New energy policies

Mar 18 2008 by Jane Davidson, Western Mail

WELCOME to the first of my new regular columns in Country and Farming in which I aim to share and prompt discussion with you on the big issues in environment, sustainability and housing which affect rural communities across Wales.

Areas in which you will have a special interest and over which I have Ministerial responsibility include energy production and efficiency, climate change, planning, waste and recycling, sustainable development, marine and coastal issues, countryside access, sustainable housing, conservation and our National Parks.

It is a very wide-ranging brief and I know as a regular reader of these pages that they all affect people who make their home, earn their living and enjoy their leisure time in rural Wales. At first sight it might appear that such a range of seemingly unrelated topics could not all fall under one portfolio. But it is because all these subjects are linked that they have been brought together.

With responsibility for all these areas I can draw together all the tools – be they planning guidance or an energy strategy – that these areas provide to deliver this Assembly Government’s One Wales commitment to create sustainable, living communities in a greener, cleaner country for the benefit o all.

The overall impact, and overriding aim for me is to work in all these areas to find effective solutions to one of the biggest challenges facing all of us today, climate change.

When I became responsible for this area I stated that my top priority was to ensure that as a small country we can take the lead to respond appropriately to climate change and its impact on Wales’ environment, communities, infrastructure and economy.

One of the issues that affects us all is our use and production of energy, a crucial tool in the battle against climate change.

And last month, I was delighted to launch – in Cwmbran and London – the start of the consultation for the Renewable Energy Route Map for Wales. The Route Map, the first published by a UK administration which sets how we can, within 20 years, produce more electricity from renewable sources, such as wind, tidal and biomass, than we consume as a nation. We have fantastic natural resources and we need to use them effectively and sympathetically.

Biomass is an area where we see a lot of potential for new developments to provide energy for electricity and heat. Of interest to rural communities will be the use of anaerobic digestion to turn waste into energy, a treatment method where wet organic wastes can be turned into a compost-like material, a liquid fertiliser and a source of biogas. The vast majority of this type of waste in Wales comes from agricultural sources and plants on farms and other locations in rural Wales could help meet some of our energy needs.

Although the technology is in its infancy, we are fortunate that some of the world’s pioneers are based in Wales. These include a team at the University of Glamorgan who together with the Assembly Government have just run a competition to increase the provision of anaerobic digestion plants in Wales. Two facilities have been identified to go onto the next stage. Local authorities have already shown growing interest in providing plants to treat food waste.

This could all provide energy for electricity and heat in Wales, but the real environmental gain lies with the diversion of household waste from landfill and considerable green house gas savings.

Just as important is is how we can use energy more efficiently. The Route Map sets out proposals.We want as many people as possible to take part in this consultation. So whatever your level of interest please take a look at our proposals on our webite and let us know what you think. Look for the route map in the environment and countryside consultation at www.wales.gov.uk/consultations/currentconsultations