to power lighting. It is really important that we cut our usage as much as we can.

“In this smart city of the future, it is very much about seamless mobility, transport and making people happy. One

Taking the nuclear option The once-maligned energy sector is being reappraised by at least one environmentalist. Joanne Frearson reports

Pavegen’s electricitygenerating tiles will soon be trialled at Oxford Circus in London

The next step in alternative energy supply One innovative company is taking advantage of a power source that’s been under our feet the whole time…

45m The number of people walking through Westfield Stratford shopping centre per year – where Pavegen is installing its energy-generating tiles

E

of the things important in that is decentralised power generation.

“When you have energy and you are transmitting it hundreds of miles, you use a huge amount of power in the actual transportation of the energy. There are a lot of losses – for example, Australia loses enough energy every year to charge 13 million iPhones. But with local off-grid power you can generate the power when and where it is needed – you are not wasting all this energy and infrastructure for transporting the energy itself.”

The energy created from the footsteps is stored during the day, and can be used later when footfall is quieter. The system uses smart power, either reverting to a battery where the energy has been stored during the day, or going to the grid where there is a back-up system in place.

The tiles also have the ability to catch data and predict peak timings and prime locations. Every footstep someone takes is also tracked, with the potential to be converted into a digital currency that can be used to reward loyalty or to donate to charitable causes.

NVIRONMENTALISTS ARE turning towards nuclear power as one of the cleanest sources of energy. Nuclear does not produce greenhouse gases or air pollutants like coal, and environmentalists are now seeing it as a vital energy source which can protect the environment.

Kirsty Gogan (right), director of Energy for Humanity, says: “Everyone thinks nuclear is the most dangerous source of power, and actually it is the safest.

If you look at the conservation impact of energ y technologies across the board, nuclear just

Kemball-Cook says: “The exciting thing about it is it is powering lights as people walk in, but we are also aiming to use data of people walking in that space in a really exciting way. It is beyond energy now. It is about people making a difference with something as simple as their footprint.”

Kemball-Cook’s ultimate aim is to shift people’s perceptions of energy generation, while at the same time empower communities. Pavegen has recently been active in the highly deprived favelas of Rio de Janeiro, where it partnered with Shell to create the world’s first ever people-powered football pitch. The Pavegen tiles work day and night alongside solar panels to power the lights for up to 10 hours on a full battery.

“We did an installation in Rio where we used 200 tiles to power a soccer pitch,” Kemball-Cook says. “It was more than just an energy product, because it inspired the next generation of engineers.

“The favela was one that has not had any help at all from the Brazilian government, or from brands. It is still run by

comes out again and again almost against every metric whether it is water use, resource use, emissions and air quality.

“The obvious reason is you are not burning anything. You have a vast a mount, more out put per kilogram. Even the waste stream itself is contained and managed – there is no waste output into the environment.”

G o g a n changed her mind about nuclear after reading British

warlords – and the only way to leave the favela is to become a professional footballer, which is extremely unlikely given the numbers.

“We worked with the community and helped them install the tiles. We taught them about the ideas of energy, and how a simple idea, like the one I had in my bedroom six years ago, can become a global technology.”

For a relatively new company, Pavegen certainly has big plans for the future.

“At the moment we are a bit like Tesla,” Kemball-Cook says. “We have ambitions to be as big as Tesla soon. But the first Tesla car that came out was expensive and had limited range and efficiency.

“We are going through the journey of scaling the business – that will allow us to get to the point of mass production, which will allow us to give users a payback that will be under 10 years. At the moment we are around the same cost as normal high-end flooring, with what you would expect for that kind of environment – and the energy is on top, so that is like a bonus for them.”

physicist Sir David MacKay’s book Sustainable Energy – Without The Hot Air, where he concludes that it would take an area the size of Wales to hope to begin to meet our energy needs using biomass or solar, or surrounding the entire country with wind farms 50 turbines deep in order to start meeting demand.

Six countries have already achieved completely clean electricity generation, says Gogan – Norway’s hydro and Iceland’s geothermal sources are arguably a case of exploiting their unique natural resources, but the other four (Sweden, France, Switzerland and Brazil) achieved it with a combination of

nuclear and renewable energy. She says: “We need a source of energy that is extremely dense because we want to protect nature. We need something that has a very small footprint and no emissions in operation. There is no other zero-carbon source of power that can do that.”

Although there have been conce r n s ab out nuc lea r e ne r g y following events such as the Chernobyl disaster and the Fukushima Daiichi incident, since these events plants around the world have taken steps to make their systems safer.

According to the World Nuclear Association the risks of accidents are low and have been declining.

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City of the future With its pioneering environmental and social breakthroughs, Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City is realising the potential of sustainable urban development

W

ITH THE new low-carbon consensus set by last year’s UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the clean energy industry has a stronger mandate than ever to devise solutions to the world’s sustainability challenges.

Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, is leading the way in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in meeting the growing demand for commercially viable renewable energy.

Masdar’s most high-profile development, Masdar City, is delivering a template – or “greenprint” – for sustainable urban development in the UAE and the wider world. Masdar City is a thriving community where people live, work, learn and play, and an “innovation ecosystem” connecting education, research and development (R&D), technology and business opportunity.

Masdar’s philosophy of urban development is based on environmental, social and economic criteria. The city’s developers are striving to maximise energy and water efficiency and to minimise waste in line with the Estidama (meaning “sustainability” in Arabic) guidelines devised by the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC). These incorporate international best practice while also being adapted to the distinct demands of the Arabian Gulf’s arid climate.

