We went through the agenda quite quickly as there were only two of us.
We decided to cancel the September in-person meeting, so the next online meeting is currently scheduled for the 23rd of October at 19:30. I’ll confirm this closer to the time if you are registered to receive ACT Energy group notifications.
NESO has published it’s trials to explore how domestic customers respond to financial incentives to turn up/down their electricity use. Here is the report which highlight some interesting and not unexpected results, see the 5 bullet points. It is a large sample of very mixed households, so a more representative cross-section of the UK population.
The consultation on the changes made to the local plan following the inspector’s comments ends Oct. The energy group will not be responding as we do not believe we can effect further changes. TDC has accompanied this with an up dated map of the areas affected, see here.
The government has published its Industrial strategy which included energy . Regen have provided a useful summary here and on the flexibility strategy.
It looks like E-Co Cars are planning a hub for Totnes, the presentation date has passed, but you can follow the concept here.
Here is the NESO monthly report for August. It’s good to see that 62% was generated from low carbon (not zero carbon as claimed) sources. If you are a user of our Carbon Footprint Tracker tool, the significant difference in Carbon Intensity is because NESO report CO2 not CO2e and only include territorial emissions of the fule usage. Also, these numbers represent one month rather than a full year.
Maps on the site are currently being updated between 17:00 16/10/2023 until this notice is withdrawn, during the update all mapping functions will be tested so will need to be available, but results cannot be predicted and shouldn’t be relied on.
Update: 21:30 16/10/2023
The maps and references to them have now all been updated so that they will be easier to maintain and are all served directly from this server. Please email me if you encounter any problems.
ACT was formed in July 2019 following a public consultation/event (200 attendees). We are a not-for profit CIC raising funds from private/public donations and grants (turnover ~£10k). A steering group is responsible for delivering our mission through the various in-house and external groups we collaborate with:
“To provide independent encouragement and support for Teignbridge District Council, town and parish councils, community groups, businesses, organisations and residents in the district to act together on [mitigating climate change and ecological collapse]”. See full text here.
The following is a list of the type of activities ACT undertakes with some examples.
Engaged with TDC Planning re implementation of exiting local plan (LP) policies and development of future LP policies.
Provided ad-hoc support to TDC officers and councillors on a variety of projects/initiatives: ecology; carbon footprint calculations; estate energy assessment; user-friendly carbon calculator; residents’ drop-ins.
Participated in regular liaison meetings with TDC, these are expected to evolve into a more project-based structure.
Responded in detail to all TDC consultations relating to climate and ecology mitigation.
Provided responses to many planning applications re non-adherence to TDC/national policies.
Award-winning scheme. Trained over 100 volunteers covering almost all Teignbridge areas.
WW volunteers undertake projects in their areas: surveys; planting/restoration; events; community gardens and orchards; rewilding; citizen science and monitoring projects; responding to consultations and planning applications.
WW volunteers are backed and supported by a paid scheme coordinator and ACT resources.
Recently launched scheme. Trained 22 volunteer across Teignbridge.
CC volunteers undertake community projects to help them engage with their energy use and associated carbon emissions. This can be through: gatherings with neighbours/friends/family; having a presence at local events; providing carbon cafes; giving talks/presentations; supporting local groups/organisations.
CC volunteers are backed and supported by a paid scheme coordinator and ACT resources.
Engagement with the public
Organised several ACT public events direct, e.g. Ashburton & Dawlish presentations to local councils; Energy Road Show; members’ gathering; EV event.
Presence/stalls at a number of annual events, e.g. Dawlish GBGW; Newton Abbot Fayre; Dawlish Retrofit; Ogwell Energy Saving; Totnes Energy Wise; Dawlish Turn The Tide.
On-line and traditional media
Manage a Facebook page and developed own website(s) as a depository of information/resources.
Submit/publish regular articles and letters in the MDA.
ACT resources and support
Developed a host of on-line tools and resources as well as props, stall materials, posters and games, e.g. CFT and associated factors/action lookup; GIS maps for Local Plan and other data relating to WW & CC schemes; planning application notification tool.
Greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions are the cause of climate change. It is the amount of these in the atmosphere, measured in parts per million (ppm), that have a direct link to man-made temperature rise. Net-Zero is a dangerous diversion as it ignores how much ghg we emit in the intervening period, this is the Carbon Budget.
In order to for “Teignbridge District Council to achieve its Part 1 and 2 Carbon Reduction Plans and to ensure Teignbridge is on a path to achieve no more than 1.5C of warming”, we need to measure and manage our ghg emissions.
The following actual/target annual carbon footprints provide a measure of progress to date for in-house TDC, Teignbridge as a whole and new housing developments. All ghg emissions are consumption based CO2equivalent (CO2e) in units of kilo-tonne (kt) or Mega-tonne (Mt).
