Guide launched to help councils hit low-carbon targets

The Town and Country Planning Association and the Combined Heat & Power Association are launching a joint guide to best practice on low carbon energy.

It comes on the last day of the government’s heat consultation, which seeks views on renewable heat technologies and barriers to use.

The guide sets out how local authorities and communities can set climate change targets and develop low-carbon solutions. It uses case studies and a hypothetical city model to examine decentralised energy and different technologies.

Gideon Amos, Town and Country Planning Association chief executive, said: “The provision of renewable energy by and for communities is an idea whose time has come and a resource that can help address the dual challenges of climate change and security of supply.

"Community energy sources including local small scale wind or solar or neighbourhood combined heat and power plants can mean people benefiting in real and financial terms from the provision of their own energy. Enabling people and communities to generate their own energy could also help to tackle poverty and is a much better option than subsidising unsustainable fuel consumption.”

The guide, Community energy: urban planning for a low carbon future, is co-sponsored by national regeneration agency English Partnerships.