www.takingstock.org

Taking StockOf the South East

Summary

• South East background

• Results of Materials Flow Analysis and Ecological Footprint studies

• Sector details

• Policy Context / Trends

• Lifestyles / Future scenarios

• Case Studies

Project Partners• EcoSys Project Management

Dissemination• SEI-York Mass Balance

Eco-Footprint• CURE, Manchester Scenarios

Integrated Model• CES, Surrey Local Data, LCA,

Embodied Energy• Biffaward & SEEDA Funders

South East Statistics• Population 8.1 million in about 3 million households

• 4 million people employed, 80% in service industries

• 373,600 business sites

• 600,000 people of working age with no qualifications

• Receives 25% of all UK expenditure in R&D

• Has over 700 Sites if Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs)

• Contains a third of England’s ancient woodland

• Fastest growing economy in the UK

SE Prosperity and Consumption• High level of consumption – mainly due to economic

prosperity.

• SE residents: – Travel further than residents of any other region

– Have more holidays

– Produce more waste

– Purchase more consumer items

– Highest demand for housing

• Serious transport problems and worst congestion outside London.

• Lowest level of public investment per head of any English region.

SE Trends• These negative impacts set to continue

– New housing developments to accommodate forecast growth

– Overheated economy while areas of severe social and economic deprivation

– Waste increasing in line with wealth

– Water scarce resource

– High dependence on fossil fuels – insufficient renewable energy sources

– Land availability is crucial constraint

– Climate change leading to increased risk of flooding

– Increasing pollution and exploitation of resources

SE Materials Consumption

Direct Material Consumption in 2000 was 88 million tonnes or 11 tonnes per person.

Total Material Consumption, including indirect or “hidden” resources involved in producing

the materials we directly consume is

211 million tonnes

or 26 tonnes per person

Total Material Consumption Components

Definition of an Ecological Footprint 1

“The land area required by the people in a defined region to provide all the resources and services they presently consume and to absorb all the waste they presently discharge wherever that land might be.”

Energy land

Bio-productive

sea

Bio-productive

landBuilt

land

Habitat

land

Definition of an Ecological Footprint 2

The Ecological Footprint accounts for the use of or the impact on the planet’s renewable resources. It is a ‘snapshot’ based on data from a single year.

Together with information on available biocapacity it can inform us about the sustainability of our lifestyles and consumption. It is measured in global hectares (gha) and usually expressed in gha per person.

So What Constitutes an Ecological Footprint?

A cooked meal of fish and chips requires bioproductive land for the potatoes, bioproductive sea for the fish, and forested 'energy' land to re-absorb the carbon emitted during the processing and cooking.

Driving a car requires built land for roads, parking etc, as well as a large amount of forested 'energy' land to re-absorb the carbon emissions from petrol use. In addition, energy and materials are used for construction and maintenance.

Ecological Footprint by Region (1996)

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0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000

area

uni

ts p

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erso

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ica

Wes

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Eur

ope

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& E

aste

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urop

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Latin

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&

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Asia - PacificAfrica

Mid

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Source: WWF

Taking Stock - Ecological Footprint of SE residents

• The Ecological Footprint of South East residents in 2000 was 55 million global hectares (gha).

• Equivalent to 6.8 gha per person (world average 1.9 gha per person).

• Total eco-footprint is 29 times the physical land area of the region

– equivalent to the size of France

• If all the world’s population lived like us….

We’d Need 3 ½ Planets

This means someone else somewhere else is paying the price…

South East EF Components

UK Eco-Footprint Comparisons

Bigger than London at 6.63 global hectares per person

The South East region footprint is calculated at 6.8 global hectares per person.

Bigger than Wales at 5.25 global hectares per person

Hidden

flows

Material flows

(regional consumption

)

Embodied energies

Energy carriers (fuels)

Ecological

footprint

CO2

Direct Material Consumption

Total Material Consumption

Yield factors

Methodology

CO2 Production

Due to material consumption in the South

East we produced

158 million tonnes of CO2

in 2000, equivalent to

19.5 tonnes per person. This is 3 times

the amount emitted within the region.

Sector Details• Food

• Transport

• Construction

• Energy and Water

• Household Consumption

• Waste

Factsheets on each sector are downloadable from www.takingstock.org

All Results by Sector

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Foo

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HH

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& Wat

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Com

m. E

nerg

y & W

ater

HH

Car

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H F

urni

ture

HH

Ele

ctr.

Equip

m.

HH

Con

sum

able

sC

onst

r. M

ater

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Com

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erv.

Pass.

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nsp.

