Draft minutes

Mr Brazier’s visit to Austria

(1)          Further to Minute (12) 26 January 2010 Mr Brazier gave a verbal report on his visit to Austria.  He advised the Select Committee that he would be producing a report for the Climate Change Working Group on his findings, which was part of a larger piece of work on biomass, and this would be copied to the Committee.

a)     Mr Brazier’s trip had lasted 4 days with day 1 and day 4 taken up with travel.  Days 2 and 3 consisted of an intensive visit programme. On day 2 he visited a prestige factory and saw three types of biomass boiler; 80, 150 and 250kW which could be fuelled by logs, woodchips or pellets with woodchips being the post popular.

b)     He then visited a Biomass Centre and was shown a lorry with a blower and cradle which could pick up 30” logs which were then fed into jaws (with hooks for bigger logs), rammed and split. This was one of 2 such lorries which call at centres across the country to process logs into woodchip.

c)      On the second day the party visited a school heated by a woodchip-fed 250kW boiler located in the cellar. Woodchips were delivered to an adjacent pit measuring approximately 3 x 4 x 4m every 3 weeks and these were fed from the pit to the boiler with a rotating augur. This system was very reliable and was cleaned out and routinely serviced every 2-3 days.

d)     There was then a visit to a farm in the mountains, of an average 45 acre size, where trees were farmed. The government extracts a fee from such farmers and if for example there is fallen timber, government inspections reveal this and ensure farmers deal with the timber or they will remove it and send a bill for the removal. The Minister of Agriculture and Forestry was present and it seemed of no particular note to have such a high profile guest present.

e)     The farmers make a small amount from this business and live almost at a subsistence level, with the income from trees being quite valuable to them. The countryside is being continuously reforested and the trees are mainly coniferous.

f)    There was also a visit to a village which is entirely reliant on renewables. A private company is paid to bring in timber; the woodchips fuel heating, which is very effective, paid for by residents who also sell biofuel made from rapeseed which is grown on local farms. Cooking oil is processed into biodiesel. The local industrial estate with approximately 12 factories is heated by methane from fermented pig muck.

(2)         Members were given the opportunity to make comments and ask questions which included the following:

(3)         In response to a question by Mrs Tweed, Mr Brazier advised that one disadvantage was that there was a certain amount of ash to be disposed of and quite a lot of smoke but the Austrians seemed unconcerned by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

(1)         Members commented on the volume of written evidence that had been sent to them and that it was difficult to decide on the relevance and authority in some cases.  The Chairman reminded Members that the purpose of receiving the documents was to provide a background and to help them to identify key issues and from whom they wished to take oral evidence.

(2)         Members were given the opportunity to highlight key points from the written evidence received to date which included the following:

Mr Ferrin:

·        What is the available capacity of renewable energy to replace conventional sources in the UK and in Kent?

·        We need an understanding of the costs and rewards

·        How much can be achieved with a practical approach to the subject?

·        What can be adopted and what are the hurdles for KCC (such as regulation)?

·        What is the role of KCC in encouraging the development of renewable energy in the County?

·        We need to identify key witnesses such as potential suppliers, Forestry Commission, NFU and seek information on wave and tidal energy.

·        Mr Ferrin requested that we obtain an update on payback periods in light of the new Feed-in tariff.

Mr Hirst

• Like to look at the new system on wave power such as the sea snake
• We should concentrate on employment opportunities to benefit the community such as those created by wind farms and the wood fuel industry. KCC has a duty of care to its neighbours and its residents in generating employment eg coppicing.

Mr King

·        The committee should  look at renewable energy from the micro to the  macro scales, from generating energy at the domestic or single plant level e.g. PV in relation to the Feed-in tariff and feeding energy back into the system

·        Need to look at whether we need to promote a change in the planning process and how to use the planning system to encourage this to happen; heating using solar panels, property by property, feeding renewable energy back into the system or reducing the amount taken out of the system on our own properties – seeing returns and reductions on fuel bills.

·        What can we do in Kent? Evidence showed that there could be a sustainable yield in Kent of 90,000 cubic metres of wood per year sufficient for 90MW of heating sufficient for 19 institutions the size of West Dean College. We could do the same as Austria, reinstating derelict and semi derelict coppice in Kent.

·        It is important to have independent witnesses.

·        Regarding wind energy, Mr King was not keen on the visual impacts but wind energy is free and so at 30% efficiency this is free electricity for 30% of the time as compared with conventional energy using a resource which is not sustainable. There is a need for a grid, but we already have that so on balance, the free source, even if available for a short time, is good.

·        CHP/efficiency should have been considered at the Allington Incinerator  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

(1)         It was identified that the Select Committee need to know more about business opportunities for Kent.

(2)         Mr Hirst raised the issue regarding the huge fuel bill for journeys carried out by KCC staff and whether there were more sustainable alternatives such as provision of electric cars.

(3)         Mr King commented firstly on the great value of the Freedom Pass and secondly whether it was possible to provide a grant to members of staff to assist them with installing renewable technologies such as PV in their own homes – as the biggest employer in Kent it would be good to look at some initiative involving staff as this could make a difference. What incentives could KCC offer?

(4)         Mr King commented that we needed to be clear about payback and could perhaps consider micro-mortgages and an ‘energy bank’. There were various possibilities which could be discussed with the Treasury Team such as whether we could purchase PV panels and householders could pay back at a lower rate than the savings they would make.

(5)         Mrs Stockell raised the issue of the Regional Spatial Strategy and that there may be the option to highlight these issues in the County Plan once we knew the regime.

Visits

(1)               Mr Ferrin asked that Members volunteer to carry out visits, supported by an officer, to feed back to the committee in rapporteur style as Mr Brazier had done.

(2)    RESOLVED that the Members comments and suggestions on gaps in the evidence and future visiting arrangements be noted by the Policy Research Officer.