Draft Sustainable Energy Action Plan for City of Edinburgh – University of Edinburgh Consultation Response
Response to Director of Economic Development, submitted by email to:
Date: 25 August 2014
Dear Greg Ward,
Response to City of Edinburgh SEAP consultation from the University of Edinburgh
Please find attached our response to your public consultation on the development of a Sustainable Energy Action Plan 2020. The University welcomes this initiative, recognising that we have a significant carbon footprint contributing to the city’s emissions and that we have an important role to play – both as an institution and as a leading research and teaching organisation – in fostering a low carbon city. Despite considerable investments we are finding absolute reductions challenging.
The University of Edinburgh, established in 1583, has an international reputation for research excellence and innovation and consistently ranks in the world's top 50 universities. With over 40,000 students and staff, and an estate comprising over 400 buildings on five sites across the city, we aim to create new fields of knowledge and make a difference to the societal, cultural, health,environmental and wealth development of communities in Scotland, the UK and across the world.
We are committed to being a world leader in addressing global challenges such as poverty, climate change and the growing demand for energy, food and water, and to embedding the values of social responsibility and sustainability not only in our operational activities but in our research and curricula so that our students develop a clear understanding of their importance locally, nationally and internationally.
While we welcome the aspirations within the discussion we feel that there is some way to go to have a fully effective, shared Action Plan as it does not yet indicate the SMART targets, the roles and remits of key delivery agents, the resources to be applied and where they will come from.
The University would clearly wish to contribute to finding sustainable solutions to energy challenges, and cutting carbon emissions while allowing Edinburgh to grow as a cityand to efforts to eliminate fuel poverty.Wetherefore have some points for consideration and some concerns including:
- Lack of clear structures for leadership which engage all major stakeholders in the city
- Organisational framework for managing senior level collaboration
- The risk of drift / loss of focus in a crowded marketplace for ideas and calls on resources
- Competing calls on diminishing public funds and staff resource constraints
We offer assistance alongside the work of the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation (ECCI) and look forward to participating in the next stage needed to develop the discussion into a shared action plan.
Yours sincerely,
Dave Gorman,
Director of Social Responsibility and Sustainability
To discuss our response further, please contact David Somervell, Head of SRS Futures.
+44 (0)131 650 2073
Draft Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) issued by City of Edinburgh Council
Consultation Response from the University of Edinburgh
(SeeAppendix for preamble / briefing to business organisations in Edinburgh.
Plain text below is from the proforma questions with responses in bold italic.)
1.Vision
Our Vision for Transforming Energy in Edinburgh is that by 2020 Edinburgh will be:
- A city which has delivered a range of benefits for its citizens including affordable and more locally based energy.
- A city where the public sector, the private sector and civil society collaborate to find sustainable solutions to its energy challenges.
- A city which has cut its carbon emissions by 42% since 2005 while increasing jobs in line with its economic strategy.
- A city working towards eliminating fuel poverty.
(a) Do you agree with our vision for Energy in Edinburgh? Yes
However our experience over the past four years has been that the significant growth in University activities – e.g. new biomedical laboratories, advanced computing facilities and increase in student numbers and research programmes – has resulted in an increase in emissions despite considerable investment in energy efficiency.
The aspiration for Edinburgh to continue to grow as a city will make the third vision very challenging. Is it practicable for there to be such an ambitious absolute reduction target and should the target not be set following wide stakeholder engagement? At a minimum, city-wide modelling of both potential unabated energy / carbon pathways, and options to reduce, would seem necessary.
2.Challenges
Edinburgh’s energy challenges include: population growth, major new developments and historic buildings.
(a) Do you agree with our assessment of the challenges? Yes
(b) What energy challenges do you believe face Edinburgh in the medium to long term?
- Lack of clear structures for leadershipwhich engage all major stakeholders in the city
- Organisational framework for managing senior level collaboration
- The risk of drift / loss of focus in a crowded marketplace for ideas and calls on resources
- Competing calls on diminishing public funds and staff resource constraints.
(c) Opportunities for managing energy demand include active travel, major new projects such as district heating and economic opportunities for jobs and investment in the energy and building sector. Do you agree with the opportunities that we have highlighted? Yes
(d) What other opportunities are there?