Frei

ght T

rans

p.Pub

l. Ser

v.

EF (gha/cap) DMC (t/cap) TMC (t/cap) CO2 (t/cap)

Food & Drink 1• The EF of food and drink consumption was 13.7 million

global hectares – 1.7 gha per person = ¼ total footprint from all activities.

• 5 million tonnes of food were consumed in SE households in 2000 – about 620kg per person.

• Packaging used for this weighed 660,000 tonnes or 81kg per person.

• Over 1 million tonnes of food and drink per year, or 124kg per person, goes directly to waste. This includes around 43% of food supplied for catering and 14% of household food and 88% of it ends up in landfill sites.

Households Restaurants

DMC 0.62 0.06 t / cap

TMC 3.0 0.25 t / cap

CO2 2.9 0.21 t / cap

EF 1.5 0.15 gha / cap

Food & Drink 2Main Data Sources: National Food Survey,

National Trade Statistics

Food EF Breakdown

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/ca

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Real Land EF Energy Land EF

Household Food

Food packaging

Drinks

Plant based food

Animal based food

Transport 1• Accounted for EF of 11.4 million global hectares – 1.4 gha per

person, a fifth of the total EF.

• Average SE resident travelled 20,700 kms in 2000, 54% by car and 37% by air.

• The average distance travelled on surface transport was 13,100 km per person, or 36km per day per person. 85% of this was by car, 6% by rail and 3% by bus.

• By air the average was 7,600km per person, of which 97% was international travel, and 26% of this was within the EU.

• Walking averaged 304km per person, and cycling 74km, or one mile per week per person.

Passenger Transport

Freight Transport

DMC 0.77 0.74 t / cap

TMC 0.85 0.79 t / cap

CO2 3.0 2.3 t / cap

EF 0.79 0.61 gha / cap

Transport 2Main Data Sources: National Transport Statistics

(e.g. National Travel Survey, Focus on Personal Travel, Focus on Freight, …)

Proportions of Distance Travelled

Bicycle<1%

Walking1%

Other private<1%

Total air travel37%

Van/lorry1%

Private bus<1%

Car55%

Local bus1%

Surface Rail4%

Taxi/minicab<1%

Other public transport

<1%

Non-local bus1%

Motorcycle/ moped

<1%

Construction 1• EF of construction was 9.5 million global hectares –

5 times larger than the land area of the region – 1.2 gha per person and 17% of the total EF from all activity.

• Construction used 50.5 million tonnes of materials directly (DMC), which is 57% of the regional total, and this involved 100 million tonnes in total material consumption (TMC). This equates to over 12 tonnes for every person in the SE region.

• Construction activity produced 23% of the total CO2

emissions.

DMC 6.2 t / cap

TMC 12.3 t / cap

CO2 4.5 t / cap

EF 1.2 gha / cap

Construction 2Main Data Sources: Aggregate Minerals Survey for England and

Wales, UK Construction Industry Mass Balance (based on PRODCOM)

Construction – TMC Proportions

Quarry products

42%

Glass products1%

Ceramic products

1%

Plastic products

2%

Wood products6%

Finishes & coatings

2%

Bricks & other clay products

1%

Cement plaster & concrete

19%

Stone & other minerals

18%

Metal products8%

Cabling, lighting etc

<1%

Commercial & Public Services 1

• The EF of commercial and public services was 9.5 million gha, equivalent to almost 1.2 gha / person or 17% of the total.

• Total material consumption was 26 million tonnes, around 12% of the total.

• These services are responsible for 11% of total CO2 emissions in the region.

DMC 0.74 t / cap

TMC 3.2 t / cap

CO2 2.1 t / cap

EF 1.2 gha / cap

Commercial & Public Services 2

Data Sources: Economic Input-Output Tables, PRODCOM, commercial waste statistics

Energy and Water 1• The total energy consumed in South East households in 2000 was

75,000 million kWh, or 9,000 kWh per person, 3/4 of which was gas.

• This energy supply produced over 2 tonnes of CO2 per year per person.

• Over half of the energy consumed in homes was for space heating, 18 % was for cooking, lighting and appliances, and most of the remaining 24% was for heating water.

• The total EF of household energy and water supply is 4.8 million global hectares, or 0.6 gha per person = about 9% of the total footprint per person.

• Commercial energy & water accounted for a further 2.1 million gha, making a combined total of 0.85 gha / person, around 12.5% of the total.

Energy and Water 2• Household water consumption is around 60,000 litres per

person per year, or 165 litres per person per day. About 1/3 of this is used for flushing toilets.

