Clean Energy
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Clean Energy & Clean Air
Clean Energy
It will surprise many to learn that Wiltshire has been Britainís leading county for the development of renewable by energy entrepreneurs for the past two years, and now generates zero-carbon power equivalent to more than a quarter of its needs.
These are remarkable feats that we should all applaud. However, the Tories seem determined to halt this growth in its tracks, and crush a once-booming industry, with a new-found scepticism for the fight against climate change.
Polls show that public support in Britain for renewable energy and climate action is at an all-time high, indeed at 85%, according to a poll conducted for the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), published in February.
And yet, the Conservative Party has effectively ended support for many renewable energy projects. The resulting slowdown in wind and solar development has implications for local air pollution and global climate change. And for Wiltshire, it is also bad news for local jobs and inward investment.
For the last two years, our county have been the fastest growing county for the development of renewable power by independent developers ó meaning those outside the major energy suppliers such as the ìBig 6î. We are now third overall, across all Britain, for cumulative installed capacity of independent renewables, according to the energy firm SmartestEnergy.
Last year, Wiltshire generated 640 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity from renewable sources, according to SmartestEnergy, compared with total county-wide consumption of around 2,400 GWh. In other words, Wiltshire now generates zero-carbon, renewable power equivalent to more than one quarter of its electricity needs.
This is a truly a great achievement. Unfortunately, the Tories are now putting this at risk.
From 2015, the Tory government terminated direct support for onshore wind and large-scale solar, replacing this with a new approach, requiring developers to bid for subsidies. That was a good idea, following a trend in other countries like Spain and Germany, with a goal to cut costs for consumers.
The trouble is, the government has held only one such auction, in February 2015, with no announced plans for any more. This means that the Conservative Party has abandoned the cheapest forms of low-carbon energy, despite polls showing that all of us want cleaner energy which protects our health and avoids dangerous climate change.
What is more, the government has slashed support for roof-top solar to levels that the industry says canít sustain clean technology jobs, leaving a once-booming industry on its knees.
There is another way.
There is a balance to strike, between supporting low-carbon energy and minimising costs to consumers. The Conservative Party has gone too far, all but eliminating support too fast, and in the process putting solar panel and wind turbine installers and electricians out of work, and placing at risk further independent renewables investment which totalled £1.5 billion nationally over the past four years.
Instead, we should be embracing renewables as the way forward, towards a more modern, decentralised electric grid, using the most cost-effective tools at our disposal. With the cost of renewables tumbling, now is the time to reap the benefit.
There are special ways that Salisbury can get involved.
In our city, the vast majority of households still throw away their organic and garden waste, which typically goes to landfill. This can have serious environmental consequences, releasing the powerful greenhouse gas methane, for example, as it decomposes.
Instead, we could use such waste to produce energy, through anaerobic digestion, to generate low-carbon electricity, alongside a clean by-product which farmers can use to boost their soil.
Anaerobic digestion has seen a doubling in installed capacity in the past four years, SmartestEnergy found, showing that this is a mature technology waiting to be deployed further.
I propose a 5 megawatt AD plant for Salisbury, located in one of our local industrial estates, to safely and environmentally dispose of household food and green waste. Such an AD plant would generate enough low-carbon electricity to power 5,000 homes.
It is for proactive plans such as these that I urge you to vote for me, Paul Sample, for a cleaner, fairer, more modern and forward-looking Salisbury, on June 8.
Clean Air
The Conservative Party and its local politicians are ducking and downplaying one of the greatest health scandals of our times, responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people each year, condemning many of our children to asthma and lung-related diseases, and heart problems in the elderly.
Salisbury is very much a victim. I am Paul Sample, and I am determined to lead a UK and Wiltshire fight for breathable air, if you elect me as Liberal Democrat MP for Salisbury on June 8.
In Britain, outdoor air pollution directly causes 40,000 deaths per year, according to research by the Royal College of Physicians, published last year, by stoking health problems including cancer, asthma, strokes and heart disease. That is more than 20 times the number of deaths from traffic accidents (1,732 in 2015), and more than half all deaths in England caused by smoking (nearly 80,000 per year).
When you compare the attention to health risks from smoking, you can see why this issue needs addressing.
According to the World Health Organisation, there are four main outdoor air pollutants to worry about: particulate matter: (smoke particles and dust); ozone; sulphur dioxide; and nitrogen dioxide.
In city centres, air pollution is mostly caused by traffic, and not least burning of diesel by cars, lorries and buses. UK efforts to cut air pollution and save lives are driven by European Union legislation (perhaps Leave campaigners would have called this ìred tapeî, or ìburdensome regulationî), leading to corresponding laws and air pollution limits in the UK.