Historic emissions up to 2021 are government or TDC sourced. Planned/projected emissions for 2021 onwards are TDC sourced or based on the UK’s legally binding Carbon Budgets. Note that these legal UK budgets only assume a 50% likelihood of remaining below the 1.5OC atmospheric temperature rise. We have included the IPCC Paris-agreement compliant carbon budgets which require a 67% likelihood of remaining below 1.5OC as a comparison.
Based on RICS, a new build house has embodied emissions of between 435 and 585 kg CO2e/m2 An average new build house has a floor area of 76m2(Savils 2015) ., so it would have embedded emissions of about 38 t CO2e each.
Each additional household will add a further 14.5 t CO2e / year from those who live in it (assuming the Newton Abbot average household consumption emissions from the Impact tool)
The consumption based ghg emissions from housing developed in 2019-21 and a 720 houses per year projection is shown below. We believe this burden on the remaining carbon budget can be mitigated within current UK building regulations, please refer to ACT’s response to the LP consultation on this.
This post considers the proposition that most energy could be generated from renewables near to where it is needed. This article starts with a brief history of the electricity network, which reminds us that its origins were local in nature, and of how the grid evolved.
History of the electricity network
In 1881 the town of Godalming in Surrey established the first public electricity supply driven by a water wheel. This supplied street lighting and electricity to those that wanted it. In that year street lighting went out to tender and the cost of lighting by electricity was 19% cheaper than by gas.
In the late 19th Century a battled raged over whether we should be using alternating current(AC) or direct current (DC) for electricity distribution.
By 1900 many town councils were building power stations, which were typically fuelled by coal brought in by train. Over time these council power stations would be connected together to give greater flexibility, first using 2.2kV. Over the next 20 years a network at voltages 6.6, 11, 33 and 66kV developed. By the 1920s the network increased to 132kV. This meant that council generators could be replaced by larger regional stations.
In 1926 the Electricity Supply Act introduced effective national energy coordination. The Central Electricity Board was formed to concentrate the generation of electricity in a limited number of stations, which were inter-connected by a national grid by 1935.
Newton Abbot power station, built at Jetty Marsh in 1898, played its part in this development. It was bought by Torquay corporation in 1920, converted to AC, and used to provide power out to the coast. Newton Abbot power station developed to have a peak capacity of 52MW in 1948.
Newton Abbot Power Station 1949
In 1948 electricity supply was nationalised and eventually Newton Abbot power station was connected to the National Grid.
By the 1960s higher voltages (275kV and 400kV) started to overlay the grid with a supergrid. Nuclear stations started to appear placed near to the sea for cooling. Instead of transporting coal down to the south to generate electricity, electricity was generated by the coal fields and transmitted down south.
The Problem
Historically the transmission network developed because generation from coal was better placed near to mines than close to demand, because:
It was cheaper to transport electricity than to ship coal to cities.
Burning coal had caused caused serious atmospheric pollution including a smog that turned many building black.
The current development path for electricity generation and the electricity network involves placing a large amount of off-shore wind generation in remote locations, National Grid is planning to spend £54 billion to upgrade the transmission network to accommodate 50GW of off-shore wind energy.
Onshore wind and solar PV near to demand remain under exploited.
The alternative of much more local generation from solar and onshore wind backed by storage does not seem to have been seriously considered by government.
It appears that the network has evolved by patching up what already exists, each patch adding on expense and complication.
The network exists to supply electricity demand. So we need to ask if demand can be satisfied without so many expensive additions to the periphery of the network.
In an electricity network demand at any point in the network must be matched instantaneously by supply, if this does not occur the voltage and frequency will drop, which will cause issues for connected devices such as flickering lights. When a load switches on this increases demand on the electricity supply, which must either supply that demand from storage or generation. Currently all this supply to demand generation is handled centrally.
Now there is significant small scale generation connected at LV substations, this is currently seen as a problem to the network because it behaves in an unplanned manner. It should be seen as an opportunity to efficiently supply local demand. To do that at a local level there needs to be:
Storage so that:
over a day cycle at least supply and demand can be matched.
surges in demand are matched locally.
Smart systems so that:
Larger discretionary load (EVs, some heat pumps, water heating, appliances) run times can be timed to make best use of supply. Different user’s demands could be coordinated to avoid overloading the system.
Local supply and demand can be predicted, so that any additional supply from elsewhere in the network can be acquired in the most advantageous way (price, carbon intensity, availability of renewables could be considered).
Smart system would exist both on sites and at LV substations.
If there were sufficient solar and storage, such a scheme could work well in the summer (based on scaling up domestic experience). It would need onshore wind to continue operation through the winter, this may not be on the local LV network, but would probably be fairly close, so would need to be linked into systems at nearby LV substations as a preferred source of supply.
