An energy makeover

As an island nation, we are extremely vulnerable when it comes to sourcing energy. Our North Sea oil production has peaked and we no longer enjoy the security of supply that we once did. Around 36% of our supply comes from gas-fired power stations, and a further 25% from coal-fired ones. Nuclear is the next largest share, at 23%, while hydro and wind make up about 9%. Around 5% is imported from the Netherlands and France.

Over 75% of the coal and over 45% of the natural gas used in the UK is imported. Coal comes from as far afield as the USA and Australia, while gas is liquefied and shipped to the country tankers, often from China. Pipelines also bring it in from Norwegian fields. If one accepts, therefore, that nuclear, wind, hydro and relatively small percentages of gas and coal are really the only 'home-grown' energy sources, then, today at least, only around 56% of our energy needs can be met by our own resources.

The larger your energy demand, the more exposed you are, so it is now a business necessity that demand is reduced, rather than an idealistic aspiration

This leaves us incredibly vulnerable to external influences. The Arab Spring caused oil prices to spike back in January 2011, as a 'fear premium' entered the trading markets. Instability in other oil-producing regions, such as Syria, had a similar effect, although there appears to have been little actual impact on supply. In Europe, the crisis in Ukraine has concerned many. Gas pipelines from Russia to the EU pass through Ukraine, and the gas supply has been used for political ends in the past. As the EU and US impose sanctions on Russian politicians, so the spectre of higher prices for gas looms in the background. There is little benefit to Russia to affect EU gas supplies, but as with the Arab Spring the 'fear premium' alone can be enough to have massive influences on the markets.

Back in the UK, as we decommission end-of-life fossil-fuelled power stations faster than we can replace them with new nuclear ones, we face an energy gap. The government is looking at methods to pay the biggest energy consumers to switch off at times of peak demand. That is how pressured the system is right now.

What do we do about it in our venues, arts centres and festivals? That is the big question we have to deal with – and quickly if we are not to leave ourselves unacceptably at risk as businesses. The larger your energy demand, the more exposed you are, so it is now a business necessity that demand is reduced, rather than an idealistic aspiration.

It is quite a dry subject though, and getting staff to engage when they have already been told for years to switch the lights off can be incredibly hard. That is why heads of department need to look urgently, on an area-by-area basis, at their energy demand, and work out what they can do to mitigate it. An action plan for dealing with the issues that crop up can then be developed, and incorporated into action and servicing plans that affect other building planning, such as renovation and capital investment.

What takes the dry element away is that the benefits of becoming a more energy-lean workplace are far more than lower bills and a reduced carbon footprint. There are knock-on, often unexpected effects. I was recently in conversation with Tim Mackrill, the Theatre Manager at the Palace Theatre in Redditch, where they have been undergoing a self-managed energy efficiency makeover since 2008, and the business has been transformed. Investment in long-lifespan equipment, such as LED lighting, has meant that they plan to reduce their summer maintenance fortnight to only a week, minimising the costly dark period. That is a direct business impact with an immediate payback, but one that might not be factored in when planning for the installation of such equipment.

One of the most amazing stories from Redditch is that the newer, more versatile LED lighting equipment has fired the imagination of incoming building users, leading to the creation of more dynamic work – an example of the quality of presented work actually improving because of the efficiency measures in place.

The physics of the building have been transformed. A necessary retiling of the old roof gave the building operators a chance to introduce roof insulation to the 101-year-old building. This is rarely fitted retroactively to theatre buildings of such age, yet provides a huge energy benefit, retaining both heat in winter and cooled air in summer.

The theatre is a generator too now, securing to some extent the energy upon which we all depend. Solar photovoltaic panels mounted on the 2006 studio extension brought in over £1,800 in income in the last financial year. Although the panels could not be installed at the time of renovation, the planned integration of them meant that installation was simple when funding did become available. The system will pay back in nine years, but is likely to last 25. As Tim says, the systems and improvements allow them to focus on what they should be doing – delivering a service to local people.

It can seem hard to reconcile action on a very local scale like this with world situations like the ones in Syria and Russia, but the global economy will always have local ramifications. With planning and action, we can begin to defend ourselves from them, while even improving our output as a result. This winter could be a testing one energy-wise. Let's make sure we are best-placed to cope.

Tim Atkinson is Technical Director of :entertaining sustainability.
www.entsust.com

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