Masdar City is partly powered by 17,500MWh of clean energy generated annually from a 10MW photovoltaic plant and 1MW solar rooftop, displacing a total of 8,250 tonnes of carbon emissions per year. The city’s buildings are designed to use 40 per cent less energy and water than typical built-up areas.

New residential projects are contributing to the city’s evolving ecosystem. Masdar City’s first phase covers more than 1.2 million square metres and includes demonstration projects such as a personal rapid transit (PRT) driverless vehicles system.

Due for completion in early 2017, its mixed-use Neighbourhood 1 community covers 100,000 square metres (m2) of Gross Floor Area (GFA) and is made up of a 10,000 sqm office building, 515 corporate housing units, and 385 residential apartments for the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology. The Masdar Institute is the world’s first graduate-level university specialising in alternative energies and clean technologies.

Neighbourhood 1 also features an open-air plaza with shops, restaurants, cafés and other amenities.

Also within the first phase of Masdar City, UAE-based Tristar Real Estate is building upscale residential apartments and townhouses occupying a total GFA of 26,900m2 and served by a variety of shops and F&B outlets.

Masdar City is targeting an Abu Dhabi UPC-endorsed four-Pearl Estidama Community Rating, the first real estate development in the UAE to do so. The Estidama Pearl Community Rating System (PCRS) promotes the development of Complete Sustainable Communities (CSCs) integrating environmental, social, and economic sustainability through collaborative, inter-disciplinary master planning.

The Middle East office of Siemens and the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), two signature buildings of Masdar City, are already rated three Pearls and four Pearls respectively. The Siemens building is also the first LEED Platinum certified office in Abu Dhabi.

100% Foreign ownership in Masdar City’s Free Zone

Phase two of Masdar City involves a dedicated R&D cluster served by a residential community including 2,000 apartments, a GEMS Education school, restaurants, cafés and parkland. Phase five is primarily villas and townhouses with recreational facilities and green open spaces.

Masdar City is forging ahead with new R&D and pilot projects led by Masdar and the Masdar Institute. These include the Eco-Villa Prototype incorporating innovative water- and energy-saving technologies displacing up to 63 tonnes of carbon emissions each year.

Elsewhere in the R&D cluster, the Electric Energy Storage Solutions Hub is enhancing the power storage capacity of renewable energy systems. The Masdar Solar Hub’s Photovoltaic (PV) Test Centre, developed with TÜV Rheinland, measures the performance and durability of PV systems. The Masdar Solar Hub CPV Testing Facility, a joint initiative with the Instituto de Sistemas Fotovoltaicos de Concentración (ISFOC) of Spain, is refining concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) systems in local conditions.

The Masdar Institute Field Station is a standalone testing, demonstration and development facility for built environment technologies, in particular cooling technologies that optimise energy and water demand management. A construction waste management system has also been developed to reuse and recycle waste building materials from Masdar City.

Through the work of the Masdar Institute and its growing network of clean-energy assets, Masdar is helping to catalyse a competitive, commercially driven renewable energy industry. Masdar has invested more than US$2.7 billion in clean energy projects – both solar and wind – that deliver nearly one gigawatt of power across the globe (with another 0.7GW under development).

Masdar’s worldwide reach is further strengthened by Masdar City’s appeal to companies looking to set up in Abu Dhabi. Masdar Free Zone is an attractive base for prospective tenants and investors alike, from start-ups to large-scale operations. The Free Zone aims to grow its tenant base

nearly four-fold by 2020, and to expand its available net leasable area by around a third (32 per cent) every year over the next four years.

Masdar City offers transparent and business-friendly regulations and a strategic location next to Abu Dhabi International Airport. Free Zone benefits include 100 per cent foreign ownership, exemption from corporate and personal income taxes, 0 per cent import tariffs, and a One-Stop Shop helping to fast-track administration such as visa registration and other government services for new tenants.

More than 370 companies from six continents currently operate at Masdar City, from SMEs to large organisations.

The Free Zone encourages enterprises that focus on the renewable energy, green building and technology sectors, and more than 400 different commercial activities can be licensed at Masdar City.

Today, around 5,000 people work at Masdar City, and the development receives 2,300 visitors on average as part of organised official visits every month. A wide selection of cafés and restaurants are open at the City, along with shops, banks, and other community outlets.

Thanks to the success of Masdar City’s “greenprint” for sustainable urban development, Masdar is offering a compelling vision of the future. Masdar is helping to address the world’s pressing energy and climate challenges by advancing innovation and the commercialisation of renewable energy and sustainable technologies. Moreover, it is strengthening Abu Dhabi’s sustainability leadership, nurturing the human capital needed to realise a knowledgebased economy, and diversifying the energy mix for the benefit of people in the UAE and around the globe.

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For more information please visit www.masdar.ae or connect with Masdar at facebook.com/masdar.ae and twitter.com/masdar. For further media inquiries, please contact press@masdar.ae

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City limits: how we need joined-up thinking to turn urban sprawls into modern metropolises Joanne Frearson investigates the efforts of 100RC, which is lobbying for greater cohesion in the management of large cities across the globe

“What I want to do is break down silos and do that smartly and efficiently. If we only operate in silos we lose sight of the really important risks that you see uncovered in big disasters” – Michael Berkowitz, 100RC

C

ITIES CAN face many challenges – not only environmental ones such as climate change, earthquakes, fires and floods, but also social and economic stresses – high unemployment, inefficient public transportation, terrorism, endemic violence and food and water shortages can all contribute to the failure of a city.

Cities need to become resilient to physical, social and economic challenges in order to be sustainable. Around 75 per cent of people are expected to live in cities by 2050, according to 100 Resilient Cities (100RC), a non-profit advisory body looking at solutions to the problems of 21st-century metropolises. But a third of developmental spending has been lost to recurrent crises.

