The capital’s first climate change action plan comprises as a basis four main components covering homes, organisations, transport and energy generation. Some £78 million ($152 million) will be allocated to the programmes over three years.
Within the Green Energy Programme, which is focussed on decentralised energy, the action plan sets a target to generate a quarter of the capital’s energy requirements from off grid, local energy systems by 2025.
According to the plan, the mayor’s top priority for reducing carbon emissions is local, lower-carbon energy supply, including combined cooling heat and power (CCHP), energy from waste, and onsite renewables.
In addition to the 2025 target, the majority of London’s energy would be supplied by distributed generation by 2050 under the terms of the document.
The plan sets out how savings of 7.2 million tonnes of carbon by 2025 could be achieved through improved energy supply and would be fostered through the direct investment of the London Development Agency and the mayor’s Climate Change Agency and a joint venture with EdF Energy, the UK arm of the French national giant.
The plan also proposes producing energy from waste without incineration using technologies such as anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis and gasification, and large-scale renewable generation.
“There are limited, but significant, opportunities for large-scale renewable power generation in London. Much greater opportunities for wind power exist in the Thames Estuary and the Mayor will strongly back projects such as the London Array. We will also investigate the potential for using tidal and wave power from the Thames,” the plan states.
The document shows that carbon emissions from the city are expected to grow from 44 million tonnes to 52 million tonnes by 2025 without action to curb them.
Livingstone said that despite the radical proposals, more support was required from central government on the issue of climate change.
Friends of the Earth’s Director, Tony Juniper, agreed saying: “The government must now follow the mayor’s lead and ensure that its forthcoming Climate Change Bill requires cuts in UK carbon dioxide emissions of at least 3% every year.”
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