In 1977 the Centre for Alternative Technology initiated a process of collaboration with the renewable energy experts of the day, which led to the UK's first Alternative Energy Strategy. The influence of that radical plan was limited because the problems it addressed were not visible at the time. Now it's a lot clearer to see the problems of energy security, global equity and climate change. Thirty years on, through a series of consultations, CAT has built a fresh consensus around a pragmatic new energy strategy called zerocarbonbritain. In July this was launched at the AGM of the All Parliamentary Party for Climate Change Group who have this to say about it: (more...)
"zerocarbonbritain is a radical yet achievable strategy, which provides a blueprint for achieving a zero carbon Britain within two decades. zerocarbonbritain proves it is scientifically and technically possible, the focus must now turn to generating political will."
Is it still a dream? Not only political will (difficult enough) but also personal will to change lifestyles is a key problem. Zerocarbonbritain will require personal carbon allowances as described by academics like Tina Fawcett, which would affect use of house energy, surface transport, air travel, food miles, goods and services and infrastructure.
The new bill recently introduced to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2050 is unlikely to be achieved according to other researchers. Dr Alice Bows and colleagues from the Tyndall Centre say that what government has come up with "is this side of meaningless; it keeps people happy but doesn't have anything to do with climate change."
"Without lifestyle changes it is almost impossible for the rich to be sustainable in terms of their own lives," says Peter Harper of CAT, "but they are not willing to alter the main patterns of life expected of people with that kind of income."
The solution being proposed as the new frontier for sustainability is the eco-village or co-housing community. These both involve resource sharing between households, for example, community-owned wind turbine or agricultural production, shared transport, childcare, shopping trips and laundry.
This doesn't sound a million miles away from the concept of community councils - as being developed in Venezuela - to share, manage and develop local resources and services. Or indeed, too far from traditional community life in Africa ( rapidly being eroded by western top-down models of development) where people (especially women) could draw on social capital in times of crisis and where an ethos of community support prevailed.
So it seems to me that the solution for sustainability lies in some form of socialism - or have I got that completely wrong? And how well is that going to go down in middle England?
I spoke to Ashley, a Canadian student following CAT's part-time postgraduate programme and a member of the 40+ think tank who prepared the scientific evidence for zerocarbonbritain. This was a collaborative project over 18 months bringing together people from different backgrounds and with different skills, pulling together all the relevant research. "We've shown that it is feasible. And that - evidence of feasibility - has given me a direction for my own work as an architect."
"You have to be positive about the future, the message itself has to be positive. But the question is: how do you bring that message of change to a neo-liberal government? How do you convince them of solutions which are outside their conception?"
