Greater London Authority
1 / Introduction
London is leading the charge towards low carbon energy with the Mayor’s Energy and Carbon Mitigation Strategy. The strategy aims to deliver a truly significant 25% of the capital’s energy from decentralised sources by 2031, and we were commissioned to thoroughly investigate the best possible options to help achieve this milestone in the fight against climate change.
A full and frank assessment of the potential for London to develop into a lower carbon city required us to team up with Camco to evaluate the technical, economic and deployment potential for renewable and low carbon energy. The study is the first ‘bottom up’ approach to decarbonising the city ever carried out; determining what is actually possible instead of looking to hit a prearranged target.
From looking at all the roofs in London to determine how many are south-facing and sloped for pholtovoltaics, to calculating where there is enough demand for heat to justify decentralised energy, our analysis delved into the detailed possibilities for the technical roll out of the London Plan. As part of our constantly cost-conscious approach, our expert consultants developed models to play out possible economic scenarios surrounding energy for the next 30 years to discover the perfect balance between saving carbon and saving money for the most sustainable future.
Recording and enforcing the energy requirements when granting planning permission for new developments was another major issue facing the Greater London Authority. We were able to use our experience to develop a monitoring framework to allow them to implement our findings from the report to shape the future of planning in London.
Starting from everything the capital theoretically has to offer in terms of natural resource and applying an onion skin of constraints, the report identifies the real-world potential of low carbon and decentralised energy in the UK’s capital city and offers an insight on the potential shape of the London required by the future.
Key facts
- Low carbon energy strategy
- Assessment for London to develop into a low carbon city
Related Disciplines
The Project Details
Client: Greater London Authority
Buro Happold Services: Sustainability