Event: 31 May 2023: Transition Edinburgh / Our Future Edinburgh:

Transitioning Edinburgh to Low Carbon Heat Workshop

Facilitated by:

Our Future Edinburgh* – Johanna Carrie: Home - Our Future Edinburgh

Transition Edinburgh* – David Somervell: Transition Edinburgh – Pathways to building a fairer, carbon neutral future

Ben Carter – Vattenfall Edinburgh

John Maslen – Independent renewable energy consultant

Edinburgh Climate Change Institute: Edinburgh Climate Change Institute (ECCI) - Edinburgh Earth Initiative

 

This was a really worthwhile event because it opened up the wealth of expertise, experience and endeavour committed to implementing District Heating networks in the city. It is a long haul, but Aberdeen and Leeds are leading examples of how to move ahead here in the UK.

Here are some of the practical questions which struck us on the day.

(Go to the main report in the Environment & Energy Menu above to get a lot more detail on participants and references.)

The Practicalities:

  • The technical knowledge is there, with the conceptual ambition. The engineering, science and organisational commitment continue to evolve here in the UK. (It is well established in continental Europe. The Greater Copenhagen District Heating (DH) network is the exemplar. It transmits through 54km of pipelines, supplying 250,000 households with district heating. That shows what could be done, but it has been a 25-year plus endeavour. English - CTR )
  • The funding sources, the funding terms, the public-private share of risk, the protocols on how to lead and proceed (delivery partners), and the legislative frameworks are far from settled.
  • However, the Scottish Government sees a significant future role for DH and here in Edinburgh there is a live programme and it is picking up pace. (There is a lot of catch-up to do compared to the likes of Aberdeen and Leeds.)
  • In broad terms, the ‘bill’ to decarbonise buildings in Scotland is put at £33bn (just for that part of the ‘great transition’). The comprehensive ‘need for innovative funding’ doesn’t begin to describe the challenge. (There are deep fundamental issues: ‘Who are the ‘owners’ of the disparate programmes or ‘bits and pieces’?’: ‘Returns are insufficient to attract private investment.’)
  • Edinburgh’s Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy (LHEES), mandated by the Scottish Government, is due to emerge from CEC late in 2023. It will have a 5-year delivery plan and it needs to be a pathbreaker. Look for ‘consultation’ over the summer on new proposals, new prohibitions and on new alternatives.
  • The city’s Net Zero 2030 programme, while widely heralded, needs ‘political leadership, organisational capacity, collaboration, tenacity and transparency’.
  • ‘Someone’ has to ‘own the problem’. ‘Someone’ is going to have to take the ‘message’ to communities; to ‘scope and deliver public engagement at the local level.’ (Watch for the risks of misinformation.)
  • Who is that to be? CEC officials? Elected Councillors? Community Councils? The private sector? With what support and guidance? What is the message? Who will be held to account?
  • Sarah Boyack MSP was in attendance. She spoke with some energy at the end, saying she was going to get on the case at the Scottish Parliament. Let’s watch that space.

End/KR, BR