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New Building Bye laws
Extract from Briefing held on 22nd January 2009
Senator F.E. Cohen:
There are some politics creeping into the change in the building bylaws, and you really should be aware of that. Basically, the new building bylaws are designed around carbon reduction. There is a hold-up at the moment because Guernsey Gas are claiming that the structure unfairly disadvantages them. We have put it on hold for a short period while Economic Development carries out a piece of work to ascertain precisely what effect it will have on Jersey Gas and whether it is reasonable to continue. I would expect that work to be completed within weeks.
The Connétable of St. Peter :
It is going to be a difficult balance act to balance up economic need of an energy supply against the environmental need and reducing carbon.
Mr. A. Scate:
I am not going to pre-judge the answer we are going to get, but certainly the line of the department has been it is not going to preclude gas as an energy source. What we are saying is you need to balance the sums in a building. So if you want to spend more of your carbon through using gas, you are going to have to insulate more so you do not need to use so much gas. It does not stop gas being used. You just have to insulate more.
Senator F.E. Cohen:
The core of the argument is that the figures that we use naturally favour electricity because our electricity is predominantly non-carbon-based produced. They are saying that the figures that we are using are wrong because we do not know for sure exactly where our electricity comes from. It may be from the nuclear-produced electricity or it could be carbon-produced electricity that has got into the grid. One of their claims is that the numbers that we are using are unfair, so we need to look at that as well.
The Connétable of St. Peter :
Fine. I understand that. Has any thought been put into the amount of carbon coming out of the E.f.W. (Energy from Waste) farms?
Mr. C. Newton: Yes.
The Connétable of St. Peter :
Has that been factored into the new bylaws?
Mr. C. Newton:
It is fully modelled into our models of Jersey's carbon production. So, both the current emissions and the emissions over the lifetime of the plant that is currently contracted to be built have been looked at. As a matter of interest, clearly, because the throughput of material is growing, the proportion of carbon that that contributes to the Island's economy is growing, but it is also growing at a time when, if we do everything we should be doing, net carbon emissions are falling. So the proportion grows because of increased tonnage being burnt and because it is a bigger proportion of a smaller number. So it does grow, I think to about 14 per cent or something of the Island's carbon emissions over that time.
The Connétable of St. Peter :
That is all factored into the building bylaw regulations when we are arguing between gas central heating, for example, and ...
Mr. P. Thorne :
No, the building bylaws will work in terms of a target carbon usage and you can use whatever variables you choose, as Chris suggested. You know, you can burn more gas but then you will need to insulate more to reduce the gas that you do burn. Then there are different ways of doing it.
The Deputy of St. John :
But all those figures have been on a grand scale to 2035 that you have drawn all the figures together with, on the Island population growing.
Mr. C. Newton:
I think we have got potential confusion here. The building bylaws would not apply to the Energy from Waste Plant, if that is what you are referring to.
The Connétable of St. Peter :
No, what I am saying, we were just talking about the Guernsey Gas problem and they are saying: "Well, we cannot be certain here from the purpose of developing your building bylaws we are making an assumption that we are getting carbon-free energy via the electrical grid." What I would like to ask you is the E.f.W. plant is going to burn waste to reduce levels, but that in itself is going to produce carbon. Has that been factored into the electricity element of that?
Mr. C. Newton: Absolutely.
The Connétable of St. Peter :
As a counter to the argument on the gas company, for example.
Mr. C. Newton:
Yes. The carbon intensity of the electricity that Jersey consumes is a composite of what we import, what we produce locally and will continue to do so. At the moment, there is very little on-Island electricity production. There is some. There is about 3 per cent of what we use, partly through the burning of oil in La Collette power station but also the energy from waste plant makes a small contribution as well. Just for the sake of not having any confusion about it, we are absolutely confident in our analysis of the carbon intensity of Jersey's imported electricity. We have taken significant advice on that. We use the protocols of the International Energy Authority who produce documented evidence of what each energy producer has in terms of carbon intensity. We procure most of our energy from E.D.F. (Electricite de France). They have published results for what their carbon intensity is. We buy from them. That is the right figure to use. There are arguments from Jersey Gas and Guernsey Gas. We have looked at them. We do not agree with them. It is their prerogative to continue their argument, but you might say they would say that, would they not, because it arrives at a figure that is more beneficial for them, but I am absolutely confident our figures are right.