Renewable energy forms part of the Diocese’s campaign to reduce its contribution to climate change – part of our obligation to Care for God’s Creation.
Renewable energy – more strictly, Low and Zero Carbon Technologies – can include generation of electricity or heat in churches and other buildings.
The Church of England and the Diocese of London are striving to meet our long-term target to reduce the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (which cause climate change) to Net Zero by 2030, in accordance with resolutions passed by General and Diocesan Synods in February and March 2020.
To meet this target, a major increase in the generation of energy from renewable sources is a necessity. This helps reduce net energy use and thereby CO2 emissions.
Taken literally, ‘renewable energy’ should eliminate net energy consumption to zero. That is to say, every unit of energy used should be replenished in full from natural sources.
This contrasts with the use of fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas, which are dug out of the earth and not replaced. Using fossil fuels depletes our fundamental mineral resources, and it also causes climate change. Using fully renewable energy would not deplete our natural resources, and it would also not add to climate change. This is because the process of renewal naturally absorbs the greenhouse gases which cause global heating and climate change.
There are no technologies which are truly 100% renewable. Solar panels and some kinds of biomass heat (arguably) come closest to this aim. Both do require some energy to be expended and emissions generated in course of manufacture and deployment. But they may be able to repay that energy within a few years.
Other technologies also often described as ‘renewable’, eg heat pumps, will expend some electricity in raising the heat. But their overall carbon footprint is still much less than it would take to generate the same units of energy from fossil fuels. Therefore we can also speak of ‘low and zero carbon technologies’ or LZCTs.
It may be possible to set up some of these technologies on a ‘micro scale’ on your church site or other premises.
The benefits of renewable energy would in principle include:
In real-world applications, these advantages may be realised to varying extents.
Installing renewable energy technology can:
Significant progress in installing renewable energy has been achieved by the Church of England. This includes a growing range of examples in the Diocese of London.
It is always best to begin with the most cost effective and simple ways of reducing carbon emissions, such as switching to low-energy lighting and optimising your heating.
Once these more simple changes have been acted upon you may, using the involvement of professionals, wish to look more seriously at the feasibility of generating your own electricity or heat.
Technologies which might be considered include:
Solar panels are used to generate energy using heat and light from the sun. This is the most viable method currently available to many churches.
Ground or air source heat pumps are also worth considering, and possibly biomass heat in some locations.
These technologies are considered in more detail on other pages – see sections below, and links at the foot of the page.
In rare cases, combined heat and power generation might be useful and viable.
Wind power on a church is not considered viable in London, nor on most UK churches. Also it can alienate local communities. Anaerobic digestion also is very unlikely to be feasible or viable for churches.
Solar power is one of our best sources of sustainable energy, already the most tried and tested renewable technology with application to churches.
Churches have commonly been designed in the past so that half of the roof faces in a southerly direction, making them ideal recipients of sunlight and potentially beneficiaries of solar energy.
There are two keys uses for solar power: to generate electricity through Solar PV (photovoltaic); or to use the sun’s radiation to heat water (solar thermal technology).
Heat pumps have been employed successfully on several sites in the Diocese, for example the parsonage of St John Wembley.
They can work very well at domestic scale, and may also be suitable for some church halls.
The principle is a simple one – a heat pump works as a refrigerator in reverse. It cools the ground or the air while warming the inside of the building – either the air in the building, or via a heating circuit. The heat thus extracted is usually at low temperature, therefore it needs to be well deployed usually at low level, and in a well-insulated space. High temperature heat pumps are however starting to come on the market.
A biomass boiler may in some circumstances be used to heat both space and water in your church or home.
However, in spite of the wood-burning stove having been around for centuries, the modern biomass boiler is a less well-trodden path than solar PV, and there are issues to pay close attention to.
CHP employs an on-site generator to produce electricity. This generates heat as a by-product, which is recovered to contribute to heating the building(s).
CHP works best when serving a group of buildings which require heat at different times.
It is now clear that electric cars out-perform petrol or diesel cars, both in terms of local air quality and in reducing the contribution to climate change. That’s even after including emissions from manufacture, delivery and marketing. Electric cars have the huge benefit of eliminating exhaust fumes entirely. However they do still produce some particulates.
Most electric cars run on lithium-ion batteries. Their range is increasing, as battery technology improves. Though resources are scarce, and accessing them requires more mining.
The network of charging points is increasing, but more are still needed. In a city like London, where most journeys (out and back) may be within the maximum range before re-charging is needed, it makes sense to change from your home domestic supply, especially if you have a garage or at least an off-street parking space. In order to contribute the most to tackling climate change, the charging point needs to use renewable electricity.
See Links at the foot of this page for “Everything you want to know about electric vehicles”, a recording of an online seminar by Willesden Episcopal Area.
Renewable energy projects may be financed through a mix of parish giving, government subsidies, and/or grants or loans.
Some of these technologies will involve a significant alteration to the visual appearance and/or fabric of a building.
A faculty will normally be required for your church building. Planning permission from your Local Planning Authority (Council) is also likely to be required, if there is a material change in external appearance, and/or if the building is listed or in a conservation area.
There is no automatic bar to making changes which affect a church’s appearance – but it must be done well. You are likely to need to make every effort to mitigate the visual impact of any new installation, in order to gain permission.
Therefore you should consult the local authority and the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC) – administered by Parish Property Support (link below) – as soon as possible, as well as your Archdeacon.
Professional advice should be sought.
It is important to retain the services of consultants and installers who are technically proficient, and also well versed and practised in relation to renewables and any subsidies applying.
In addition to an experienced engineer, you may need an architect to coordinate your micro-generation project – he or she could be your Quinquennial Inspector.
Installers and systems should be certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS).
Head of Environment and Sustainability
Parish Property Support Team.
Energy and carbon, global warming and climate change
Climate Action Programme
Climate Action Projects
Climate Action Finance.
Heating and energy use
Lighting and energy use.
Solar panels
Heat pumps
Biomass heating
Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS).
Everything you want to know about electric vehicles – recorded session.
Environment and Sustainability, front page.