• The energy used in the South East water supply system is 860 million units (kWh).

• Supply to households, and the drainage / sewage system, are each about 40% of the total. Most of the rest goes in leakages. The EF of the water supply system is about a sixth of 1% of the total EF per person.

• Nationally, about half of all water use is for cooling power stations. Public water supply for households and for services accounts for 30 per cent of consumption.

HouseholdsCommerc-ial Sector

DMC 0.93 0.41 t / cap

TMC 1.7 0.93 t / cap

CO2 2.3 1.0 t / cap

EF 0.59 0.26 gha / cap

Energy and Water 3Data Sources: Household Expenditure Survey,

Digest of UK Energy Statistics, DEFRA Environmental Statistics

Household Consumption 1• Durable goods (eg car, furniture, white goods) -grand total

of direct materials consumed is 1 million tonnes including: Cars 500,000 tonnes Furniture 400,000 tonnes

• Consumable goods - direct materials consumed was 1.75 million tonnes:

Dominated by paper based items - over 45% Petfood - 22% (high EF also due to meat content) Food residues and waste - 13% Soaps and household chemicals - 12%

• The EF from all h/hold consumption was 0.52 gha/person, or 7.5% of the total.

DMC 0.28 t / cap

TMC 2.2 t / cap

CO2 1.1 t / cap

EF 0.52 gha / cap

Household Consumption 2

Data Sources: Household Expenditure Survey(Prices from PRODCOM, cross-checked with genuine data and waste data)

EF Proportions of Different Consumable Items

Clothing & footwear

6% Cleaning etc5%

Packaging8%

Cosmetics & medicines

2%

Garden items3%

Newspapers, books etc

25%

Toiletries & baby articles

10%

Stationery17%

Soft furnishings

2%

Pet food22%

Waste• Almost 37 million tonnes of

waste was produced in the South East.

• Over 80% of household waste was landfilled with

• Around 18% recycled or composted

• The EF for h/hold waste management was 4.5m gha, or 8% of the total. Disposing of paper/card accounts for over 50% of this.

Waste Components

What can we do about it?

• Choices and Priorities - Policy Context / Trends

• Lifestyles - Future Scenarios

• Factor Four

• Case studies

Choices and PrioritiesWhat kind of future can we invent?

• Hopes, aspirations

• Needs, wishes, wants

• Fears, distrust

• Expectations, probabilities

All these are drivers of consumption and the lifestyles which generate it.

Current Policy Context• No legal requirement or specific policy

directive to minimise consumption or the Ecological Footprint.

• Consumption and footprint issues tend to fall in gaps between policies.

• Any stand-alone directive to reduce consumption unlikely to be politically viable.

• Need to take lateral approach to policy influencing resource management.

Key SE Regional Strategies • Integrated Regional Framework (SEERA, 2004)• Regional Economic Strategy (SEEDA, 2002)• Framework for Employment and Skills (SEEDA,2002)• Regional Transport Strategy (SEERA, 2003)• Regional Planning Guidance (RPG) (SEERA, 2001)• Sustainable Communities (National, 2003)• Rising to the Challenge – (SECCP, 1999)• No Time to Waste - Regional Waste Management

Strategy - (SEERA, 2003)• Regional Strategy for Energy Efficiency and

Renewable Energy (SEERA, 2003)

Integrated Regional Framework for the South East

Key issues and needs include:– Ensuring an adequate supply of affordable housing– Reducing social exclusion & poverty– Tackling the growth in car traffic and improving public

transport– Using natural resources more prudently– Reducing pollution and waste– Enhancing biodiversity– Managing and mitigating impacts of climate change– Improving overall levels of health– Improving the overall quality of the environment– Adapting to the needs of an ageing population– Improving educational attainment and skill levels and

achieving high employment

Regional Economic Strategy for South East England

• 10 year framework to deliver economic aspirations (2002 –2012) using sustainable development principles. 5 main objectives:– Competitive businesses– Successful people– Vibrant communities– Effective infrastructure– Sustainable use of natural resources

What Kind of Scenario?

• What kind of world will we be living in? (context scenarios)

• What are the policy options and pressures? (policy scenarios)

• What would the effect be? (footprint scenarios)

• How would we start to achieve it? (resource management scenarios)

4 Scenarios

4 scenarios out of a possible infinite number:

F0 – high growth – free markets

F1 – business as usual – more of the same

F2 – low growth – risk & disaster

F4 – factor four – sustainable communities

0

1

2

3

4

20002010

20202030

20402050

4 Time StepsFocus on 4 time steps:

• 2005 – ‘soon’ - tensions between economy, environment & society.

