Mayor for London Ken Livingstone has demanded that all major developments in the capital use solar panels to generate their energy.
The requirement for large projects to include “photovoltaic cells” will be contained in the mayor’s Draft Energy Strategy and forms part of plans to cut down on carbon dioxide emissions in the capital by improving energy efficiency and promoting renewable energy.
The mayor’s cabinet adviser on environment, Victor Anderson, said: “London’s energy use will be transformed if we can get solar power into all major new developments. If we can do this in a city as important as London, we will have made a major contribution to tackling the problem of climate change worldwide.”
The GLA estimates that buildings are responsible for 80% of London’s carbon dioxide emissions while transport accounts for 20%.
The mayor has also promised that the GLA’s new headquarters at CIT’s More London will set an example. Livingstone said that by 2005 the Norman Foster-designed “fencing helmet” will be powered completely from renewable energy.
Director of Land Securities’ London portfolio Robert Heskett said: “Its a nice idea, but it could only work on very large projects as the cost is quite substantial. We are looking at photovoltaic cells for our Stag Place scheme at Victoria, but the cost/benefit analysis is very complex.
“If this is just an aspiration of the Mayor’s then it’s fine, but if he’s going to insist on them for all schemes brought to him it could be quite costly and troublesome.”
EGi News 04/04/02