Only when there wasn’t enough local generation would it be necessary to procure electricity on the wider grid.
This may have significant costs at each substation, but bear in mind that there are 230,000 ground mounted substations in GB, and that National Grid intends to spend £54bn on upgrading the transmission network. This is equivalent to £234,000 per substation.
It is at least theoretically possible to meet the UK’s electricity demand using:
Renewable generation – mainly wind and solar, but also other technologies as these develop.
Storage of various durations including batteries, pumped hydro.
A relatively small amount of dispatchable generation (green hydrogen, biofuel generation, etc.)
This has been demonstrated by CAT and REGEN studies.
Consequences of carrying on as we are
Cost of upgrading the transmission network for 50Gw of offshore wind
According to carbon brief National Grid ESO plans to spend £54bn upgrading the transmission network to be capable of carrying 50Gw of offshore wind planned for 2030. When the wind blows it seems plausible that SW demand could be met by off-shore wind from the north sea. This is equivalent to £234k per ground mounted LV substation (assuming 230k ground mounted LV substations). Also £2k per property
Most of the electricity consumed in the South West is not generated in the South West
Most of the time the majority of electricity demand is met by generation outside the South West.
Normally electricity demand peaks between 4pm and 7pm and is at its lowest overnight, and most of the time local generation is much less than demand. On sunny days PV generation is significant, but still not enough to meet demand.
It is expected that by 2030 electricity demand will have increased substantially due to electric vehicles and electric heating.
Does Grid demand need to increase
Conventional thinking says that electricity demand will double because of electrification of transport and heat.
This would not be the case if:
The standard of insulation of all buildings were improved substantially
Private vehicle use were to be reduced, in favour of active transport and public transport.
Lightweight electric vehicles such as e-bike, e-scooters were to be used more.
Enabling Technologies
Renewable energy is the cheapest energy source
Why did renewables become so cheap so fast? from Our World in Data studies the fall in the cost of wind and solar between 2009 and 2019, and suggests possible causes. They found that the cost of electricity generation from solar dropped by 89%, and on-shore wind by 70%. A similar thing has happened with off-shore wind, but not with nuclear.
This rapid cost reduction for renewables has resulted in electricity from gas costing roughly 4 times as much a from renewables, following recent gas price rises.
50% of electricity demand could be met by solar PV on commercial roofs
According to Solar PV on commercial buildings, a 2016 report from BRE: “There is an estimated 250,000 hectares of south facing commercial roof space in the UK. If utilised this could provide approximately 50% of the UK’s electricity demand.”
In practice 50% is probably an over estimate because this much solar is unlikely to be timed to match demand, however, it should when combined with storage to make most buildings self sufficient for the summer.
Teignbridge has many existing buildings without solar, though recent applications for new commercial buildings have often incorporated substantially more solar photovoltaics than is required by the building regulations.
A case in point is the recent application by Lidl to build a store in Bovey Tracey. According to the carbon reduction plan submitted as part of the application, the roof will have 180kWp of solar panels, which reduces the building’s regulated emissions from 111tonnes of CO2 equivalent to just 4 tonnes. We can expect other examples to come forward following energy price rises.
With sufficient panels and storage it should be possible on many sites to be almost self-sufficient between March and September.
Teignbridge’s draft local plan identifies 217GWh of on-shore wind capacity
Teignbridge’s draft local plan identifies 217GWh of on-shore wind capacity, which is about 39% of current demand. We think that 217GWh is a low estimate.
Public Opinion on Renewables
A recent opinion poll by survation shows that there is overwhelming public support for building new wind and solar farms to tackle the cost of energy crisis.
Another poll also from survation shows that both the public and conservative voters believe windfall tax on energy producers should form a part of paying for energy bill cap.
STORAGE
Another essential component of a locally based solution is sufficient storage. This would be used for:
Storing solar energy during the day to use at night, this would often be for use on domestic or commercial sites where it had been collected.
Storing of local wind energy when it abundant for later use, it is possible that when local wind is abundant it would also be relatively cheap.
Network management purposes, such as short term balancing.
Longer term storage to survive longer shortages.
DNO operating licence prevents them from owning storage, so grid connected storage at substations would require another operator.
LV substations
Most sites connect to an LV electricity station, which then connects to the distribution network. The capacity of a substation and the distribution network it connects to is limited, if demand and local generation can be managed to within this limit then there will be no need to upgrade the substation or distribution network.
Accurately managing power at a substation level requires substation metering and intelligence at the substation, this would be relatively low cost, but most substations currently have very little monitoring.
Larger demands could be accommodated when there they are matched by local generation. Storage either at substations or behind the meter also helps maintain the balance, both by storing excess local generation, and charging during periods of low demand and excess external generation.
