News

Cornish students share environmental expertise with local businesses

5 Mar, 2010

Students from five Cornish schools and colleges are learning about the commercial benefits of sustainability as they work as 'green consultants' for local businesses.

The students aged between 16 and 21 have started work on projects to find creative solutions to real-life sustainability questions to enable the businesses they're working with to reduce their energy consumption and investigate renewable energy options.

The activity is part of the Schools for Intelligent Energy Use (SIEU) Project - a European project funded by Intelligent Energy Europe, with eleven partners across nine EU countries. The UK element of the programme is being delivered by Community Energy Plus, Cornwall's leading charity delivering local solutions to fuel poverty, energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Over the past eight weeks BTEC National Diploma Countryside students from Duchy College Stoke Climsland have been working with Deer Park Farm at Luckett, near Callington to investigate the energy consumption of the farmhouse, core farm buildings and holiday cottage complex and help the business identify areas where it can improve its energy efficiency through specific measures and behavioural change. The students have also been investigating the feasibility of the farm using a biomass boiler to provide heating and hot water for the buildings and utilise their own Miscanthus Energy Crop which is currently used for horse bedding.

Clare Langdon, Senior Project Officer at Community Energy Plus said: ''I've been really impressed by the enthusiasm and sheer hard work that all of the students have put into the project so far. Cornwall is the very first area in the UK to roll out the SIEU programme so we're really breaking new ground by bringing together schools, colleges and local business in a project that has massive potential to demonstrate how sustainability can be embedded across all areas of education."

Duchy College Stoke Climsland lecturer Jurie Intachat said: "Our students are really enjoying the opportunity to get their teeth stuck into a real-life project that has the potential to help a local business not only be more sustainable but also save money and become a stronger business in the long-run. I'm confident that the skills they're leaning now will help them to go far in their future careers."

Martin Howlett, owner of Deer Park Farm said: "We were delighted to be involved in a project that enables us to strengthen our links with Duchy College. The students were extremely well prepared for their site visit and asked lots of questions to help them work though the energy question we set for them. I'm firmly committed to making my business more sustainable and am looking forward to hearing the students' suggestions for improving the green credentials of our holiday cottages and what we can do to help us share our commitment to sustainability with our visitors."

Through the SIEU project, the National Trust is receiving a helping hand from students from Cornwall College Camborne's Renewable Energy Technologies Foundation Degree to investigate how they can use energy more efficiently and look into the potential of using renewable technologies at its holiday cottage complex at Cadgwith.

Alastair Cameron, Property Manager for the National Trust on The Lizard and Penrose said: "The National Trust is committed to reducing its carbon footprint across all areas of operation and we are pleased to be involved in the SIEU project to look at options for sustainable energy use in our holiday cottages at Cadgwith. We know from feedback at other properties that our visitors take an active interest in renewable energy technology so boosting the eco-credentials of our cottage complex on the Lizard will help us to engage our guests in the importance of sustainable living for a greener future."

To create a response to the individual brief of their partnered business, the groups of students from five schools and colleges in Cornwall will work with energy experts drawn from sustainable energy businesses, the public sector and Community Energy Plus?s own team to gather information and develop reports which will be presented to their business 'clients' and fellow students at the end of March.

For further information about the SIEU project visit www.sieu.info

Low Carbon Living project gets underway

25 Feb, 2010

Lady Mary Holborow, Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall, joined pupils from Ladock Primary School and residents of Ladock and Grampound Road today to mark the start of the delivery of the parish's Low Carbon Community Challenge project with the planting 510 fruit and nut trees. The edible woodland will naturally absorb and hold carbon while providing a boost to local food production.

Community Energy Plus secured £500,000 of funding for the Ladock and Grampound Road 'Low Carbon Living' project.

Over the coming few weeks a combination of energy efficiency measures and renewable energy technologies will be installed on two schools, two community halls, five businesses and 16 households as the parish becomes a national test bed for achieving low-carbon living on a community-wide scale.

Invitation to plant trees and help cut carbon

17 Feb, 2010

Residents of Ladock and Grampound Road are being invited to plant trees as the first stage of the parish?s transition to a low carbon community.

Residents of Ladock and Grampound Road are being invited to plant trees as the first stage of the parish’s transition to a low carbon community.

