The Green Edge Reports Roundup, Sept-22
Continuing with our selection of reports and other publications from this month’s reading list.
Skills for a Sustainable Skyline
City of London, 2022-2024
Here are the Terms of Reference for an important taskforce assembled and chaired by the City of London to develop solutions to the growing skills gap in the built environment sector, which is creating a significant barrier to achieving London’s net zero carbon targets. This is a multi-year project which is gathering evidence (during 2022), responding to the evidence (2023-24), and then driving an industry wide campaign to upskill, reskill and attract new entrants (2023-25).
This is a far-sighted project which has assembled a great membership and brings with it world-class expertise whose work will create outputs relevant to all other UK cities seeking to develop workable solutions for making their commercial offices net zero. The Green Edge is speaking with the Chair of the Taskforce and we will be posting and podcasting on the work of the taskforce and its work.
The Secretariat for the Taskforce is provided by the City of London Corporation and the contact is: chris.oldham@cityoflondon.gov.uk
The Future of Green Skills in the Construction Sector
City Region Deal, Edinburgh and South-East Scotland, 2022
One of many local surveys we will see devising appropriate actions for a green construction future. Five actions flowed from their work: retrofit training; new building techniques and emerging technologies; sustainability accreditations; practical carbon accounting; and inspiring more young people. The many Employer Representative Bodies (ERBs) who have gained their Strategic Development Funding recently would do well to look at this practical report and its findings, and the central role of the Chambers of Commerce.
Sussex Local Skills Improvement Plan
Sussex Chamber of Commerce, March 2022
This sends a very positive sign for the future of green skills. The recently announced funding of Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) by the Department of Education was informed by a series of trailblazers, and this one for Sussex is a good example. It details the six core sectors (occupations) for the region: construction; digital; health and care; land-based; engineering and manufacturing; and visitor and hospitality. Two of these six areas have sector specific green skills: modern methods of construction; and natural capital, circular economy and climate change, and net zero and sustainability in the land-based sector. In addition to this a series of cross-cutting green skills are also noted: general green skills; and net zero and sustainability. Two further points worth noting: the green jobs/skills definition is developed through a partnership with Nesta building on the work of Kath Sleeman and her colleagues (Annex 11), and a specific “Greener Sussex” report (Annex 13) which picks out a series of five further green skills: developing carbon literacy and awareness; electric vehicle technology; alternative energies and hydrogen technology; green technology for land management and food production; and decarbonisation academies. Each one of these specific green skills groupings is being progressed by a specific FE college.
If this report represents what we are to expect from LSIPs then the required greening of labour market is a real probability.
Retrofit: Solving the Skills Crisis
Ashden, September 2022
An excellent briefing on the local development of skills for retrofitting. Highlights four local case studies in Portsmouth, Stockport, and Greater Manchester. It makes the core point that nothing on retrofitting will happen unless there is a large scale education and training programme channelled through local colleges and charities. The use of common standards such as PAS 2035 (Retrofitting dwellings for improved energy efficiency) through to those offered by City and Guilds (e.g. Sustainability and Green Environment Awards and Certificates). The key role of standards in ensuring quality and safety is a critical part of the national infrastructure required to make significant progress. We have seen this in the work of the Electrical Contractors Association and their campaign, Leading the Charge.
The economic impact of decarbonising household heating in the UK in an era of high fossil fuel prices
Cambridge Econometrics for Greenpeace, September 2022
A thorough and timely piece with a key policy recommendation to the UK Government to ensure UK workers are equipped with the right mix of skills and qualifications to carry out new and changing occupations linked to heat pump production and installation, and to the manufacture and installation of energy efficiency measures. Of course, there are wider gains too around greatly reduced emissions, air quality improvement and so on.
One point from us: it would be really helpful if the jobs numbers contained in the report could be split down by occupation (like the Nesta report) and then allocated by region.
How contractors and electricians are tackling emissions in US homes
RMI, September 2022
Takes the recent Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the US and traces it down to its impact areas by releasing $25bn for home clean energy and energy efficiency upgrades (up to 11.45 million homes could benefit) and $200 million for contractor and workforce development – translating these sums to the UK it would mean $3.6 billion and $29 million respectively. Certainly, worth tracking to see the speed of delivery and impact of this policy, and what lessons could be learnt for the UK.