Around 217 million people are likely to be affected every year by natural disasters, while the collective cost of climate change disasters has been estimated at $200billion every year.

Michael Berkowitz, president of 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) which was pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation, says: “We are thinking about resilience, which is very similar to sustainability.

The issues that you are seeing in cities partially stem from the complexity of our cities.”

Berkowitz sees cities as complex ecosystems made up of various levels of government and infrastructure, civil society and the private sector, which need to work harmoniously with each other. It is important to understand both the risks and the opportunities and to align the stakeholders around the best course of action to take.

“It is one of the big issues that we see in cities all over the world,” Berkowitz continues. “One of the things related to that that is this issue of governance.

“Even in the UK you see a wide heterogeneity of governance. You have some places that have direct mayors such as Bristol and London, and many cities that still do not.

The issue we see most across the world is getting governance right.

The biggest challenge is to bridge these sectors, silos and layers of governance.”

Cities also need the mechanisms to cope with changing situations. When Paris applied to

75 per cent – or three in four – of people worldwide will live in a city by 2050 Source: 100RC

(Left to right) Addis Ababa, Bristol and New Orleans are just three of the cities that are part of the 100RC initiative; Below: Michael Berkowitz, 100RC president

the 100RC programme in 2014, Berkowitz explains that its mayor, Anne Hidalgo, wrote an application centred around environmental and sustainability issues, chiefly the flooding of the River Seine, air pollution and the urban heat island effect.

“That was in 2014. Then in 2015 you have had the tragic attacks of Charlie Hebdo and the November 13 attacks,” he says.

“Then you have the immigration and migration crisis that has consumed Europe.”

The challenges for Paris include the issues concerning sustainability and climate change, but also creating a culture of inclusion in suburbs where migrants have decided to relocate, as well as making sure they have the appropriate measures in place to fight terror.

According to Berkowitz one way to make sure cities deal with these challenges is to implement a chief resilience officer, who can bring together the different stakeholders involved to build an appropriate overall response plan for the city.

It is about making sure there is “an inclusive planning process, involving the general public, the important stakeholders, the institutions and various departments of government,” he says.

“It will make your city stronger regardless of what the outcome is

and it will also help you uncover new opportunities.

“So if a city puts in a new transportation line, the city must also ask the question, what does this mean in terms of economic development, housing and integration?

It is another step that cities need to take. What I want is to break down the silos and do that smartly and efficiently. If we only operate in silos we lose sight of really important risks that you see uncovered in big disasters.”

In New York, following Hurricane Sandy, the city launched a competition, Rebuild by Design, which involved collaboration between designers, researchers, community members and government officials to build a more resilient region.

The winning design teams worked with the community and held multiple meetings with different stakeholders to understand what the overall benefits were.

For example, the design of one of the winners, Big U, not only protects Lower Manhattan from storm surges and climate change, but also helps the community socially.

He says: “You could just build a big sea wall and be done with it, and that would be cheap and easy or a big flood barrier or whatever.

But what the Big U design team imposed was a series of interconnected green infrastructure that

enhanced the community’s access to the water.

“It gives them new places to recreate, exercise and congregate.

It enhances public health and community cohesion and air quality and so on. At the same time it serves the function of a sea wall.

“That is only possible because you bring some of the world’s brightest design minds to the town, but then you involve the community and various stakeholders – that uncovers what the other needs and what the opportunities are.”

It is also important for cities to share information with other towns and borrow knowledge from each other. Says Berkowitz: “Until recently cities believed the only things that were invented in London worked in London and the only things invented in New York could work in New York. Now we have come to understand cities are not so different from one another.

“What makes cities resilient or sustainable is good public health or emergency response infrastructure, but it is also cohesive communities, where neighbours check on neighbours. All of those things help cities weather disasters and difficult times. We are trying to change the way cities view their risks and opportunities. We are trying to inspire a resilience revolution,” he says.

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Non-fossil energy sources are rapidly becoming more and more feasible as techniques and technology are refined. Here are just a few that will soon be powering our lives, if they aren’t already‌

NGBiogas Agricultural waste NGBiogas takes agricultural and organic waste and processes it through its energy plant, producing biogas which generates electricity.

Algae Energy source Bioproducts firm Cellana is harvesting algae as an alternative to traditional renewable energy sources as they are up to 100 times more productive, doubling numbers every few hours.

Hydrogen battery cells Public transport (Lund, Sweden) PowerCell Sweden AB has partnered with Swiss Hydrogen AB to develop a hydrogen fuel cell for artificial photosynthesis to power transportation.

Tesla home battery Tesla has developed a battery called Powerwall which can be installed to home exteriors and collects energy generated from solar panels on the building.

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Internet of things/Nest Remote controlling and programming consumption Nest, owned by Google, is the most popular brand of smart thermostat, allowing users to control heating from mobile devices and reduce bills by around 10 to 12 per cent.

Neighbourhood heating Geothermal pumps use heat from the Earth’s crust to keep buildings at constant temperatures, as a few feet below the earth’s surface the temperature remains the same.

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Highly calorific and containing a large amount of oil makes coffee an ideal source for fuel production; Right: Arthur Kay with Richard Branson

Get up and go with a new kind of biofuel From small beginnings scribbled on the back of a napkin, Arthur Kay’s biomass firm Bio-bean now turns 50,000 tonnes of coffee grounds per year into a fuel for cars, homes and appliances

“These aren’t just replacements or worse alternatives – the real benefit is they’re more calorific and they’re cleanerburning as well” – Arthur Kay, CEO, Bio-bean

MATT SMITH

W

HEN YOU think about the future of energy, technologies like wind and solar power probably come to mind – but it could be your morning cup of coffee that holds the answer and provides energy beyond your daily caffeine boost.

