News

Green boost for West Cornwall and Clay Country communities

30 Apr, 2010

Rural communities in West Cornwall and the Clay Country are being encouraged to become more energy efficient and harness the opportunities presented by renewable energy technology through two new projects to help locals lead more sustainable lives.

Sustainable Energy Community Officers have been appointed to help groups in West Cornwall and Clay Country villages of Mid Cornwall develop a range of projects that will help local communities react to the challenge of rising energy prices and climate change and stimulate interest in community-owned renewable energy opportunities.

The two projects are funded by the Clay Country and West Cornwall Local Action Partnerships which are both part financed by the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) using funding from the EU and Defra.

The two year projects will see Community Energy Plus’s Amy Walker working within the Clay Country communities and Rob Pickering working in the local action group areas of West Cornwall. Amy and Rob will be working with existing local community groups as well as helping new groups of sustainably minded residents to set up and deliver a variety of sustainable energy projects, focused on helping them understand their current energy usage and how to move to more sustainable solutions.

Clay Country Local Action Sustainable Energy Projects Officer Amy Walker said: “Communities have tremendous potential to make impressive savings in both carbon reduction and energy bills by using energy sustainably which is why this project is so exciting. I hope that a broad range of projects will come forward from the communities that I’ll be working with and that some new local employment opportunities will be created in the flourishing sustainable energy sector”.

West Cornwall Local Action Sustainable Energy Projects Officer Rob Pickering said: “This is a really exciting opportunity for community groups in West Cornwall to receive a helping hand to get their energy project ideas off the ground. At this stage I’m still looking for local people to bring forward their ideas, regardless of how far they’ve been developed. I look forward to meeting people that are ready and willing to take action to reduce the carbon footprint and fuel bills of their community so that working together we can make a real difference.”

Launch events will be held for both projects, providing opportunities for local communities to find out more about the support available to help them deliver an energy efficiency or renewable energy project. Further details about the Clay Country Project will be available at Roche Victory Hall on 11th May from 3pm to 9pm. Information about the support available to communities in West Cornwall will be offered at Helston Rugby Club on 17th May from 11am to 1pm and at St Just Cricket Club on 20th May between 11am and 2pm and later from 5pm to 8pm.

Amy Walker can be contacted on 07976 490 956 or by email amy@cep.org.uk
Rob Pickering can be reached on 07976 490957 or by email rob@cep.org.uk

Community Energy Plus gains ‘Ethical’ Business mark

29 Apr, 2010

Community Energy Plus - Cornwall’s leading charity which has delivered local solutions to fuel poverty, energy efficiency and renewable energy for more than a decade, has become the first organisation working in the sustainable energy sector in the South West to gain the ethical Social Enterprise Mark.

The Social Enterprise Mark, which is administered by a joint venture set up between the Social Enterprise Coalition - the national body for social enterprise, and RISE - the social enterprise regional network for the South West, aims to raise awareness of what social enterprises do in order to get more people to buy from, engage with, start up and work for social enterprises.

The Mark is awarded to businesses that meet specific criteria which demonstrate they are working toward social or environmental goals, and in which at least 50 per cent of profits are reinvested towards these goals.

Ian Smith, Managing Director of Community Energy Plus said: “The Social Enterprise Mark is a fantastic way of communicating our ethics and values to a wide range of audiences and we’re delighted to be leading the way within the South West’s flourishing sustainable energy sector by becoming the first organisation to gain the Mark.”

Anne Mountjoy, Head of Marketing and Communications for RISE, said: “The Social Enterprise Mark was launched in February 2010 and already has more than 100 Mark holders, seven of which are in Cornwall, and organisations like Community Energy Plus are playing an important role as early accreditation holders by helping us to build the momentum of the Mark and raise awareness of the valuable role that social enterprises perform in our society.”

Pioneering films produced to raise awareness

19 Apr, 2010

A Cornwall based charity is helping to increase Fuel Poverty awareness among a global audience of frontline care workers and community volunteers by producing a series of short training films which are thought to be the first of their kind.

Working with Cornwall Council, Community Energy Plus - Cornwall’s leading charity delivering local solutions to fuel poverty, energy efficiency and renewable energy, has taken the pioneering approach to create three five minute films to help community workers spot the signs of fuel poverty. The films provide pointers to help prevent heat escaping and also provide top tips on how to save energy and crucially money in the home.

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.

Care professionals and community volunteers are in a unique position to identify households that are in, or may be at risk of, fuel poverty and for the past decade Community Energy Plus has provided training to raise awareness of fuel poverty and highlight the support available locally. The films have been produced to supplement ongoing training delivered by Community Energy Plus and through YouTube will be available to an audience far beyond their initial target audience in Cornwall.

Community Energy Plus's Fuel Poverty Projects Manager Alec Rice explained why the charity had produced the films: “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 and we’re committed to promoting that message and raising awareness of the realities of fuel poverty in Cornwall to those that have the potential to make a difference.

“The films really get back to basics and don’t use lots of jargon and statistics — they simply present the information in a straightforward and accessible way to help front line workers to take steps to help the people they support to live warmer and healthier lives.”

