Small change

The UK could be a leader on microgeneration if the government gets its planning system right, says James Hall from Entec.

With solar panels and micro-wind turbines selling at B&Q, microgeneration is very much in fashion. But the majority of the planning profession and indeed policy instruments have largely ignored microgeneration until very recently.

The way it is

The fact that planning graduates were given little or no grounding on the subject before the turn of the millennium, and students probably only now cover it in any detail if they choose environmental course options, has had a ripple effect on planning practice. Nevertheless, many of the relatively recent graduate recruits in the profession do enthuse about microgeneration and sustainability generally. This reflects a shift in outlook and a gradual realisation by all stakeholders of the need to act now.

The high profile example cited is the London Borough of Merton, which in 2003 adopted a planning policy that requires 10% (rising to 20%) of energy generation on non-residential developments to be from renewable sources. They have indicated that this will be extended to residential schemes in their new plan. 

The way it’s going

The Stern review picked planning out as a vital tool in helping communities make the necessary transformation to a low-carbon life style. The forthcoming Planning Policy Statement on Climate Change should put more thought into this suggestion. The new PPS3 Housing Guidance published in late November 2006 states that any new development should have the potential to “draw its energy supply from decentralised energy supply systems based on renewable and low-carbon forms”. 

According to Greenpeace’s Jim Footner, policy planners in local authorities, and their private sector partners, are “increasingly using the planning system to deliver local generation”. Although he feels progress is slow, with “only” 50 authorities doing so, this figure is actually not bad given the baseline and the lack of statutory drivers before now. 

“An innovative planning system could make the country a trendsetter on microgen and local energy.”

We at Entec have become particularly interested in the Barratt eco-show-homes in Chorley, Lancashire which have solar panels, micro-turbines and water recycling. They are one of Britain’s most profitable housebuilders, and we see real merit in testing the market and buyers’ interest. We are working closely with other developers to see what can realistically be achieved in new schemes.

We have also recently reported to the government on the potential to review the General Permitted Development Order in respect of domestic microgeneration - ie what you or I can do at home without the need for planning permission. Our recommendations are generally positive and seek to balance the effects on neighbours and landscape/townscape impacts with the wider benefits of relaxing planning control for heat pumps, solar panels, micro-wind turbines, micro-CHP and biomass.  

The way it might be...

If, say, 10-15% of households were to embrace microgeneration (which is a realistic target) and all major new developments were to at least take energy efficiency and/or renewable energy into account, the impact could be substantial. It’s clear that this needs to be complemented by greater energy efficiency and the promotion of simple things like low-energy light bulbs, turning off the TV stack at night and curtailing the dishwasher drying cycle. For if people and households have more direct involvement in meeting their own energy, electricity and hot water needs then they are more likely to appreciate the wastage.

In amongst the doom and gloom scenarios on climate change, it might just be that an innovative planning system could make the country a trendsetter on microgeneration and local energy. Indeed, a Dutch delegate at the BWEA conference this autumn believed that we in the UK are “leading the way” on this matter. How often do we hear that these days?

James Hall, a director with Entec UK, was the project director for the recent government-commissioned Review of the General Permitted Development Order in respect of domestic microgeneration.

12 January 2007

James Hall