Bio-bean, a company that recycles waste coffee grounds into biofuels, was founded

by CEO Arthur Kay, who came up with the idea when he was an architecture student investigating ways to make coffee shops and factories greener by design for a project.

“I was looking at how you could make it carbon neutral or even carbon positive, and looked at all the typical energy solutions – wind and solar, that sort of stuff,” he explains.

“But then I really stumbled across the sheer volume of waste coffee grounds produced by coffee shops, and particularly by big coffee factories, as well.

“I discovered it has a very high calorific content – higher than wood, for example – and on top of that it’s got a lot of oil in it, too. And so I developed this technology, and eventually this company, to take oil out of the waste coffee grounds, and then use the residual biomass, and turn that into a range of different solid fuel products to generate heat and power, The oil’s used as a liquid transport fuel – an alternative to biodiesel – for powering planes, trains and automobiles.”

Bio-bean’s products range from these liquid transport fuels to biomass pellets for heating buildings and Coffee Logs, which can be used to fuel homes and appliances like stoves and barbecues. Kay says the firm’s main customers are businesses, which use Bio-bean’s fuels in environments including airports, office blocks and houses.

While there are alternative means of generating sustainable energy, Kay believes that Bio-bean’s fuels have a distinct advantage over others because they can be used with existing equipment, avoiding the “vast infrastructure costs” of solar power, for example.

“I think everyone agrees it would be fantastic to have everything powered by sunlight or whatever it happens to be, but the challenge is how you move from a predominantly fossil-based economy to a

carbon-neutral or carbon-positive one,” he says.

“So our focus has really been from the outset to develop chemicals and fuels that can be used as a direct displacement of conventional fuels. So, for example, our biomass pellets can be used as a direct displacement for wood pellets or coal, our Coffee Logs can be used as a direct displacement for barbecue fuels and coal, and our biodiesel fuel can be used as a direct displacement for mineral diesel.

“And these aren’t just replacements or worse alternatives – the real benefit is that they’re more calorific and they’re cleanerburning fuels, as well.”

Although Bio-bean’s fuels have won acclaim and the company plans to extend its operations to process more coffee waste in future, Kay appreciates that waste coffee

How much coffee do we drink – and how much does Bio-bean turn into fuel?

The UK drinks

70 million cups of coffee per day

SOURCE: BRITISH COFFEE ASSOCIATION; BIO-BEAN

Bio-bean processes waste from

7 million cups of coffee per day

grounds will be just one source of cleaner energy in a changing world in years to come.

“The long-term effect is really about how you can then scale those visions,” he says.

“It’s all very well doing these things at a small or medium scale, but our factory’s capacity is around 50,000 tonnes per year, and even if we build up our factory a hundred times over we’re still not going to eliminate fossil fuels.

“Over the next 40 years or so I think we’re going to have huge energy divergence in terms of a range of different solutions. It’s not going to be one-technology-fits-all. It’s around scaling what we have today, but also spreading our bets in terms of the range of technologies that will be used going forward.

Sadly the world won’t be just powered by coffee!”

Bio-bean recently won the Grow category at Virgin Media’s Voom competition – impressing a panel of judges including Sir Richard Branson – and the future looks bright for the start-up with a vision of a world powered by coffee.

“We’ve gone from three years ago, literally me straight out of university with a backof-the-napkin sketch from an architecture project, to now, operating the world’s first coffee waste recycling factory with 30 team members,” Kay says. “They can process about one in ten cups of coffee produced in the UK – so around seven million cups a day.

“The real thing for us is about how we can take that to the next level… We work with a lot of waste management companies and also coffee companies. We want to work with as many coffee waste producers as possible across the UK.”

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Inspector Being quite the traveller, the Inspector has visited many cities around the world.

Since 1990, the number of megacities has risen from ten to 35, as of 2015, in a trend that is seeing people all over the world drawn to city life looking to find better jobs and quality of living.

A megacity is defined as a metropolitan area which contains at least 10 million inhabitants. Tokyo, Delhi and Shanghai are among those in the top 10, and it is predicted Asia will contain thirty megacities by 2025.

It is no surprise that these areas generate a lot of income, which makes them attractive for investors. People who live in them can benefit from higher paying jobs, improved educational and healthcare facilities, and more luxurious lifestyles.

However, megacities also come with their own challenges, particularly when it comes to the environment. Air pollution is one of them – as traffic increases in urban areas smog can be a real problem, while coal burning can also add to the issue.

Also worrying is the potential for the inadvertent

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development “megaslums” when the local infrastructure fails to cope with an increase in social, political and economic problems stemming from a lack of access to education and healthcare. The key to avoiding these issues, according to the Inspector (and the UN), is to promote “sustainable urbanisation”, which would see people provided with basic services such as housing, electricity and sanitation, with minimal damage to the natural.

The goal should be to secure an equal if not better standard of life for future generations.

The Enterprise Centre at the University of East Anglia (below) is the UK’s greenest building. Its timber frame and straw cladding promotes the use of renewable materials and reduces embodied carbon.

The wood was sourced from nearby Thetford Forest, while other local bio-materials such as the thatched straw insulation that covers the outside walls of the building, were also used. Hi-tech carbon monitoring systems were installed to measure the impacts of carbon efficiency over the 100-year lifespan of the building.