Between 10 am and 1pm on Thursday 25th February a 2.5 hectare (6.2 acre) area of land at Woodland Valley Farm, Ladock, will be transformed into a community nut grove. 510 fruit and nut trees will be planted to naturally absorb and hold carbon while creating an edible woodland.

Tree planting volunteers should bring wellies, a hot drink, gardening gloves and a spade and park next to the allotments, which will be signposted on the main road from Grampound Road to Ladock (first field entrance on the right).

The community tree planting event will mark the start of the delivery of Ladock and Grampound Road’s Low Carbon Community Challenge and follows the recent announcement that the villages have secured £500,000 of government funding to become a test bed for achieving sustainable living on a community-wide scale.

The ‘Low Carbon Living’ project is being led by Community Energy Plus - Cornwall’s leading charity delivering local solutions to fuel poverty, energy efficiency and renewable energy, and follows previous work by Transition Ladock and Grampound Road, and local residents to create a more sustainable community.

Ian Smith, Managing Director of Community Plus, is pleased that the project will be one of the first Low Carbon Community Challenge Projects in the country to start on its delivery phase: "We’re working to a very tight schedule to secure the necessary permissions from Cornwall Council’s planning department and plan the installation of renewables across the community so the planting of the Carbon Sequestration element will mark an important milestone. The lessons learned from this pilot scheme will help us all to understand the realities and challenges of reducing carbon emissions and it’s really exciting that this Cornish project will be one of the first to provide the government with data on the role that a community led carbon reduction scheme can play in improving energy efficiency and tackling the wider issue of climate change."

Over the coming weeks a combination of energy efficiency measures and renewable energy technologies will be installed across the community, aiming towards a 30% reduction of carbon dioxide across the project. The nut plantation will provide a further boost to the community’s carbon reduction.

A community managed fund will be set up to ensure that income made by the electricity generating aspects of the scheme remain a rolling resource that will benefit the wider community. Income from feed-in tariffs and anticipated Renewable Heat Incentives from the government will be reinvested in more carbon saving measures so that the benefits of the programme will far exceed the initial targets of the project.

Chris Jones, owner of Woodland Valley Farm and a founding member of Transition Ladock and Grampound Road said: "There’s already a tremendous buzz around the community as people are talking about the project. The next few weeks will be focused on installing equipment and holding workshops to help local residents learn how to live greener lives, but we’re already starting to think ahead to the next stage of using the revolving fund to get more people involved. The tree planting event provides the perfect opportunity for anyone that’s interested in low-carbon living to find out what’s happening in their community and how they can get involved."

Local charity highlights the issue of Fuel Poverty

12 Feb, 2010

On National Fuel Poverty Awareness Day (Friday 12th February) Community Energy Plus - Cornwall's leading charity delivering local solutions to fuel poverty, energy efficiency and renewable energy, highlighted the importance of home insulation as an effective way that householders in Cornwall can cut their heating bills, become more energy efficient and help fight fuel poverty.

Cornwall has the highest rate of fuel poverty in the South West, with almost one in five households spending more than 10 per cent of their income on heating their homes.

Living in a home that is adequately heated is important for comfort but vital for staying healthy, particularly for older people, children and those living with long term illnesses and disability.

Below national average wage levels combined with a particularly cold winter has left many households struggling to pay their heating bills. The fuel poverty problem is exacerbated by many home’s reliance on expensive forms of heating, as just under half of households in Cornwall are unable to access the mains gas network.

Alec Rice, Fuel Poverty Projects Manager at Community Energy Plus described the nature of problem in Cornwall: "Living in inadequately heated properties is a sad reality faced by many people in Cornwall. In its most severe form fuel poverty can lead to people having to make tough decisions on whether to heat or eat. We’re aware that some people self-disconnect by turning their heating off if they’re on a pre-payment meter, or ration what they use which means that room’s don’t get up to the recommended temperature of 21oC in their living area and 18oC elsewhere."

Fitting cavity wall and loft insulation is an easy way to keep the heat in and the cold out, as well as bringing energy bills down. Over the past decade Community Energy Plus has helped over 18,000 people in Cornwall to make their homes warmer through their Home Health insulation schemes which are funded by Cornwall Council and national energy companies.

The charity works with key partner organisations, including the Primary Care Trust and Cornwall Council, to deliver fuel poverty awareness training to front line workers and is currently developing projects to extend their fuel poverty support services.

