Yesterday started off with what seemed to be very bad news. Tory Secretary of State for Communities, Eric Pickles MP, had accepted the appeal from W4B to allow them to build a 50MW power plant at Avonmouth, fuelled by tropical biofuels like palm oil. However, as the day wore on, I came to realise that the full detail of the decision letter wasn't all bad news - and, in fact, there is some quite good news in there for Bristol and also the rest of the UK.The headline bad news first: W4B were given permission to build their plant, which, it is estimated, will need a plantation about six times the size of Bristol to feed, probably on former rainforest in Indonesia. This will produce renewable energy and therefore attract very lucrative government subsidies in the form of Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs). I and other campaigners have argued that while undoubtedly renewable, it is not sustainable or ethical.
The good news part one: Pickles ruled that the sustainability of tropical biofuels is a 'material consideration' in planning decisions - in other words, it can be taken into account. This was the argument that I proposed at the planning meeting that rejected the application, and which the committee (and especially Councillors Woodman and Breckels) agreed with. In making this ruling, he overruled his own Inspector who backed W4B's argument that the term 'natural environment' only applied to Bristol. This ruling will make it easier for campaigners to fight tropical biofuel plants elsewhere in the UK.
The good news part two: Pickles only gave planning permission subject to W4B being bound to use only fuel sources that meet the sustainability criteria in the 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED). This is a far-from-perfect document in many ways (limited in scope, questionnable calculations, based on self-declaration and so on), but it does prevent the operators from using the worst sorts of cheap and nasty fuel from the metaphorical 'back of a lorry' (e.g. illegally deforested areas).
The good news part three: By doing one and two above, Pickles has effectively bound the use of tropical biofuels in the UK to the ROC system. The RED forbids national governments from setting tougher sustainability standards for fuels than contained in the RED itself, so Pickles couldn't have simply banned them on his own sustainability grounds - the Germans tried this and got stopped. However, ROCs are a UK government subsidy for stimulating the renewables market and they can set their own rules for eligibility for ROCs, including potentially withdrawing them completely for tropical biofuels, like the Dutch have. Maybe, just maybe, Pickles decision is a prelude to an announcement from Lib Dem Chris Huhne MP - Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the department that runs ROCs.
The good news part four: Pickles overruled his Inspector again (a bad day for him, for sure!) and ruled that the Council acted 'reasonably' in refusing the application. The word 'reasonably' has an important meaning in planning law and it effectively means that, "you got the answer wrong, but you weren't ignoring the rules or being arbitrary." Not only is this vindication for the Council's decision to defend the appeal, but it means that the Council won't be saddled with W4B's legal costs, bless them!
The decision, while certainly disappointing and a setback, makes the future campaign much clearer: I and the other campaigners will be putting pressure on Chris Huhne to axe ROCs for tropical biofuels, which would almost certainly make these plants go away, especially if they are banned from using dodgy fuel sources. The ROCs for biofuels were intended to be for waste chipfat, not for importing millions of gallons of palm oil from East Asia. I hope that Chris will see sense!
I have an increasing sense that this decision is a Pyhrric victory for W4B. Will they really want to pour millions into a project were there is still so much uncertainty, with a fairly good chance that the ROC rules will change - or maybe even the RED will? They will need to operate the plant for maybe 20 years to recoup their investment, so can they be sure that the ground won't fall apart beneath them? I should imagine that they're having a long, hard think just now...
8 comments:
Good article until the last paragraph, which smacks of a cheap political jibe.
I'd suggest asking the Bristol Labour MPs what they did about the biofuel proposals. I think you'll find it's quite a lot. Making a direct representation to Eric Pickles isn't the only thing an MP can do.
Paul - there was a little political jibe there, perhaps cheap, but based on politicians taking credit for campaigns they've not been involved. In particular, turning up for media calls - see a previous post.
Bristol's Labour MPs, to the best of my knowledge, didn't object to the original application, didn't make submissions to the planning committee, didn't make a statement to the appeal hearing and didn't lobby Eric Pickles. Leastways, it's not in any of the public records that I can see.
This isn't a completely partisan point as Labour councillor Fabian Breckels was one of those who spoke out in the planning committee and helped to generate the refusal. He has my gratitude and respect for that.
Hi Neil - congratulations on a very clearly reasoned and optimistic article. You may be right (and of course I hope you are) that Pickles' ruling could effectively stop biofuel plants although he allowed the appeal.
But Paul is right about your last paragraph. A bit of cheap politicking, which is a shame at the end of such eloquence.
Caroline Lucas as you know is the sole Green MP in Westminster and cannot possibly comment on all issues nationwide. She is not a local MP, and unlike the three other parties the Green Party does not have a local MP - yet!
As we both know, we've both been involved in this campaign, and as one of my councillors in Cotham I was pleased by your planning committee statement and vote against giving planning permission to the plant last year and said as much to you at the time.
But it is disingenuous to imply that the Green Party was not involved, for as you know full well I was the Green Party candidate for Avonmouth in last year's local elections, and along with other local Green Party members stood up in the council chamber to speak against the application when your committee was debating it.
Perhaps I should debate with you in the pub quiz on Mondays!
Geoff - you've over-extrapolated my cheap dig! I was genuinely suprised that Caroline Lucas didn't get involved in something high-profile with national press coverage and international impact. Though she is not above making cheap digs herself, I thought the W4B plant was a missed opportunity.
I've just seen another document that contradicts my last paragraph about who did and did not make representations, which I wrote in good faith. I've deleted the paragraph as a result.
Good article and as you say, a Pyrric victory for W4B. The consequences in terms of what the conditions mean are good, but also not having damages awarded against the Council means that other - planning committees in other councils will be emboldened to turn down applications like this and try their luck. If the Council had been landed with a huge bill it would have been used up and down the country as a reason to roll over and die in front of such applications.
Biofuelwatch would like to congratulate Bristol Council for refusing permission and for fighting the appeal.
As Neil says the grant of permission is not necessarily going to lead to the power station actually being built.
The list of permitted but not built biofuel and biomass power stations in the UK is growing - Prenergy in Port Talbot, Blue NG in Newham, W4B in Portland for example. Others are being withdrawn before detailed planning, like DONG Energy in Hull.
Rising fuel costs and a lack of certainty about future subsidy levels must be worrying financiers.
Their money would be better going into non-emitting forms of renewable energy and into negawatts.
Thanks for the support Rob. In the nicest possible way, I hope our paths never have to cross again!! It's been a pleasure working with BFW.
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