The 2012 Games will use 9% renewable energy, instead of the 20% target, and has reduced its carbon footprint by 50% only by funneling £1m into the Mayor's RE:NEW scheme. Questions are inevitably being asked about the promises made for the 'greenest ever Olympics', but as the Commission for a Sustainable London points out:
delivering the Games is an inherently unsustainable thing to do.
Quite. We think reducing the carbon footprint by 40% (the amount before the RE:NEW offset) is still a big achievement. However, we're left with a slight problem. Ever since the excellent BBC4 comedy Twenty Twelve started, we can't see releases like these without remembering scenes like this:
Scrapping the wind turbine - or the Angel of Leyton - in real life is one of the reasons why the renewable energy targets will be missed. The reason given last year was safety rules and design changes, but all we're imagining is a discussion about having a non-working wind turbine that functions as a beacon of everything a wind turbine stands for. And when we read statements like this, from the ODA's Richard Jackson:
Beyond the huge sustainability benefits already delivered, we also set ourselves challenging targets on carbon reduction and renewable energy. Despite exhaustive efforts we have not been able to find a cost-effective solution to deliver a large percentage of renewable technology on the park.
it's not his fault that we hear them in the voice of Hugh Bonneville. Damn you, BBC4.
Photo by Manuel.A.69 from the Londonist Flickr pool