Where a UK local authority finds that it may struggle to meet these legally binding limits, it must declare an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA).
Salisbury has three AQMAs: one for the whole of Salisbury city centre within the ring road, and one each for properties facing London Road and along Wilton Road.
But we have just one air quality monitor for the whole city, on Exeter Street. That is more concerning given an independent finding by Clean Air UK, that four sites are more polluted than Exeter Street: Fisherton Street, Castle Road, Castle Street and Southampton Road.
And even the data from the Exeter Street site is poor. The station measures only two of the four air pollutants which are the focus of the WHO: nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter, ignoring ozone and sulphur dioxide.
But let us dig into these data that we do have.
Long-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide increases symptoms of asthma in children, and is associated with reduced lung function growth, according to the WHO. It is a pollutant whose levels parents must be acutely aware of. Under EU law, the UK has to stay below an annual average of 40 micrograms. That is the same as WHO limits.
What about Exeter Street? We reviewed the station for the last 12 months, up to May 30 2017. We found that the average for the period was 34 micrograms. That is only just within the maximum annual limit: I think that is a bad performance, not least because, as I have said, it turns out that this is far from the most polluted site in Salisbury.
Turning to particulate matter, exposure is associated with lung and heart disease. The WHO reports that there is no limit below which there are no effects. In other words, there is no safe level, only less dangerous levels. The UK is committed to stay below an average of 40 micrograms annually. That is double the WHO-recommended limit, of 20 micrograms.
What about Exeter Street? We found that the annual average level was 17 micrograms, in the past 12 months. That is within the UK limit, but very close to the maximum WHO limit. Given that the WHO warns that there is no absolutely safe level, that is worrying to me.
So, letís summarise.
In Salisbury, we have three Air Quality Management Areas, defined as pollution hot-spots, but just one air quality monitor. That monitor measures only two of the four of the most dangerous outdoor air pollutants, as defined by the World Health Organisation. Levels of both pollutants almost breached maximum WHO limits in the past 12 months. There are at least four streets in Salisbury that are more polluted than Exeter Street. And two of those streets (Castle Road and Southampton Road) are not in an Air Quality Management Area.
This is a situation of scandalous neglect, where the complacency of local politicians speaks for itself.
Instead of welcoming the Clean Air UK study, and expressing appropriate concern and urgency, Tory councillor Richard Clewer attempted to smear its credibility.
ìWe are carrying out a longer term study to rule out any freak events or inaccuracies,î he said, quoted in the Salisbury Journal. ìYou have to be careful with any study because things like weather patterns have to be taken into account. We are not interested in any grand plans but looking at things we can do locally.î
Personally, I cannot think of a subject deserving of grander plans, greater resources and fuller attention than one that is killing 40,000 people per year, and whose wider health impacts ñ in particular asthma ñ especially target children. To remind Councillor Richard Clewer, these are not the claims of activists, but facts, from the World Health Organisation and the Royal College of Physicians.
His local Tory complacency is, if anything, amplified at the national level.
The government has been defeated twice in the High Court, by rulings that it is doing too little. This year, the court forced the government to publish an air pollution strategy, to get serious. That strategy, published last month, lacked teeth, however, calling for yet more toothless clean air zones, without hard measures, such as traffic charging or scrappage schemes to phase out diesel.
What will I do if I am elected your MP, on June 8?
First, I pledge to increase air quality monitoring in Salisbury. What you donít measure you canít manage. What I find most shocking about this issue is the low level of hard facts, which is breeding the complacency we see in our local politicians.
Second, I would strain, by hook or by crook, to halve the pollution I referred to: halve the nitrogen oxide, halve the particulates. This may demand initiatives such as pedestrianizing more of Salisbury; switching to electric buses; or banning older diesel vehicles from the city centre. So be it. Yes, we must enjoy our cars, but we must also enjoy our health, our children, our city.
Third, I will work tirelessly for a Brexit ñ if Brexit it must be ñ that retains EU codes to protect our health and environment. If there is one major institution that has strived to improve UK air quality, it is the EU. The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), led by Eurosceptic and prominent Leave campaigner, Andrea Leadsom, itself states: ìAction to manage and improve air quality is largely driven by European (EU) legislation.î
Steered by Leadsom, it is no surprise that Britain has squirmed to avoid publishing an air pollution strategy. We deserve better.
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I care passionately about our local community. I will work hard to protect our local services and help those who really need it. Salisbury and South Wiltshire deserves better than we are getting from the Tories.