Alec Rice continued: "Ensuring that your home is properly insulated is an important first step towards becoming more energy efficient, it can cut £300 a year on heating bills by helping to stop heat from escaping. Fuel Poverty Awareness Day helps to raise awareness of the unfortunate situation suffered by many in Cornwall and I hope will encourage more people to seek help to make their homes more energy efficient."

For information on accessing free or discounted loft and cavity wall insulation contact Community Energy Plus on 0800 954 1956. For general energy efficiency advice contact the Energy Saving Trust on 0800 512 012.

Cornish project steps up to Government's Low Carbon Communities Challenge

4 Feb, 2010

The Cornish villages of Ladock and Grampound Road are celebrating the news that they will become a test bed for achieving sustainable living on a community-wide scale after securing £500,000 of government funding through the Department of Energy and Climate Change's (DECC) Low Carbon Communities Challenge.

Over the coming eight weeks, two schools, two community halls, five businesses and 16 households in the parish will be united in their transition to a low carbon lifestyle.

A combination of energy efficiency measures and renewable energy technologies will be installed across the community along with a carbon sequestration project that will involve planting nut trees to naturally absorb and hold carbon while providing a boost to local food production.

The project aims to position the community of Ladock and Grampound Road as a low carbon leader within Cornwall and an example of what can be achieved across a range of housing types. It also offers the potential to develop a model for delivering wider community benefits and a local knowledge base which the nearby proposed Clay Country Eco-town can draw upon.

The ‘Low Carbon Living’ project is being led by Community Energy Plus - Cornwall’s leading charity delivering local solutions to fuel poverty, energy efficiency and renewable energy, and follows previous work by Transition Ladock and Grampound Road, and local residents to create a more sustainable community.

Ian Smith, Managing Director of Community Plus, is confident that the Cornish project will have a lasting legacy by helping to shape the way that the government approaches its ambitious carbon reduction targets. "The government already recognises the role that community led carbon reduction schemes can play in improving energy efficiency and tackling the wider issue of climate change. The lessons learned from this pilot project will help us all to understand the realities and challenges of reducing carbon emissions.

"The community of Ladock and Grampound Road is already collectively switched on to the need to live more sustainably and respond to the realities of climate change and energy security and I’m delighted that Community Energy Plus has been able to help them step-up their activity and set the blueprint of how a rural parish can be empowered to become a low-carbon community."

A community managed fund will be set up to ensure that income made by electricity generating aspects of the scheme remain a rolling resource that will benefit the wider community. Income from feed-in tariffs and anticipated Renewable Heat Incentives from the government will be reinvested in more carbon saving measures so that the benefits of the programme of will far exceed the initial targets of the project.

Chris Jones, owner of Woodland Valley Farm and a founding member of Transition Ladock and Grampound Road said: "We are all absolutely thrilled that we are being given the opportunity to be involved in such a significant national project. We’re taking a long-term integrated approach to building a sustainable future for our community and the revolving fund provides an exciting prospect for us to reach out and involve even more homes and businesses in our journey to become a low carbon rural community."

Energy and Climate Change Minister Joan Ruddock said:

"The huge enthusiasm for the Low Carbon Communities Challenge demonstrates that local people are passionate about building a low carbon future in the UK. Today’s winners will act as a test bed for green action, and show us all what a greener future looks like. This sort of action is vital because over a quarter of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions come from heating, lighting and powering electrical appliances in our homes. By 2050 this needs to be almost zero and we can only achieve that through the creative initiative of local communities."

A series of workshops will help those taking part in the project to identify simple behaviour changes to reduce their carbon footprint. It is hoped that members of the wider community will be motivated to participate.

Although the technology will be installed over the next eight weeks, the outcomes of the project will be closely monitored by Community Energy Plus and ongoing support will be provided to enable the community to manage future phases of the project.

To help deliver the project Community Energy Plus has brought together a consortium of Cornish renewable energy experts who it is hoped will pool their expertise and work together in the future to tender for large scale projects across the country.

It is anticipated that participating properties will reduce their CO2 emissions by 20 per cent through the installed energy efficiency and renewable energy measures, and a further 20 per cent through behaviour change. Overall the Low Carbon Living project is expected to generate carbon reductions in excess of 60 tonnes of CO2 in the first and each successive year, which is equivalent to a medium sized car driving from Ladock to Lahore, Pakistan — a total of almost 6,000 km (3,728 miles).