In keeping with the name, the Enterprise Centre helped

Dogberry Megacities such as Delhi can be great for business, but not necessarily for their inhabitants

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gigatonnes

Amount of CO2 emissions avoided by energy efficiency measures since 1990 Source: IPCC

T

Good Energy Blog

Alt Energy Stocks

A one-stop shop for all things renewable energy. Visit the blog for the latest green news, advice on how to be more environmentally friendly, and ongoing campaigns regarding climate change. Writers include Alex Calnan, founder of electric taxi company Electric Blue, and eco-friendly chef Arthur Potts Dawson.

If you’re looking to expand your investment portfolio, or just getting started, visit Alt Energy Stocks for the latest information on renewable energy ventures. You can also read up on the latest news in the green energy industry from a business perspective.

www.goodenergy.co.uk/blog

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Environmental and Urban Economics

greeneconomics.blogspot.co.uk

form 35 start-ups and integrated the services of 175 different companies during construction.

Today it provides a space for business workshops, networking meetings and a base for the Norwich Business School entrepreneurship programmes.

The CEO of the ADAPT Low Carbon Group, John French, praised the fulfilment of many sustainability criteria and the creation of a “striking and beautiful piece of architecture.”

Matthew E Kahn presents his views and findings regarding environmental and urban economics. This blog explores the impacts of world news on the renewable energy scene, taking in the political, financial and geographical factors. Educated at highly regarded institutions such as LSE, Kahn is now a renowned environmental educator and writer himself.

Council (EPSRC), as part of the RCUK Energy Programme, a team at the University of Cambridge is exploring whether the element thorium could help to meet the new design’s fuel needs.

As well as being three to four times more abundant than uranium, thorium could potentially produce electricity more fuel efficiently and therefore more cheaply.

The UK has been playing a key role in an international project to develop a radical new type of nuclear power station that is safer, more cost-effective, compact, quicker and less disruptive to build than any previously constructed.

Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research

Energy efficiency has a crucial role to play HE UK energy system requires significant transformation to meet future demand and global emissions targets. In the Energy Institute (EI)’s Energy Barometer 2016 report, energy professionals surveyed stated that, by 2030, energy efficiency improvements and reduced demand will help to jump-start this transformation.

Energy efficiency improvements since 1990 have saved the equivalent of 30 years of UK primary demand at 2014 levels (DUKES 2015). These efforts have also avoided 10 gigatonnes of CO2 emissions – almost a third of global annual emissions (IPCC 5th Assessment Report 2014).

BY ANNABELLE GREEN, ONLINE REPORTER

For the time being, some forms of energy are cheap – however, there is always a good argument for improving efficiency.

We are very far from running out of things to do when it comes to managing our energy use more efficiently. Behavioural change is an area of particular interest to energy managers and organisations. It is often seen to offer the greatest potential for achieving short-term gains in managing energy, but many consider it as a difficult nut to crack.

There have been renewed efforts to assess efficiency within large UK businesses in the last few years, with the introduction of the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme

Climate Science

climatescience.blogspot.co.uk

Energy Cost Calculator (Free – iOS) This

app lets you see how much energy you’re using unnecessarily, and how much it’s costing you per day, week, month and year.

Green Meter ($5.99 – iOS) Assess your driving through fuel and power usage to reduce fuel consumption and impact on the environment while increasing efficiency and saving money.

Offering a “cool headed”, even clinical approach to energy news, this blog avoids scaremongering or exaggerated headlines.

Regularly uploaded articles analyse and pick apart statements and reports by independent bodies as well as government agencies globally.

It also focuses on topical events and how they relate to the future of green energy.

(ESOS). Now that those assessments have been submitted, the onus is on those organisations to implement the recommendations. Part of the shift in energy efficiency has been in making senior managers more accountable, with ESOS assessments having to be signed off by the board. But the responsibility for managing energy doesn’t stop there. The energy transformation required isn’t just about new infrastructure and switching to lower carbon resources – a step change in behaviour is needed at every level of the organisation. Energy efficiency can reduce costs, cut emissions and increase productivity. We need everyone to play his or her part and each contribution is one more step on the road to a more sustainable energy system.

INDUSTRY VIEW

Contact the Energy Institute at info@energyinst.org or visit www.energyinst.org

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Why the UK is an excellent investment for onshore hydrocarbon projects

U

NION JACK Oil plc (UJO) is a London Stock Exchange, AIM-quoted production, exploration and development company focusing on opportunities within the UK onshore hydrocarbon sector.

UJO’s directors consider the UK, with an established, transparent and well- regulated licensing system in place, to be an attractive country for investment in onshore hydrocarbon projects.

With this in mind, the company’s strategic objective, by adopting a low-cost non-operating model, is to build a self-sustaining and successful production and development entity by acquiring drilling interests in relatively low-risk, drill-ready prospects with excellent scope for commercial discoveries. The horizon of this objective is within sight.

One noteworthy example is the Wressle-1 oil and gas discovery in Lincolnshire, in which UJO holds an 8.33 per cent interest. Wressle-1 is approaching development with a view to commercial oil production during Q4 2016.

The past two years have seen the company acquire interests in several licences containing drill-ready potential high-impact prospects planned to be drilled in the future by quoted quality operators and joint-venture partners such as Egdon Resources, Europa Oil and Gas and UK Oil and Gas Investments. In addition, several independent non-quoted companies including Celtique Energie

Petroleum, Montrose Industries, Terrain Energy, Corfe Energy, Blackland Park Exploration, Warwick Energy, Altwood Petroleum, Stelinmatvic Industries and Nautical Petroleum are partners with UJO in various licences, demonstrating the underlying rude health of the UK onshore hydrocarbon sector.

