UK government commitments to cutting 80% CO2 emissions by 2050 were slapped down by the Royal Academy of Engineering today as being unrealistic.
In a damning report, it was claimed that eco-bling such as solar panels and wind turbines will not cut emissions fast enough, and there’s no chance that all new buildings will be carbon neutral by 2020 due to a lack of skilled workforce.
Professor Doug King of Bath University said;
“Eco-bling describes unnecessary renewable energy visibly attached to the outside of poorly-designed buildings – it’s a zero-sum approach
“If you build something that is just as energy-hungry as every other building and then put a few wind turbines and solar cells on the outside that addresses a few per cent of that building’s energy consumption, you’ve not achieved anything
“You can’t put a turbine onto a building that is big enough to have any decent electrical generation, because the vibration it would cause would knock it off the building.”
He also amusingly stated that eco-bling was more about showing off your green credentials to your neighbours than saving carbon.
I agree with Prof. King when he says that in order for eco technology to penetrate the market it will require public sector to pioneer it and create the market in the first place.
I also agree that people don’t take the Government seriously when it fails to meet the targets it sets;
“The classic example of that is a National Audit Office report from 2008/9, which said that, in 80% of cases, government procurement of building projects have failed to meet their own targets for environmental sustainability.”
Ho hum.
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