Demand Management
Demand from things like EV charging, heating water, running storage heaters (and heat pumps in suitable houses), as well as appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers can be shifted provided that demand is satisfied within some time window. If you have solar PV and you choose to do the washing when the PV is exporting, this is a kind of demand management.
This concept can be extended to networked grid connected devices, which can register that they require an amount of energy by a certain time, the grid then works out when it is going to supply the energy.
OPENADR
The OpenADR Alliance was created to standardize, automate, and simplify Demand Response (DR) and Distributed Energy Resources (DER) to enable utilities and aggregators to cost-effectively manage growing energy demand & decentralized energy production, and customers to control their energy future. OpenADR is an open, highly secure, and two-way information exchange model and Smart Grid standard. Together we are creating the future of smart grid modernization today.
OpenADR – Article on BSi adoption of OpenADR 2.0BSi have published two standards based on OpenADR:
PAS 1878:2021 Energy smart appliances. System functionality and architecture – Specification
PAS 1879:2021 Energy smart appliances. Demand side response operation – Code of practice
Microgrids
It may not always be possible for individual premises to have the most advantageous combination of on-site renewables and storage. There could be economies in installing a wind turbine, sharing rooftop solar between several premises in the same building, or sharing a large ground mounted solar setup. As soon as the grid is used to connect to a larger resource, grid charges are involved.
A microgrid consists of several sites which are connected together, share common resources and a single (probably smaller) grid connection.
Most of the time electricity comes from on-site resources.
When on-site resources are insufficient, or it is otherwise advantageous to do so, the microgrid will draw on the grid, and either distribute electricity to members, or store it for later use.
A microgrid could be a group of dwellings or a business park.
Microgrids are only really feasible when building from scratch, new estates or new developments, where renewable energy and storage can be shared. There are significant operational issues beyond construction.
A virtual microgrid could exist at an LV substation, if a number of connected sites were to aggregate their supplies. This means the operation and maintenence remains with the DNO, but a community can share resources such as renewables or storage.
What about Inertia, Black start, Power factor correction and so on
It is sometimes claimed that a grid consisting entirely of renewables will be unstable, and unable to start if it is ever shut down. You will often hear terms like inertia and black start used in this context.
Conventional generator have a spinning turbine, which tends to carry on spinning at the same rate when power is removed because of Inertia. Whereas solar PV and wind turbines use inverters to generate alternating current (AC) to put into the grid. Normally inverters are grid tied, which mean that they depend on the presence of AC to produce alternating current. Grid-forming inverters on the other hand will produce AC based on a local signal source.
This article gives a good description with video of Inertia and related concepts, and describes how a grid powered entirely by renewables can work with Grid-Forming inverters. New large renewable generators connecting in Texas have been required to do this for some time.
ZERO CARBON BRITAIN (ZCB)
ZCB is a study from Centre for Alternative Technology, which amongst other things models how the UK could be powered by renewables, including 84% of the time with wind and/or solar. They based this study on 10 years of weather data at half hour resolution.
Firstly there is a lot of scope still for generation on sites where electricity is required, which would avoid any change in grid capacity. This could lead to many sites being self-sufficient for a significant part of the time.
A typical site would need:
Renewable generation in the form of rooftop solar, and for larger sites smaller wind turbines
Storage sufficient to ensure 24 hour power on good generation days, possibly longer.
Energy management system to handle scheduling of larger loads (EV charging, Heat Pumps, Water Heating, Appliances)
LV Substation
Key to all this is a smart local network, which would have:
Sufficient storage to deal with demand fluctuations and to store electricity procured from outside advantageously (either in terms of price, carbon intensity or renewable availability)
Smart system which monitored system performance, and negotiated supply of larger loads with connected sites.
The LV substation would be able to fairly accurately predict the load that would be placed on the higher voltage network, and would be able to draw down supply when it was available. This would lead to a much more stable situation for the higher voltage network, which could then dispense with many of the patches that it currently has.
It may also mean that much less reinforcement would be needed to the higher voltage network.
Obstacles
Policy
Ofgem currently has a policy of being technology neutral, prioritising what it sees as the best value, regardless of climate concerns.
Government is generally technology agnostic, rather than prioritising renewables.
Planning
Designated areas more difficult for renewables
Commercial scale renewables such as wind and solar farms are not allowed in National Parks.
In the National Park, conservation areas and on listed buildings renewable technologies generally require planning permission. Planning permission is determined by the aesthetic effect that the renewable installation has on the area. This means that it is unlikely that permission would be granted for:
Standard monocrystalline silicon panels facing a road
Horizontal axis wind turbines
Permission is more likely if the renewable installation is out of public view, or is designed to fit in with the street scene. This could be by using things like solar slates.