Among the assets held by UJO, the planned Biscathorpe-2 well, located within PEDL253 (UJO 12 per cent) on the proven hydrocarbon fairway of the Humber Basin, is considered a stand-out example of a potential company maker. The Bisacathorpe-1 well was drilled

by BP in 1987 and encountered a thin oil-bearing sandstone. The sand unit is expected to thicken down-dip from the crest of the structure and according to the operator could contain a best-estimate case gross prospective resource of 14 million barrels of oil up to a high case of 41 million barrels of oil.

“UJO’s directors consider the UK, with an established, transparent and well-regulated licensing system in place, to be an attractive country for investment in onshore hydrocarbon projects”

In September 2015 UJO completed the acquisition of a 10 per cent interest in PEDL005(R) containing the producing Keddington oilfield located in Lincolnshire.

This acquisition gave the company its first exposure to production, development and appraisal and provided a measure of increased balance to its portfolio by the introduction of production to its base.

2016 has seen a corporate deal between Europa Oil and Gas and UJO in respect of PEDL143 (UJO 7.5 per cent) located in the Weald Basin and containing the site of the planned Holmwood-1 well, the first in the basin for UJO’s expanding UK onshore portfolio. The Holmwood prospect lies 12 kilometres to the west of and on trend with the prolific Horse Hill oil discovery.

UJO has found itself in a good place, regardless of the current low oil price environment, which is improving dramatically since the nadir seen in early 2016. The company is comfortably funded, remains debt free and has tangible interests in prospects, which, if successful, additional cash flow can be achieved within a relatively short time frame using a simple development plan.

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Gas: a vital sustainable fuel of the future W 62 ITH THE debate about the future of UK energy gathering pace, and the challenge of meeting the targets of the Climate Change Act while securing an affordable, reliable and flexible energy supply for customers, we are at a pivotal moment for UK energy.

The UK is committed to reducing its carbon emissions by at least 80 per cent from 1990 levels by 2050. The energy industry has a significant role to play, both by improving day-to-day environmental performance and by paving the way for new sustainable forms of energy.

Gas provides around 62 per cent of the UK’s domestic energy, with 45 per cent of that used for heating. During periods of peak demand the gas networks transport four times as much energy as electricity.

Decarbonising heat is recognised as a big challenge – perhaps the biggest challenge that the UK faces in order to meet climate change targets. Not only does energy need to be sustainable, it must be affordable for customers, reliable and secure.

Gas is a cost-effective and efficient fuel, costing around a third as much as

%

The amount of UK domestic energy consumption accounted for by gas

The ‘Energising the North’ report will be launched at a regional summit later this year with industry, businesses and academia from across the North of England. To find out more or to register your interest, email stakeholder@northerngas. co.uk. The report is currently available to download now from www.northerngasnetworks.co.uk/futures

Case study

Case study

Case study

The Northern Energy Powerhouse

Green hydrogen cities

Energy from waste

In the North of England there is an opportunity to lead the UK’s future energy agenda, with the potential to attract billions of pounds of investment into the region, creating jobs and addressing fuel poverty.

Groundbreaking initiatives such as H21 Leeds City Gate are already underway, and have the potential to offer a wealth of benefits, not just in the North but to the UK as a whole.

Biogas is a sustainable fuel already generating energy for customers.

Produced from organic material such as green waste, food industry waste, agricultural waste and industrial waste, this clean, sustainable fuel can be transported using the existing gas distribution network, avoiding the costs of widespread infrastructure upgrades.

A recent report into the economic opportunity presented by existing and future energy initiatives in the north of England, ‘Energising the North’, highlights the opportunities that the existing gas network presents.

From creating hydrogen cities to transporting shale gas via the existing distribution network, the North presents a hotbed for energy innovation due to its geographical location and resources.

electricity to produce. Gas from sustainable energy sources, such as hydrogen and biogas, can supply both heat and transport and would support growing populations, reduce environmental impact and avoid over-reliance on supplies from overseas.

Crucially, the existing pipe network, which has benefited from billions of pounds of investment over the last 15 years as part of the UK-wide gas mains replacement programme, can be adapted to transport these alternative fuels, keeping infrastructure costs down and minimising disruption to customers.

In partnership with Leeds City Region LEP and Leeds City Council, NGN has been leading the project, which has found that substituting natural gas for hydrogen in the gas network is technically feasible and economically viable.

Hydrogen leaves no carbon footprint when the carbon is captured and stored for the long term, meaning that gas could be more than a ‘transitional fuel’ on the UK’s pathway to a low-carbon economy.

The project could position the UK as a world leader for decarbonisation.

In fact, it is estimated that decarbonising the gas distribution network would cost around £150,000 – £200billion less than converting to an all-electric grid for all of our energy needs, according to a new report commissioned by Energy Networks Association (ENA).

As the UK transitions to a low-carbon economy, there are numerous scenarios that could play a part in the future UK energy mix.

Although there is no one silver bullet for decarbonising heat, gas has a vital role to play in addressing the economic and environmental challenges of the

In a biological process known as anaerobic digestion, micro-organisms break down waste material in the absence of oxygen and one of the end products is biogas, which is cleaned to remove impurities and upgraded to biomethane, to be injected into the gas distribution network. Today nine biomethane projects are connected to NGN’s gas network – enough to power more than 170,000 properties.

energy trilemma in both a secure and sustainable way.

INDUSTRY VIEW

@NGNgas www.northerngasnetworks.co.uk Want to find out more?