• 2010 – ‘later’ - we see the direct effects of current decisions.

• 2020 – ‘children’s world’ – a new generation will have to live with the mistakes of the present.

• 2050 – ‘grandchildren’s world’ – there will be challenges which we can hardly imagine as yet.

4 ScenariosF-0 F-1 F-2 F-4

FOOTPRINT SCENARIO

Greatly increasing

resource use

Existing trends -

'business as usual'

Doubling resource efficiency

Doubling efficiency &

halving resource use

WORKING TITLE

Big spenders

Business as usual

Technology to the rescue

Green scene

IMAGES 4x4 SUV / holiday home

Suburban semi /

Telegraph

Urban loft / Big Issue

Solar architecture /

bicycleLink to UK Foresight Scenarios.

World markets

Management take over

Risk societySustainable communities

4 Scenarios

High Growth Outcome...

Lifestyles – Future Scenarios

• See www.takingstock.org and click on “lifestyle footprint” to take the quiz and see scenarios relating to your lifestyle choices.

• Click on “Future scenarios” to see results of different lifestyles/policies.

Factor Four• Measure of what we would need to do to live on

the planet sustainably and equitably – doubling resource efficiency and halving resource use.

• Gives a 75% reduction in use of energy and materials.

• SE needs “smart growth” to decouple economic growth from ever-increasing use of resources.

• Factor Four target of 75% shown to be achievable by 2050.

Sectoral Factor Four

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EF

pe

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ha

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cap

)

0: Food & Agriculture

1: Energy & Water

3: Man. Durables

4: Man. Consumables

5: Construction Services

6: Commercial Services

7: Transport Services

9: Public Services

Key Policy Implications• Food sector has largest impact – scope for localising food

production, reducing energy intensive processing & meat content.

• Utilities (energy & water) – huge technological potential for reducing energy/water use.

• Construction – potential for better management & control, more material efficiency, ‘zero energy’ developments.

• Commercial and public services – could greatly improve resource efficiency in all activities. Procurement decisions vital factor.

• Transport – hard to address, but integrated transport policies and individual choices important.

Ways Forward for the SE

• Reducing primary resource inputs• Regional/local self sufficiency• Closing material loops (eco-efficiency)• Whole life-cycle responsibility• Integrated materials management

Achieving Factor Four targets will require new forms of networks, partnerships and consortiums. At present fragmentation between sectors and departments makes co-ordinated action very difficult.

Ways Forward for Your Business

• Achieve cost savings and minimise wastage through resource efficiency:

Reduce energy use Reduce water use Reduce waste and increase recycling

• Reduce use of road transport.

• Buy recycled products.

• Research new business opportunities, including innovative technology.

Ways Forward for You• Insulate your home and if appropriate install a

new, efficient boiler.

• Reduce your waste and increase recycling.

• Use your car less, travel by public transport, bicycle or on foot as much as possible.

• Buy recycled goods and locally produced food and household items.

• Install solar water heating and/or solar PV panels on your roof.

Other Ways Forward • Mass Balance as an organizing device for policy • Ecological Footprint as principal metric of

environmental performance• Needs sectoral, area, product, household

breakdowns

Possible schemes: • Ratings & ecopoints• Regulatory standards • Market adjustment / eco-taxes

SE Case Studies• Taking Stock produced case studies of good practice

to act as “beacons” for others:– Business:

• West Sussex betre project (business excellence through resource efficiency)

• The Earth and Stars Pub, Brighton

• Beacon Press, West Sussex

– Energy: Woking Borough Energy Services.

– Waste: ReMaDe Kent and Medway.

– Schools: Global Action Plan – Action at School, South East Region.

– Housing: Thames Gateway eco-homes.

Taking Stock – So What?Study provides a detailed quantified analysis of:

• What resources are used and how.

• Which resources are wasted most & where there is most potential for efficiency gains.

• Shows links between world poverty and regional affluence.

• Scenarios examine where are we going?

• Shows examples of how to remedy situation.

• Next steps – putting it into action.

Summary

• South East Region way over budget – Ecological Footprint is 3.5 times sustainable earth share.

• Getting back on track is possible and will take at least 50 years but we have everything to gain from this for the region as well as the world.

More Information• See www.takingstock.org for

• Downloadable Resources– Press releases– Summary Report– Flyer– Full technical report– Presentations (including launch conference presentations)– Case studies– Sector factsheets

• Details of forthcoming events

• Lifestyle Footprint Quiz and Scenarios