If you live in Dartmoor National Park (DNPA) and want to fit renewable technologies to your property, then you should seek planning advice from the park planners.
National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)
The following is a copy of the paragraphs that have effectively stopped planning applications for onshore wind.
When determining planning applications for renewable and low carbon development, local planning authorities should: a) not require applicants to demonstrate the overall need for renewable or low carbon energy, and recognise that even small-scale projects provide a valuable contribution to cutting greenhouse gas emissions; and b) approve the application if its impacts are (or can be made) acceptable54. Once suitable areas for renewable and low carbon energy have been identified in plans, local planning authorities should expect subsequent applications for commercial scale projects outside these areas to demonstrate that the proposed location meets the criteria used in identifying suitable areas.
Note 54:
54 Except for applications for the repowering of existing wind turbines, a proposed wind energy development involving one or more turbines should not be considered acceptable unless it is in an area identified as suitable for wind energy development in the development plan; and, following consultation, it can be demonstrated that the planning impacts identified by the affected local community have been fully addressed and the proposal has their backing.
This has effectively stopped new applications for onshore wind since 2016
In the recent fiscal event there is the following statement:
“The Growth Plan also announces further sector specific changes to accelerate delivery of infrastructure, including:
· prioritising the delivery of National Policy Statements for energy, water resources and national networks, and of a cross-government action plan for reform of the Nationally Significant Infrastructure planning system
bringing onshore wind planning policy in line with other infrastructure to allow it to be deployed more easily in England” (pg 21)
Spot the wind turbine! – industrial scene in the Netherlands.
Network
Cost of connecting to the distribution network
The cost of connecting to the network often rules projects out.
Making a connection with generation capacity no more than 16A in capacity accompanied with no more than 16A of connected storage can be done without first informing the DNO, the DNO needs to be informed afterwards with a G98 notification.
Any larger connection requires a G99 application, which needs to be approved by the DNO. Not only does this take time, there is a strong probability that at present the DNO will ask for payment for network upgrades, which could be not just at the current voltage, but at up to 2 higher voltages. It is not uncommon for this payment request to be £10k for an additional 5kW system.
Most projects are effectively limited to this size because the installer doesn’t want the overhead of making a G99 application. I believe that this has limited the deployment of rooftop PV.
A review called the Significant Code Review is currently being undertaken by Ofgem, which proposes that network upgrades be planned for by the DNO and most of the cost absorbed in network charges. Costs local specific to connecting to a site would still be born by the site, but otherwise costs would be limited to the current voltage, and should generally be much lower.
Presentation on Ofgem proposals for a Significant Code Review (SCR), which will encourage DNOs to plan for increased network demand, and limit the lottery of charges for upgrades falling on the first customer to trigger an upgrade.
Delay getting a connection
There are currently delays of up to 10 years getting a network connection above 1MW, this is severely delaying larger renewable projects.
Good description with video of Inertia and related concepts, and describes how a grid powered entirely by renewables can work with Grid-Forming inverters. New large renewable generators connecting in Texas have been required to do this for some time.
Accounting
Accounting for renewables
Currently electricity suppliers reconcile their generation on an annual basis, which means that it is possible to buy certificates (REGOs) for 100% renewable generation without actually buying anywhere near 100% renewable generation. This has lead most retail electricity suppliers to claim 100% renewable electricity.
Once generated electricity enters the network it contributes to the general carbon intensity of the network, it becomes unidentifiable. It would require physically separate supplies to guarantee renewable supply, which would not be practical. For most practical purposes a similar result could be achieved if electricity were accounted for in half-hour periods as recorded by smart meters. This would enable the consumer to identify the carbon intensity of each unit consumed. It would also enable suppliers claims of renewable percentages to be more credible.
The EnergyTag project seeks international agreement on a standard for generating hourly certificates for energy generation.
Selling locally generated electricity:
Local Electricity Bill seeks to enable selling of electricity locally by a generator directly without selling to an intermediate licensed electricity supplier.
A Smart grid is needed to ensure that local generation and demand are balanced, and that any difference is exported or imported from the wider grid as needed.
Our wildlife wardens have been busy gathering information about many sites, and some have submitted responses for their areas individually. Here is the response on ecological matters, which includes information about many sites.
We have also studied chapter 11 low carbon, in detail and have been assured that a further consultation on renewable sites will occur later in the year. Chapter 11 is based on a report from Exeter University, which identifies the district’s energy requirements and potential for renewable generation. We await this consultation with interest.
The government demands that the local plan provides sites for about 750 houses per year over the next 20 years in Teignbridge.
Where homes are built makes a difference to carbon emissions.
If you build small flats in town centres:
There are fewer emissions from construction.
There are fewer ongoing emissions.
You don’t need a car, so there is a chance of no private transport emissions.