The H21 Leeds City Gate project report and film is available to download from www.northerngasnetworks.co.uk/ futures The ENA’s report ‘The UK Gas Networks Role in a 2050 Whole Energy System’ is available at www.northerngasnetworks. co.uk/futures

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The changing face of domestic solar PV

I

N 2010 the government dangled a diamond encrusted carrot to homeowners, encouraging investment into photovoltaic technology. The average household was projected a 25-year guaranteed tax-free return of £45,000, plus lifetime electricity savings, for an investment of just around £18,000!

It wasn’t just the financially astute that wanted a bite, and thus the solar boom was created.

However, the government perhaps underestimated the popularity of the initiative, and eventually realising that the continued take-up couldn’t be afforded for long, so it set out to slowly reduce the incentives through a process known as “degression”, reducing the tariff to less than 10 per cent of where it started.

So why is our business thriving when the financial attractiveness has reduced greatly?

The reason for people considering renewables has shifted from achieving a return on investment to instead future-proofing against volatile energy costs – the cost of Hinkley C, the fuel crisis, the closure of coal-fired power stations, the state of the national grid and the growing reliance on other countries to provide our fuel in the future are highly publicised topics.

Consumers are getting savvy to the potential impact of these issues on household bills, and look to solar energy to hedge against these rises.

Despite the lower tariffs, there is still a return on investment, along with plenty of savings to be enjoyed due to the reduction in the cost of a photovoltaic (PV) system, now typically in the region of £6,000.

Another game changer in the industry has been the development of battery storage technology, aided by hi-tech innovators such as Elon Musk and his Tesla technology. A barrier to buying PV was the inability for homeowners to use their generation due to being out during the day. Battery technology allows owners to use clean energy when the sun isn’t shining and maximises their self-consumption. Solar Plants was the first company in the UK to install a fully operational Tesla Powerwall.

Our biggest and most surprising segment of work comes from homeowners who bought solar during the boom, but who were unaware of how vital it was to choose the right equipment. Many opted for the cheapest option at the time. Consequently, we are upgrading hundreds of systems a month where the technology fitted five years ago is feeling the strain, generation is declining, and questions are being raised as to whether the projected ROI will ever be money in the bank.

Technology is now more efficient and we have been fortunate enough to be the largest installer of leading technology that, together with a robust warranty and the ability to view the performance of each module, gives PV owners the reassurance that they are getting the maximum (if not more) from their current system.

So what about the future? As with many government carrots, sooner or later they usually get replaced with the stick. In what format that will take in this case no one knows, but there are rumours about a new “tax” or charge to be applied to dwellings with a low energy efficiency rating.

However, with almost 30 per cent of electricity being imported from France and the EU, and the potential for post-Brexit energy price volatility, we could see a rush for new solar sooner than we think!

INDUSTRY VIEW

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80 The height in storeys of the world’s tallest timber building, Oakwood Tower in London, once completed

T

IMBER, THE world’s oldest and most natural of construction materials, is helping to solve some very modern, man-made problems. In the drive to deliver more sustainable buildings with minimal impact on the environment, modern timber systems are increasingly in demand.

In the UK, somewhat paradoxically, we have some of the best examples of cuttingedge timber design, but lag behind our peers internationally in the volume of timber usage overall, still wedded to materials with weaker environmental performance such as steel and bricks and mortar.

The world’s tallest timber building, the 80-storey Oakwood Tower skyscraper, is set to be built in the City of London. It will dwarf the current highest timber building – a 14-storey apartment block in Bergen, Norway.

It is hugely encouraging to see the boundaries of

timber design being pushed to new limits in the commercial sector. But, with the UK needing to deliver 200,000 new homes every year just to keep pace with demand, it is new housing development that will have one of the biggest impacts on our commitment to global carbon reduction targets and ongoing sustainability. Timber could help tackle both at once by delivering affordable lowcarbon housing solutions.

Most of our new homes, however, are built using carbon intensive materials that are also slower to build with.

Offsite timber construction can see houses delivered up to 14 weeks quicker than traditional methods, while being much more sustainable.

Timber is a carbon-negative material, because trees absorb and lock in carbon dioxide as they grow, as well as offering better thermal insulation when in situ than steel or concrete.

A joint initiative by ModCell and Bath University – the Balehaus project – saw straw insulation used between timber

Dalston Lane. Developer: Regal Homes. Architects: Waugh Thistleton. CLT engineer: Ramboll.

Photo: Daniel Shearing

An age-old solution to modern problems

panels as part of an offsite housing manufacturing process. The homes created had a reduction in heating bills of 90 per cent.

Housing associations have been among timber’s biggest advocates in the UK, realising the benefits of rapid construction and sustainability. Private investors are, thankfully, beginning to catch on; L&G’s £55million fund for off-site construction will help deliver 3,000 new homes every year.

Wood buildings and the spaces they create can also

contribute to our wellbeing.

The aesthetic benefits of timber are already being used by schools and specialist medical units to create calming environments for users. Architects have also long prized timber for the stunningly designed structures it can create for standout, one-off projects. Visually appealing projects using sustainable materials often fare better in the planning process too.

In the face of a housing and environmental crisis, we should

appraise timber’s value as a highly versatile natural material.

The built environment is one of the biggest contributors to excess carbon emissions. By using a naturally abundant and renewable material in timber we can make great strides in addressing this challenge.

INDUSTRY VIEW

Christiane Lellig (far left) is campaign director, Wood For Good christiane.lellig @woodforgood.com http://woodforgood.com

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The debate How does your work support a sustainable future?