Energy Security
UK Parliament POSTNOTE No 676, August 2022
The ever-useful POSTNOTE series of research briefings highlights here six energy transition risks: electricity systems operability; loss of diversity of energy supply options; insufficient investment; lack of workforce skills; access to critical materials and minerals; and cyber security risks. For workforce skills it notes the increased demand for many skilled workers and the potential lack of suitable workers. This is a common theme across many parts of the green economy and its ability to support the transition to net zero hence the ECA campaign: Leading the Charge.
Sustainable Energy Skills in the Construction Sector 2.0
Environmental Sciences Proceedings, November 2021,
Brings together 10 EU schemes to develop sustainable construction skills all part of the Horizon 2020 scheme of projects.
Brown to Green in the Foundation/Energy Intensive Industries
We intend to post in the not-too-distant future on ‘brown-to-green’ industries and businesses, and have found this trio of reports particularly useful. We have also spoken recently with the director of the Energy Intensive Users Group, who kindly steered us towards other useful materials on skills which if we can make accessible will do so over the next few months.
Transforming Foundation Industries – Future Skills
SQW for UKRI/Innovate UK, July 2021, link
Innovation Readiness in the Foundation Industries
ERC for UKRI, February 2021, link
Towards Net Zero in UK Manufacturing: Options and Challenges for the Biggest Emitting Sectors
UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources funded by HSBC, October 2021, link
Potential of P2H2 technologies to provide system services
Frontier Economics for ENTSOE (European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity), June 2022
Viewing hydrogen as an energy storage option, and its ability to be used at scale and at speed. There’s a useful figure there - Fig 12 - that looks at storage capacity and withdrawal times and plots hydrogen against all the major forms of energy storage (electrical, electro-chemical, mechanical, and chemical). Each option pushes out different skills requirements at the local level.
Passivhaus Primers
Passivhaus Trust, May 2022
Three rapid reads on net zero, retrofit and embodied carbon. Of use to the general citizen but also for curriculum developers seeking up-to-date materials for technical courses.
Decarbonising Buildings: Achieving Net Zero Carbon Heating and Cooling
Climate Action Tracker working with New Climate Institute and Climate Analytics. March 2022
A detailed report drawing case studies and analyses from multiple countries. Not a good story for the UK. It makes one clear statement as regards skills: we know the technologies - they are here now - which tells us the barrier to uptake and application is more driven by the lack of skills (capacity) and appropriate incentives (making the technology attractive and affordable), backed up by regulations (we have these through Energy Performance Certificates in the UK thanks to European directives) plus a means for engaging the many actors involved.
Investigating the potential of long-term school and college destination measures
Edge Foundation, February 2022
Very much a starting point for using longitudinal data. Makes use of the Department for Education’s new LEO dataset to track the labour market outcomes of young people up to the age of 30 and who completed their education in the English education system. Prime focus here is the period of education and training spend when someone is 16-18 and the overall results (this piece of work focuses on 2003/4 cohort) suggests this will be a valuable dataset in time to come when we can view current policy changes to GCSEs, A Levels, apprenticeships, and the introduction of T Levels. Hopefully it will be used to improve current policies. The transition into stable employment is critical. Sadly, this investigation highlights the importance of background characteristics as being more important than the institution i.e. gender, ethnicity, special educational needs, prior attainment, eligibility for free school meals and region. Let’s hope the policy changes reduce the impact of these background factors.
And finally, a listen…
Great Jobs Podcast, Episode 2: Powering-up the levelling up agenda with green jobs
City and Guilds, undated.
An informative podcast hosted by Kirstie Donnelly of City and Guilds and a panel of Lizzie Lyons (Business West), Venetia Knight (Groundwork), and Rebecca Durber (AELP). A few simple messages come from listening (or reading the full transcript): the volume of opportunities, the shortage of people, the vital need for qualifications to maintain standards and ensure safety. Two sets of facts: at the current rate of EV charging point installations there will be 77,000 in place by 2030 leaving a shortfall of 325,000 (and we know there is a severe shortage of electricians now); and the trio of nature enhancements, woodland and peatland restoration, and urban parks management will provide 16,000 new jobs in the 20% of UK Parliamentary constituencies with the most severe employment challenges.
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