This post considers how far this could be achieved in the Heart of Teignbridge using the sites already identified in part 2 of the local plan. It is quite a long post which includes some feasibility calculations, which considers:
Part 2 of the local plan identifies more new sites than are needed to meet this when sites already allocated in the existing plan are taken into account.
The plan proposes that the allocations are split between the areas identified as follows:
Heart of Teignbridge: 40% (c. 2,920 homes)
Edge of Exeter: 24% (c. 1,800 homes)
Dawlish: 14% (c. 1000 homes)
Teignmouth: 1% (c. 100 homes)
Bovey Tracey: 3.5% (c. 250 homes)
Ashburton: 3.5% (c. 250 homes)
Villages: 14% (c. 960 homes)
Each site has a suggested minimum and maximum number of homes, the following table is derived from these, and shows the level of choice in each area:
The columns in this table are sourced from the local plan documents as follows:
Proposed distribution comes from ‘How much housing development is required’ in chapter 2.
Min is the sum of the lower number of homes for each site in the area, taken from chapters 3 to 10.
Max is the sum of the higher number of homes for each site in the area, taken from chapters 3 to 10
Min <= 1ha is the sum of the lower number of homes for each site in the area, where the site is less than 1 hectare (and so suitable for a smaller developer).
Max <= 1ha is the sum of the higher number of homes for each site in the area, where the site is less than 1 hectare (and so suitable for a smaller developer).
%required min is the proportion of Min that would be required to satisfy the proposed distribution.
%required max is the proportion of Max that would be required to satisfy the proposed distribution. This indicates the level of choice between sites given in the plan.
Notes are any observations.
For the sake of argument let’s accept this distribution. It shows that there is a considerable amount of choice of sites in the Heart of Teignbridge, Dawlish, Bovey Tracey and the villages.
The rest of this post considers a possible allocation for the Heart of Teignbridge.
Allocation in the Heart of Teignbridge
Within the Heart of Teignbridge the sites are subdivided into Urban Renewal sites, which are on existing land that has already been developed for other purposes, and the rest of the Heart of Teignbridge.
Enough of the sites in the Heart of Teignbridge to meet the allocation of 2920 are shown in the following table:
Some of the sites towards the bottom of the table have been chosen to make up the numbers, but this allocation tries to avoid using green field sites that are away from current development.
This post considers putting the maximum possible amount of development into the Urban Renewal sites, this has a number of advantages:
The homes delivered will all be within easy walking distance of:
Newton Abbot Station
Bus services
Newton Abbot town centre
The combined cycleway/footpath towards Bovey Tracey and Moretonhampstead to the north, and currently to the Passage House, soon to be extended to Teignmouth.
Hackney marshes
The need for car ownership for day to day use would be minimised:
occasional car use could be provided by a car club.
Day to day car use would only be needed if work demanded it.
The need for further car parking would be minimised.
Car traffic growth would be minimised.
These sites suit smaller dwellings and these is a proven demand for smaller dwellings.
The combination of smaller dwellings and possibilities for active travel and use of public transport will give the smallest carbon footprint.
Development of green field sites further out away from the centre is minimised.
We then consider other sites as near to the Town Centre as possible. The A382 development is already in progress, and there is relatively level access to the town centre along this corridor. This favours the Berry Knowles, Caravan Storage and Forches Cross sites. Unfortunately we still need to find 424 homes from the remaining sites.
Housing Need
The latest TDC housing policy document states that there is a waiting list of about 1000 applicants, and that 51% of these applicants are looking for a single bed property the proportion of property types required by applicants is shown in the following table:
Additionally 1 in 3 Teignbridge residents is over 65 years old, so probably doesn’t have children.
This says that there is a need to smaller properties, which could be flats.
There is clearly a need for social and affordable housing, as the waiting list recently has been about 1000 applicants, with about 350 applicants being housed each year. If the waiting list were to be substantially reduced over say 4 years to 100, then an additional 225 affordable homes per year would be required.
On average 137 new affordable homes are provided, other applicants are housed from existing stock. So the number of new affordable homes needs to increase to about 425. That would leave 325 open market homes from the obligatory 750 allocation.
Housing Density
Housing density is expressed in dwellings per hectare (dph), the area part of this measure includes estate roads, but excludes major thoroughfares.
From the developable area and maximum homes stated for Urban Renewal areas we can calculate the maximum dwellings per hectare:
Kingsteignton retail park site has a maximum density of 37.04, which is low for an urban area. This is a large site, so makes a big difference to the overall numbers, developing this at 50dph delivers an additional 175 homes.
If all the sites were developed at a density of 70 dph, then only 522 more homes would be required, so only the Berry Knowles and Forches Cross sites would be needed in addition to the Urban Renewal sites. Some sites are already allocated at more than 70 dph, so setting this as a minimum gives 2466 homes, so we are left with 454 to find.
