A long way from their origins in profitable but environmentally disastrous heavy industry, the northern regions hope to harness their research capacity to create solutions for a low-carbon economy, writes Alexandra Topping, SocietyGuardian.co.uk 281107 at http://society.guardian.co.uk/.
Forwarded by Budhi Mulyawan 281107.

The north has a lot to answer for when it comes to climate change. From the very birth of the industrial revolution, the mills of Manchester filled the air with smoking chimneys, while in later years Yorkshire's steel factories insatiably guzzled power from coal mined from - among other places - the north-east. It's fitting, then, that in the 21st century the region is heading a revolution of a different kind - in sustainability.

Bryan Gray, chairman of the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) says: "The region's industrial heritage leaves us with a pivotal challenge - to tackle climate change while delivering a better quality of life, increased levels of prosperity and a better environment. But it is a challenge we are not afraid to confront."

And it is that gritty determination that is transforming the north-west, home of the industrial revolution, into a leading figure in addressing global warming. The NWDA launched a climate change action plan, Rising to the Challenge, last year and aims to move the region towards a low carbon economy by 2020.

It will dedicate £23.5m over three years to deliver a sustainable energy strategy that will set out goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase low carbon electricity generation and put in place a number of sustainable travel schemes across the region.

"Climate change is a make or break issue for the region," says Gray. "By delivering the action plan, the north-west can make sure it becomes the UK's leading region for climate change activity."

One way it hopes to achieve this is by harnessing the intellectual energy of the north-west in a new energy research centre. The £10m Joule Centre for Energy Research, which opened in 2006, will focus on developing "smart" technologies for improving both domestic and industrial energy efficiency and pioneer low-carbon technologies such as wave, tidal and micro-hydro generation.

But is the aim of becoming a low-carbon economy in just 12 years realistic? Mark Atherton, head of environmental sustainability at the NWDA, is positive but pragmatic. "I think by 2020 we have a reasonable chance of becoming a much lower carbon economy," he says. "Will we be zero carbon? No. But by putting the cli-mate action plan in place we have a much better chance of achieving our goals."

Atherton knows he is in danger of sounding defeatist but insists that achievable targets and a sense of collective responsibility is vital if the north is going to confront the challenge. "The speed of change will, to some extent, depend on the general public. At the moment there is no sense of urgency - there is concern but it is not translating into action."

There are exceptions. Fylde borough council is aiming to become the most energy-efficient borough in the country through its Fylde Low Waste and Energy initiative (Flowe) while Manchester is My Planet is helping people throughout the city to lower their carbon footprint and their energy bills. One of the region's biggest employers, the Co-operative Bank, last year covered its 120-metre Co-operative Insurance (CIS) tower in the centre of Manchester with 7,000 solar panels and has wind turbine schemes that could lead to it supplying 100 gigawatts of electricity to the national grid by 2009 - enough to power more than 20,000 homes.
Healthy competition
The NWDA relishes the idea of the northwest leading the way for the rest of the UK but others are wary of looking at climate change competitively. "I don't think it really matters who is leading the way," says Vanessa Hall, Green party councillor and member of campaign group Manchester Climate Action. "All regions should be aspiring and really going for it."

Atherton agrees but welcomes a little friendly competition as healthy, "I think it's a good thing, as long as it does not prevent collaboration - and I don't think there is any danger of that in the north."

Mark Pearson, business strategy manager for the north east's RDA, One North- East, agrees: "There is a real opportunity for joint thinking and action in the north of England on carbon reduction. It's not about looking backwards to where we have come from, but using the same energy and ambition that led the carbon-based industrial revolution to drive where we want to get to in a low-carbon future."

He says the north-east must continue its tradition of being the birthplace of new energy technologies. The New and Renewable Energy Centre (Narec) based in Blyth, Northumberland, was established for this purpose in 2002. Last month California energy giant Clipper Windpower announced it will develop its prototype 7.5MW offshore turbine at the site, with each machine having the potential to meet the electricity needs of more than 5,500 homes. Similarly at the research and development hub, the Centre for Process Innovation based in the Tees Valley, companies are exploring the sustainable use of hydrogen, bio-fuels and bio-refining and ways of making the chemical and pharmaceutical industry more ecologically sound.

Pearson says the region is working to procure both small- and large-scale demonstration projects to drive innovation.

Like helping the village of Kielder on the Scottish border transform its woodland waste into biomass fuel to heat its local school, homes and new business units. One NorthEast is getting the big boys onside too. Nissan has installed a £2m six-turbine windfarm at its manufacturing plant in Sunderland, cutting emissions by 10,000 tonnes as part of a region-wide push to implement greener practices.

But Pearson is under no illusions about the scale of the task ahead. The north-east is the largest per capita exporter of primarily carbon-based energy in the country.

Two coal-fired generators are due to be built in the next few years. How does this sit with its goal of becoming a low carbon economy? "The reality is that fossil fuels are going to provide a substantial percentage of the UK's power solutions for the foreseeable future," says Pearson. "If these power plants are going to be built, we have to make sure, though cuttingedge research, that they are best practice on low carbon and generate benefit to both the wider carbon reduction targets and to local business and communities."

In Yorkshire, its RDA Yorkshire Forward is encouraging large energy users to become part of the process of addressing climate change. Carbon Action Yorkshire (Cay), which aims to push private and public sector organisations to reduce carbon emissions - was launched by climate change pin-up Al Gore in February.

So far two-thirds of NHS trusts in Yorkshire have signed up - with some dramatic effects. The simple move of introducing new lighting systems at Hull Royal Infirmary has led to a 57% reduction in the amount of electricity used. Private companies are also coming on board. A fitting example is Drax, the largest coal-fired power plant in the UK and undoubtedly the carbon "baddie" of the region, which has been encouraged to reduce its emissions by 5%.
Action plan
The chief executive of Yorkshire Forward, Tom Riordan, one of the architects of the UK's first action plan on climate change, says getting everyone in the region involved is vital to meeting the challenge. "You can work with legislation," he says. "But the only way you are really going to change behaviour is by persuasion and voluntary action."

His ambition does not stop at Yorkshire. When the Bollywood awards, Indian cinema's answer to the Oscars, were held in the region earlier this year, Yorkshire Forward signed an agreement with Ficci, the Indian Chambers of Commerce, to export clean-coal technology expertise. And a visit to India next year will look further at how the region can help the second-fastest growing economy in the world reduce its carbon emissions.

But despite his desire for the north of England to be a global player in the fight against climate change, Riordan says its role has to be a little different.

"The economy in the north has grown faster than the average in the EU for the past seven years, but the point is we don't want to be London," he says. "We want to build something different, more sustainable and something that has quality of life at its heart - that's what we are all about."

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