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Energy Vision for London
Green light to clean power
The Mayor's Draft Energy Strategy : January 2003
Overview
It is 2050 and London has a radically different energy system to the one
that characterised the 20th century - it is a high performance system
powered by renewable energy and a reduced fossil fuel input which has
delivered carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emission reductions of more than 60 per
cent relative to those of 2000
.
Sustainable energy use
There are radical improvements in energy productivity with highly subtle
and sophisticated manipulation of energy in all applications across all
sectors. This is characterised by:
- a high performance building stock (brought about by highly efficient
new buildings and retrofitting of existing buildings)
- highly efficient electrical appliances
- widespread use of computer control systems to manage energy
demand and small scale generation (in homes and business)
- a modal shift to public transport and super-efficient, quiet,
pollution-free fuel cell vehicles.
energy service companies that provide all energy services to domestic
and commercial customers. They manage and control all electricity
and heat production and purchasing at the local (on-site) level. This
focuses management attention on the performance of energy services
so that energy efficiency is maximised and customers receive high
quality energy services at minimum cost and
- widespread improvements in the performance and effectiveness of
energy hardware the quality, or quantity, of energy services have been
improved whilst the quantity of fuel or electricity consumed has declined.
Sustainable energy provision
The development of decentralised electricity generation has delivered
huge fuel productivity benefits by enabling heat and power to converge
and massive growth in renewable energy exploitation. This is
characterised by:
- highly dynamic local electricity networks (managed by virtual
utilities) with large numbers of micro-generators
- combined heat and power (CHP) operating at the domestic and
community level, in business and industry
- the wide spread use of fuel cells in transport, heat and power
which have increased the efficiency of fossil fuel use due to their
high energy conversion efficiency
- extensive renewables generation in London and imported
renewable energy.
This decentralised energy system based on CHP, renewables and fuel cells
has provided the foundations for an emerging full hydrogen economy.
Sustainable economy
The new economy focuses primarily on service provision rather than
continuously increasing the production and supply of material goods.
This has reduced waste, increased product lifespan and reduced the
quantity of materials flowing through the London and UK economy -
which in turn has reduced the amount of embodied energy that is
consumed in the manufacture and transport of these materials and waste.
Policy context
The market-place, and governance and institutional structures, of the
2050 energy system have changed and developed substantially since the
20th century -this has included:
- effective leadership and coordination of sustainable energy policy in
London and the UK as a whole
- fiscal reform, which has shifted the balance of tax onto the use of
resources and energy
- a whole raft of legislative measures prioritising energy productivity in
buildings, electrical appliances, vehicles and industrial equipment
- as a result the power of the market has been focused onto energy
productivity and decentralised power and
- effective partnership working between the many different elements
and organisations comprising the London energy system.
The development of the green economy has created a competitive edge
for London and the UK as a whole, which has contributed to the
prosperity of the British economy.
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