If a minimum of 84.5 dph was set over this area, then 2932 homes would be delivered, which is enough to satisfy the Heart of Teignbridge allocation.
When I originally wrote this section I has misread the developable area of Brunel as 22 hectares, which makes the calculations better. If the developable are of Brunel or Kingsteignton retail park could be increased by 7ha between both sites, then the average density required overall could be reduced to 70dph.
So the Teignmouth block to the top left is at 70 dph. These examples are in the Teignbridge Vernacular. For a larger development such as Brunel, a complementary, but more modern style might be appropriate.
I am sure that an imaginative architect could manage better!
So it looks like 70 dph is achievable if most dwellings are small and development is up to 3 storeys.
What should the housing mix be?
In order to substantially reduce the housing waiting list we need to deliver about 425 affordable homes per year. The mix for these should follow the mix of dwelling sizes required by applicants. If the urban renewal area were developed using this mix then the numbers would be as follows:
Here we have split 2 and 3 bed dwellings equally between flats and houses.
What would be the carbon footprint of this development be?
The carbon footprint that can be attributed to this development is made up from:
Embedded emissions from construction of dwellings.
Operational emissions from buildings in use.
Transport emissions
For buildings emissions can be approximately calculated from floor area, we assume that development is to the minimum space standard introduced in 2015. This standard takes into account the number of occupants as well as the number of bedrooms, so a one bedroom flat may have one or two occupants. Apply the minimum floor areas in this standard to our required annual housing numbers:
Embedded emissions from construction depend on the construction type, the following values are assumed, and are applied to a floor area of 45969 m2:
CLT stands for cross laminated timber, which is a lightweight construction that can be used for up to 9 storeys. It lends itself to offsite pre-fabrication. CLT panels have good thermal properties.
The above embedded emissions do not take account of sequestration caused by the carbon sequestered whilst trees are growing being locked up in the structure of a dwelling. If this is taken into account it could be that CLT construction is carbon negative.
The operational emissions can be approximated from past energy performance certificates, combined with an aspiration that the new building regulations will reduce operational emissions to 25% of current building regulations. The average current CO2 emissions from properties with an EPC rating C and above since 2015 is about 24kg CO2e/m2/year. So we assume that these dwellings will be built to 6kg CO2e/m2/year. This gives operational emissions of 276 tCO2e per year.
As no car travel is necessary with these sites, there are no additional transport emissions.
If the urban renewal sites are built at 750 dwellings per year, it will take nearly 4 years to construct these dwellings. If we allocate embedded emissions to the year of construction, then the total emissions over the first few years would be:
Comparison with development of more out of town sites
Suppose that instead we built 750 brick built 3/4 bedroomed homes on sites 3 miles from the town centre.
Assume these have an average floor area of 100m2, then the embedded emissions would be 73.1 tonnes per house, or 54,825 tonnes for 750 houses.
The operational emissions would be 450 tonnes per year.
We assume that a resident 3 miles from the town centre travels everywhere by car including travel to work, shopping and leisure. This might amount to 8,000 miles per year. Worse sites 3 miles from the town centre are generally at a higher altitude, so will require additional energy to go uphill that is not regained downhill. 8,000 miles in an average petrol or diesel car emits 2.5 tCO2e/year, and a diesel 2.2 tCO2e/year. Even an EV powered from grid electricity would emit 0.8tCO2e/year. If we assume 20% EV, 40% diesel and 40% petrol, then the average car would emit about 2t CO2e/year.
Even if we assume 1 car per house, then there are an additional 1500 tonnes from cars. It would be more realistic to assume 2 cars with one being used less, so effectively 1.5 cars.
Putting all this together for the first few years we get:
Once built this option has nearly 10 times the emissions than the alternative low carbon option.
Cllr. Jackie Hook, executive member for Climate Change, Flooding and Coastal Defence reported to Teignbridge District Council’s (TDC) Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 9th February 2021.
Here is a video clip of her report
She reported on TDC’s work on Climate change and the Ecological Emergency:
TDC appointed William Elliot in February 2020 as Climate Change Officer
TDC has met regularly with ACT to discuss direction and progress on the climate and ecological agenda.
In October 2019 policy S7 of the current local plan was amended to uplift the carbon reduction by 2030 from 42% to 48%. The carbon calculator has been updated to only consider building emissions.
A new draft local plan for 2020 – 2040 has been published including a whole chapter on climate change and went to consultation March to July 2020.
University of Exeter is developing a low carbon strategy to determine where and how renewable energy generation and low carbon development should feature in the district, and will feature in Part 2 of the local plan.
Authority participating in DELETTI and will install double rapid EV chargers in four of Teignbridge’s AQMAs.
