An ambitious programme of water and energy conservation projects has been unveiled by the Greater Brighton city region as it bids to “grow back greener” from the lockdown crisis.
Amid continuing population growth in the region, water supplies under pressure and increasing energy use, Greater Brighton is taking the initiative to initiate, support and coordinate scores of projects which will help the environment and lead a sustainable economic recovery.
The schemes are aimed at achieving zero carbon emissions from the Greater Brighton region well before the government’s own target of 2050 and reducing household water consumption to 100 litres a day by 2040 - the region is facing a daily deficit of 90 million litres a day in that time.
As well as Southern Water, the Environment Agency, UK Power Networks and Community Energy South were involved in the panel work with Greater Brighton members making it one of the most authoritative studies on green growth ever seen in the south.
After working on the plan for more than a year, the energy and water projects were unveiled at a meeting of the Greater Brighton Economic Board (GBEB).
The projects include:
- Retrofitting thousands of homes to improve energy efficiency
- Achieving water use neutrality in the region despite the influx of 97,000 more people by 2030
- Lobbying for the restoration of kelp beds off the coast to capture carbon
- Developing water recycling projects for domestic use on new estates
- Supporting local heat networks using natural ground heat to cut out fossil fuels
- Using solar power to supply energy to public buildings and the rail network
- Backing schemes to use hydrogen as an alternative fuel for transport
- Rapidly increasing the network of Electric Vehicle charging points
The GBEB has backed the schemes and agreed to begin immediately lobbying the government for funding. It is estimated that 700,000 jobs across the UK could be created if such schemes were adopted.
Chairman of the Greater Brighton Infrastructure Panel, Ian McAulay, who is also Chief Executive Officer of Southern Water, said:
“These energy and water reports have taken hours of work and involved people with fantastic expertise from the private and public sector across Greater Brighton. There are some genuinely exciting and innovative projects which can help us on the road to economic recovery from the pandemic and, as importantly, will make a significant contribution to the environmental protection of our region.
“We cannot forget in all this that we live in one of the most water-stressed parts of the country and our carbon emissions are still too high.
“The strength of Greater Brighton is that our councils, universities, environment groups and companies like my own can pool our expertise, use our combined strength to get these projects moving forward and the combined skills and talents of our people to effect real change in this region.”
GBEB members have agreed to sign up to a Greater Brighton 10 Pledge environmental commitment at their next meeting in October.
Cllr Daniel Humphreys, GBEB Chairman, said:
“The projects put forward are ambitious, innovative and achievable, with the potential to deliver real change for our communities. We now must put forward a compelling case for investment so that we can capitalise on the expertise that the City Region has in this all important sector.”
Members of the Greater Brighton Economic Board include Southern Water, local councils across the region, the Universities of Sussex and Brighton, local partnerships, Gatwick Airport and the South Downs National Park Authority.
Introducing the plan, Ben Earl – Head of Water Efficiency at Southern Water and Chair of the Water Working Group said:
“This plan outlines the actions Greater Brighton can take to meet one of its biggest – water.
“Water companies can – and are – taking steps to increase the quality and quantity of our resources. But there are actions that can only be taken collaboratively. Which is why we involved more than 45 organisations in the developing both the energy and water plans.
“The projects we will develop over the next five years will help make Greater Brighton more resilient, improve affordability for residents and set the groundwork for our region to be recognised as a national leader in water efficiency and sustainable development.”
Click here to access the full report on energy and water projects
See pp171- 207 for the Water Plan for Brighton
See pp 166-170 - Greater Brighton Energy Plan summary
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