The opportunity to achieve alignment of the long-standing pursuit of growth and physical expansion of the city with low-carbon aspirations will require some significant changes of emphasis / some hard choices. These would require not just the technical and engineering projects but also engagement with all parties on re-imagining Edinburgh as a smart, successful city which is comfortable living within its ecological means.This brings in not only the energy and carbon reduction challenges but related issues of adaptability, vulnerability and resilience and longer-term strategic questions linked to urban design, health and wellbeing and preventative sports.
3.Our Approach
Our approach to the challenges is to:
- Be clear and consistent about priorities
- Lead by example
- Influence the actions of others
- Foster collaboration.
(a) Do you agree with our approach to [reducing] energy use in Edinburgh? No
(b) If not, why not?
To achieve momentum and the necessary change in allocation of resources requires a collaboration between the major organisations combined with leadership from the top of each major stakeholder. We have a concern about the scale of the challenge compared to the dedicated resource that may be available to plan, coordinate and deliver change.
4.Programme areas
The Council sets out 5 strategic programme areas for developing details in collaboration with other organisations. These five strategic programmes are:
- Energy Efficiency
- Renewable Energy
- Waste – to – energy
- Sustainable transport
- District heating.
(a) Do you agree with our Programme areas? Yes
These are a usefulway of listing potential technical and engineering projects.
What appears to be missing is the collaborative organisational framework for bringing the required stakeholders together in a collaborative structure to manage change and harness necessary resources. Such a coalition would be better placed to draw in external resources – whether from Europe or from other sources – need to fuel the necessary changes.
5.Any other views
Do you have anything else to that your organisation could contribute relating to Sustainable Energy? Please include here ideas for inclusion of specific actions in the plan.
Examples may be: developing staff travel plans; allowing flexible working arrangements to help minimise congestion at peak travel times lowering the need for travel; adopting energy efficiency within buildings for financial, environmental and reputational benefits.
We understand that a small seedcorn grant of £200,000 has been awarded by Scottish Government to assist in taking the aspirations outlined in the consultation to the next stage.
Clarity on who is to be involved in the strategic decisions on how to invest this allocation would be useful. Is this the opportunity to open the initiative up to the major stakeholders identified and invite their commitment to develop a genuinely city-wide strategic programme?
The major stakeholders need to be clearly invited at the most senior level to identify what they can bring to the table and how their organisation will contribute to the programme of actions, investments and collaborative processes. Precedent exists in the challenge issued by the Chief Executive of the City Council re: The Edinburgh Guarantee which mobilised so many organisations to pledge Modern Apprenticeships etc.Further information and clarity on plans for a city ESCO and the related question of the role of the private sector energy providers would be useful.
Appendix 1:
Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP): Business Consultation Questions July 2014
Purpose of Consultation and Engagement
The Council is taking a lead in developing the Sustainable Energy Action Plan for Edinburgh. The plan is for the whole City, and therefore needs the whole City to get behind it.
The draft SEAP contains a number of suggested actions and ideas in addressing energy supply and demand. The aims of this consultation are:
•To ensure that we are leading energy policy in the right manner
•to understand the key energy issues facing stakeholders in the city;
•ensure the plan delivers for a wide range of stakeholders;
•involve and collaborate with a range of partners in developing specific actions to take forward and
•to develop SMART targets from the draft document.
The SEAP
The Sustainable Energy Action Plan sets out the approach that Edinburgh intends to take to meet its commitments on reducing energy use and carbon emissions. The city is committed to a 42% reduction in carbon emissions by 2020, against a 2005 baseline. The most recent information available indicates that Edinburgh has reduced CO2 emissions by 10% (DECC, 2014). This is comparable with the Scottish average reduction.
The broad areas identified that are critical for the achievement of the 42% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions are: energy efficiency measures; renewable energy; waste-to energy; district heating and co-generation; and, sustainable transport.
The council’s approach is to be clear and consistent about priorities – working in collaboration with partners to develop a cohesive strategy and implementation plan. The Council wishes to be seen as leading by example, seeking to influence the actions of others but as well providing a plan that will make it easier for organisations to see opportunities for investments, ways of helping with staff travel and other areas that can save businesses money through energy efficiency.
The SEAP is in draft stage currently and organisations’ views are sought to fully develop the plan for the city.
Further Information
Further information relating to the SEAP can be found here:
If you would like to email feedback directly, please contact: Steven Bunch or Janice Pauwels at: . Consultation will close on 25 August 2014.
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