Anthony Mallows

Dr Neville Hargreaves

Andy Irwin

Kevin McLoughlin

Christiane Lellig

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W

T

P

W

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@NGNgas www.northerngasnetworks.co.uk

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0843 783 3421 www.opusenergy.com

christiane.lellig@woodforgood.com http://woodforgood.com

Executive director Masdar City

IVEN PROJECTED demographic trends that assume rapid urban growth over the next few decades, there is an urgent need for secure access to sustainable energy sources through employing technologies and best practices that reduce water and power demand and minimise waste. Innovation is critical if we are to enhance energy efficiency, reduce pollution and build safe and efficient urban environments.

Masdar is leading the way in developing the cutting-edge solutions needed to ensure the environmental, social and economic wellbeing of tomorrow’s city dwellers. Since 2006, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company has evolved from a groundbreaking initiative into a global enterprise at the centre of clean energy and sustainable development.

Masdar has committed more than US$2.7billion to clean energy projects – both solar and wind – delivering nearly a gigawatt of power across the globe, with another 0.7GW under development. Also, through initiatives such as Masdar City, Masdar is helping to realise a template – or “greenprint” – for sustainable urban development.

Business development director Velocys ASTE IS an increasing problem in the UK and across the globe. Landfill taxes are high; exporting waste is becoming more costly; and while incineration is an alternative, such projects can face opposition and planning restrictions. To date, other options have been limited.

Our company has intensified a well understood chemical process that can be used to convert postrecycled municipal waste (or the gas generated at landfill sites) to high-value liquid fuels such as diesel and jet fuel. For the first time such a plant can be sized to match the scale of waste collection logistics.

This process can deliver up to 70 per cent lifecycle greenhouse gas reduction over conventional fuels, and as such will help the aviation industry meet its challenging sustainability obligations.

Picture a small scale waste-toliquids plant at the waste processing facility of every large town or city, anywhere in the world, displacing local fossil fuel use. Velocys is working to make this a reality.

Head of innovation and energy futures, Northern Gas HE NORTH of England is in a great position to lead the energy revolution. We have fantastic natural and human resources, world-class cities and universities and are already a major provider of renewable energy.

At Northern Gas Networks (NGN), we are working closely with our fellow utility companies, local authorities, regional businesses and central government, to put the North in the energy spotlight.

Together with our partners, we’ve launched several groundbreaking pilot projects, from exploring the potential to create the UK’s first hydrogen city in Leeds, to playing a leading role in understanding the opportunities for using the existing network to transport shale gas and more.

Through research projects and the creation of new industry forums, we are providing the knowledge and opportunities for collaboration that will help our region to be a key player in creating a sustainable energy future for generations to come.

INDUSTRY VIEW

press@masdar.ae www.masdar.ae

Director of procurement Opus Energy

Campaign director Wood For Good

ROCUREMENT AT Opus Energy is founded on the principle of understanding the business need and putting this at the heart of any review or negotiation. But, in addition to this, constructively questioning the ways things have always been done can yield much greater and sustainable efficiencies, eliminating some costs altogether.

We’ve adopted this broader approach to make sure no process goes unquestioned. One example was the solution of sending cards to customers to submit their meter reading; a great problem-solver at the time, but review revealed that uptake was slow while increasing our contribution to landfill.

A constructive and positive examination of specifications and demand management can help cut waste and inefficiencies. We use ISO-accredited suppliers to ensure materials from expired energy meters are recycled, for example, while other businesses can benefit from building management systems that link lighting to movement and only heat occupied rooms.

Sustainability requires a critical approach, but the long-term benefits are immeasurable.

ITH THE built environment a main contributor to carbon emissions, UK housebuilding activity is currently caught between two conflicting aims – fulfilling demand for 200,000 new homes per annum, and meeting targets set in Paris to tackle climate change.

By using timber both of these challenges can be met, thanks to its energy-efficient properties and faster build times in comparison to traditional building methods.

Wood is the world’s only carbonnegative building material. It is unique in its ability to store carbon as it grows, the most natural and effective way of removing CO2 from the atmosphere. Increased use of timber in construction would not only promote sustainability through improved thermal efficiency in homes, but also by creating a supply and demand opportunity for commercial forestry, boosting carbon absorption by simply growing more trees. Climate change is very much a modern challenge, yet by using the world’s most versatile natural building material, wood, the UK can create a successful carbon storage mechanism for a sustainable future.

Video campaigns from Fraud prevention

FRAUD PREVENTION

SPOTLIGHT ON… • Payment fraud • Regulatory compliance • Anti-money laundering • Invoicing fraud

Cloud

CLOUD

SPOTLIGHT ON… • Hybrid cloud • Cloud security • Emerging markets • Digital transformation

Digital transformation

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

SPOTLIGHT ON… • Customer experience • Digital strategy • Data management • Communication strategy

Performance improvement

PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT

SPOTLIGHT ON… • Strategy and execution • Digital transformation • Customer loyalty • Leadership

To watch these videos, and for more information, go to business-reporter.co.uk/category/video

R3: Resilience, Response & Recovery Summit 2017

Your roadmap to a robust incident response plan The R3 Summit takes you through the most vital steps of your response and recovery strategy, sharing practical takeaways alongside legal guidance and incident exercises.

In its second year, the R3 Summit brings you: 150+ information security professionals • 20+ top-notch speakers • 6 how-to guidance sessions • 2 case study sessions • 2 spotlight sessions • 1 cyber-breach simulation • 1 set of collaborative roundtable discussions • 1 hands-on workshop • 1 head-to-head session • 1 friendly fireside chat • 1 champagne reception with 150+ networking opportunities This is your chance to join industry professionals across business sectors to meet and exchange best practices on recovering from data breaches and creating first-rate responses to them.

For more information and to register, please visit our website, call Tracey on 020 8349 6475 or email tracey.m@business-reporter.co.uk claiming your 50% off with promo code MP50 www.r3summit.co.uk