Shortlist of 12 sites selected in collaboration with parish councils for On-street Residential Charging Scheme (ORSCS) in car parks.
Draft local plan requires installation of EV chargers in new development.
Joint bid submitted under the Cosy Devon partnership to delivery energy efficiency improvements for low-income households. A further bid for £1.14M has been submitted to deliver authority led improvements.
The Authority has participated in the Solar Together scheme. 917 solar PV and 153 battery storage systems are proposed as part of the scheme across Devon.
Low-carbon social housing projects include Drake Road, East Street and Sherbourne House. These will achieve high carbon and energy standard and feature Air Source Heat Pumps and EV charging points.
William Elliot has been measuring the authority’s own carbon footprint, annually Scope 1 & 2 emissions are 2Mt CO2 and Scope 3 emissions 6.7Mt
The Authority is currently working on a Carbon Action Plan to identify a cost and carbon efficient pathway to becoming carbon neutral, which will cover about 40 projects across 15 buildings owned by the authority. A budget of £E3.6M over 2021-2024 has been allocated, and a grant application for £3.1M has been submitted covering seven sites, which could deliver a combined reduction of 400 tonnes of CO2/yr. A full report will be submitted to Executive Council in April 2021.
TDC is a signatory of the Devon Climate Emergency and is supporting the Devon Carbon Plan, the consultation on the interim plan has just ended, following a Citizen’s Assembly the final Devon Carbon Plan is due for adoption by Local Authorities in summer 2021.
Following the declaration of an Ecological emergency in September 2020, plans are in hand to plant 1,500 trees in Q1 2021 in partnership with the Woodland Trust and Idverde. A tree strategy is progressing and a draft will be available for consultation in Q1 2021. The Authority has committted £5,000 to Devon Wildlife Trust to support a habitat mapping exercise.
It was reported that ACT’s Wildlife Warden Scheme has received 75 applications and has trained 50 wardens to date.
We have developed a carbon calculator which is simple to use and will enable you to track your carbon footprint from year to year.
The calculator covers everything you and your household consume including domestic energy use, transport, food and stuff. Domestic energy use and car use are based on accurate readings. As well as accounting for petrol and diesel cars, plugin-in cars are also handled. The food section’s calculation is based on both your diet type and expenditure. Spending on goods is based on expenditure, with a fixed amount for services.
The calculator allows you to store your results for each year, and sets an annual target for each of the following years.
After a period of use for the spreadsheet based calculator, we will introduce a web application which will reflect feedback you give us on this calculator.
You can download the calculator and read more about it here.
You can Like and Follow it by going to this facebook page or go onto your Facebook page, click ‘Find Friends’ and put in Teignbridge Wildlife Watchers. You don’t have to be a member of ACT to use this page, so you can share it with all of your friends in Teignbridge. When you post a photo, video or observation, try to remember to put your Parish in the Post, so we can get some useful wildlife info from it!
If you aren’t on Facebook, you can look at the Page, but you won’t be able to post your wildlife notes; maybe you could email them to a friend who does Facebook and ask them to put your observations on the Page for you? If there is a demand, we could possibly start an email group for people who don’t want to use Facebook .
Covid19 is bringing great sadness and suffering – but it is also bringing hope for the future of our planet. Worldwide, virus precautions are shrinking our footprints and our pollution (it’s even reduced the death rate for people who have been made ill by polluted air) and it may be giving our climate and wildlife its last chance for survival. The question is, can we keep our footprints small and continue to make our wild places bigger when the virus has dwindled? We need your help and encouragement to do it!
ACT has put together an information and
resources pack designed to help councils work with their communities to reduce
carbon emissions, protect the environment and achieve carbon neutrality.
The launch of the pack follows the two
workshops ACT convened in February to facilitate a discussion among councillors
on the challenges we all face in taking effective climate action and to
exchange ideas on how to tackle those challenges.
The resources pack contains:
An overview offering guidelines on declaring an emergency and developing an action plan
An explanation of why it is a climate emergency, what are the consequences of a changing climate, what we can do, and setting emissions targets
A guide to what local councils can do, including ideas on community engagement and how to put climate and ecological considerations at the heart of councils’ statutory responsibilities
Ideas for actions councils can take to measure and reduce emissions within the built environment and primary energy generation
A section on food, farming and forestry plus ecology, looking at encouraging local food production, involving farmers in improving carbon sequestration, extending tree cover, and how to help wildlife
A section on transport, noting it is the biggest source of carbon emissions in Teignbridge (51%) and highlighting possible actions to remedy that.
The pack also advises that ACT’s topic groups
can help with information, guidance and signposting once a council has chosen
its first initiative in a particular area.
The pack will evolve over time and ACT welcomes feedback and input. Please get in touch if you would like to contribute.
