• WE need to start generating our own local electricity in Camden.

My estate, for example, could generate all its own electricity (for everything, including heating) with a single wind turbine, photovoltaic panels on the roofs, a battery centre in the (converted) boiler house, and decent insulation. It isn’t hard to do the calculation.

This is not some eccentric in a council flat talking out the top of his head. That’s the most important experts – including the new British government.

A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said today: “We are advancing our plan to make Britain a clean energy leader by doubling onshore wind and tripling solar by 2030 to ensure energy security and protect bill-payers.”

So what is Camden Council doing to align its housing estates with this plan?

In the same vein, nobody less than Steve Holliday, the CEO of National Grid, recently told Energy Post that the shift from large power stations to distributed electricity and microgrids supports decentralised solar and wind systems.

So how is Camden addressing this shift to local power generation for its housing estates?

Not only Holliday, but also the International Energy Agency, advocate the adoption of local renewable electricity and electrified heating while fossil fuels (gas) are phased out.

Is Camden even planning for this?

Meanwhile the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive, as well as the UK’s own Committee on Climate Change, both stress the need for renewable heating to achieve net-zero emissions, supported by advancements in heat pump technologies.

What steps is Camden taking to update the heating systems on its estates?

On my estate they are trying to force us to accept an antiquated 1970s-style gas-burning system that nobody wants (except Camden’s own dinosaur engineers).

And now local Camden resident Ed Miliband, the new Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, is pushing for local energy generation through rooftop solar and onshore wind.

So how and when is Camden gong to incorporate these local energy solutions into its housing estates?

Camden needs to urgently rethink its outdated energy policies to meet these trends.

Now that it’s under new management, our Council needs to get moving if it is going to ensure all its buildings, particularly the 30,000 energy-intensive homes on its estates, achieve Camden’s own Net Zero target by 2030.

I imagine Secretary Ed Miliband expects results, not the greenwashing we’ve got used to from Camden.

TOM MUIRHEAD, NW8