The Sustainable Community Infrastructure Campaign

Utilising waste and biomass to generate energy for distribution at a community level could help the UK to achieve its target of all new homes being zero-carbon by 2016, as well as contributing towards the 2020 renewables targets, according to a recently published report.

The 'Sustainable Community Infrastructure - campaign for a sustainable built environment' report was produced by the UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC) and Zero Carbon Hub's Sustainable Infrastructure Task Group. The group was established to determine the green infrastructure required to deliver the government's 2016 target.

The report gives considerable weighting to the benefits of using waste and biomass to generate energy in an overall renewable energy strategy providing for periods when other renewable generation (mainly from wind and solar sources) is low.

According to a survey carried out by UK-GBC, over 70% of the general public are in favour of community energy projects and 90% would like to see more use of rainwater for flushing toilets and watering gardens.

“It makes sense to join up delivery of infrastructure such as energy, water and waste at a community scale,” says Paul King, UK-GBC chief executive.

“There has been an assumption that consumers are instinctively against things like district heat or waste-to-energy plants, but our research suggests that is no longer the case.” The public sector should lead by example, says the report, and be required to connect to existing or planned community heat networks where available and viable.

“Delivering sustainable community infrastructure, particularly district heating, is often still seen as expensive and high risk, which is why we need the public sector to play a key role in providing the anchor,” says King.

Marco Marijewycz of E.ON and contributor to the report says that the issues of affordable, sustainable and secure at the community level have been looked at in isolation for too long.

“Radical new ways of partnering need to be established bringing together energy companies and local authorities at the planning stage along with house-builders and developers,” he says.

David Adams, Director of the Zero Carbon Hub said: “Community energy systems are an important component of delivering low carbon energy on larger developments. This report reinforces the key role that government can play, both providing demand as a client and enabling provision of heat infrastructure through allowable solutions. The recommendations represent a timely contribution to the decentralised energy debate and will help as we develop our understanding of the most cost-effective and carbon-effective way to build zero carbon homes. However, the acid test is whether these recommendations will turn community scale energy schemes currently on the drawing board into viable reality.”