YOU reported (September 24) that Pembrokeshire County Council is asking the public for money-saving suggestions.

I would urge the PCC to pursue energy-related measures, because reducing energy consumption and/or improving generation efficiency doesn’t just reduce energy bills: - the latest climate change conference has reinforced the message that to secure humanity’s future, carbon emissions must be reduced; - the revised Stern report shows that a “low carbon”

business model need be no barrier to prosperity.

ENERGY SAVING: an obvious strategy is converting high-use lighting to LED technology: it’s more efficient, it offers better colour rendition and, by running cooler, it minimises room overheating in summer. By tendering for many properties to be refitted en bloc, the PCC should obtain highly attractive quotes; furthermore, perhaps our council could negotiate a bulk-buying scheme, offering this county’s householders LED lamps at very good rates.

ENERGY GENERATION: the UK is fast running out of reserve electricity generating capacity; however, generating companies are reluctant to invest in new large power stations: they blame UK Government “policy wobbles”.

But, in any case, power stations which reject heat to the atmosphere rather than exploiting it are not the best answer: I propose that the PCC, maybe collaborating with other Welsh local authorities, should enquire if generating companies would consider installing Combined Heat and Power (CHP) generating sets in suitable premises – larger gas-connected schools, for example.

Here’s my reasoning: l large schools tend to have high capacity electricity and gas connections, so the infrastructure is already there; l most large schools are in towns, so the electricity generated would be consumed locally, minimising transmission losses; l a CHP unit is easily made to substitute for existing central heating boilers; l if a CHP unit’s supplier retained ownership of it, and just charged the school for the heat supplied, the PCC would not be committed to capital outlay; l if a scheme proved successful, the school might eventually become one of many “satellite heat stations”

in a distributed district heating scheme.

Come on, Pembrokeshire: if our Government won’t give us joined-up thinking on energy, let’s do the joining up for ourselves!

CHRISTOPHER JESSOP

Independent Energy Consultant

Marloes