London has the answers
London could meet its carbon reduction targets without any further scientific or technical developments, it was revealed this week.
A report published by Siemens urges Londoners to adopt existing solutions, particularly building insulation, which alone has the potential to cut carbon output by 10 per cent, with the added benefit of saving €150m a year. In total, existing solutions could cut carbon by 44 per cent by 2025.
“There are a lot of solutions out there that are already available for people to use such as home insulation and low energy light bulbs,” Siemens UK chairman Alan Wood told the Today Programme on Radio 4. He added that “lethargy” and the lack of a “driving necessity for them to do it” had stopped people from adopting these solutions more widely.
“There is no burning platform. It’s not frightening for people yet,” he added.
The study - Sustainable Urban Infrastructure - was produced in collaboration with McKinsey & Company. It says that the 50 per cent of the world’s population who live in cities are responsible for 80 per cent of carbon emissions, but it advises against “fashionable solutions” and the use of big statement technologies that are not appropriate.
It adds that 70 per cent of carbon targets could be met using technologies that would pay for themselves - mainly because they reduce energy costs - and investing in them could net investors more than €1.8bn a year by 2025.
Gas-powered CHP is “currently the most promising decentralised energy technology for London”, and should be adopted to reduce our dependence on the National Grid, the report adds.
Low energy light bulbs could cut emissions by a further 400,000 metric tonnes of carbon by 2025 and dramatically reduce domestic energy bills, Siemens believes.
The report adds that it would cost “less than €300 per inhabitant per year, around half of the average Londoner’s annual bill for gas and electricity” and the Government would not need to spend tax payers’ money to do it.
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