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 and forms a key message of the fuel poverty awareness training films. Over the past decade Community Energy Plus has helped over 21,000 people in Cornwall to make their homes warmer through their Home Health insulation schemes which are currently funded by Cornwall Council and national energy companies.

Students Shine at Sustainable Energy Use Presentations

1 Apr, 2010

Sixty students from five Cornish schools and colleges have successfully completed projects to help local businesses use energy more efficiently and investigate renewable technology opportunities.

The project is the first of its kind in the UK to link businesses with students to work on energy efficiency projects and is part of the Schools for Intelligent Energy Use (SIEU) Project - a European programme funded by Intelligent Energy Europe, with eleven partners across nine EU countries.

After three months of work, students from Cornwall College Camborne, Duchy College Stoke Climsland, Camborne Science and Community College, Launceston College and Treviglas Community College presented their recommendations to their business 'clients' at a celebration event at the Penventon Park Hotel in Redruth.

The UK element of the SIEU programme is being delivered by Community Energy Plus, Cornwall's leading charity delivering local solutions to fuel poverty, energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Clare Langdon, Senior Project Officer at Community Energy Plus said: ''I'm delighted with the success of our first SIEU project. It's been wonderful to see the students grow in confidence and knowledge about sustainable energy use, they have clearly all done a lot of research and all gave very professional presentations, clearly outlining their findings and the payback periods of installing the recommended technology. The feedback that I've had from the businesses has been very encouraging and we look forward to starting our second SIEU project shortly to build on the success of what we have achieved in this ground breaking educational project.''

The Penventon Park Hotel in Redruth has been working with 'A'level student Stacey Webber from Camborne Science and Community College to investigate how they can save energy on lighting.

Jess Billington, Sales and Marketing Manager at the Penventon said: ''Working with Stacey has proved to be really useful for us to realise how much energy we are wasting unnecessarily. Hopefully we can use some of her feedback and implement it in the hotel to use low energy lighting and reduce our CO2 emissions by nearly 4,000kg a year. Stacey has been a great help and we're really proud to have worked with the college on this project.''

A total of 17 students from Launceston College took part in the SIEU project. A group of students from Launceston College have been researching how the town's Pheonix Leisure Centre can reduce its energy use. Mike Titchin, Assistant Manager at Phoenix Leisure Centre said: ''The students have proposed that we install a pool cover and also LED lights for the squash court. Both ideas are definitely things that we can look at and I was surprised at how much money we can save.''

Callington based Tamar Foods were similarly impressed by the proposals by their paired group of students from Launceston College. Tom Parrott, Health, Safety and Environmental Manager for Tamar Foods said: ''The group that we worked with came up with some really great suggestions about how we can use the new feed-in tariffs to reduce the payback period of certain renewable projects that we probably wouldn't have considered before because they wouldn't have been financially viable. The students delivered a brilliant project and I'm very pleased with the information they've provided.''

Duchy College Stoke Climsland BTEC National Diploma Countryside students have been working with Deer Park Farm at Luckett, near Callington. Martin Howlett, owner of Deer Park Farm said: ''We constantly strive to make improvements to our farm business through best practice and this has given us a golden opportunity to listen to what the students have proposed and hopefully act upon some of their sound advice. We have the ability to grow our own energy resource on the farm in the form of Miscanthus and clearly as an energy crop there is the potential to use it on the farm to help us move towards becoming self sufficient in our energy needs and the research by the students will help us to investigate this opportunity further.''

Duchy College Stoke Climsland lecturer Jurie Intachat said: ''This project has been a really good experience for the students because it has allowed them to work independently and see what it's like working in the real world by putting the theory of what they've learned on the sustainable development module into practice.''

Students from Cornwall College Camborne's Renewable Energy Technologies Foundation Degree worked with the National Trust to recommend how they can reduce the carbon footprint of their holiday cottages at Cadgwith.

Alastair Cameron, Property Manager for the National Trust on The Lizard and Penrose said: ''The students came up with an interesting project to install a biomass boiler. They highlighted the government's renewable heat incentives which could make a major difference to the cost of the project as it has the potential to help us pay for the technology in just six years, making it a very feasible project.''

The SIEU programme has helped students from Treviglas Community College in Newquay to complete an 'A'level Applied Science coursework project, as student Mark Aston explained: ''Our project involved looking into how we could save energy in one particular room in the school and then identify how to apply the general principles across the entire school to save energy. We used specialist equipment to monitor the energy consumption of the classroom over one week then put signs around the room to encourage people to change their behaviour and use energy more intelligently before measuring the energy use once again. We managed to increase the room temperature by one degree just by keeping doors closed and shutting curtains at night. We learnt a lot from the project and hope that our findings will be taken on board by the school to reduce energy bills andCO2 emissions.''

After Easter, Community Energy Plus will be working with Cornwall College Camborne to link a number of courses with local business for the second phase of the Schools for Intelligent Energy Use Programme.

The success of the SIEU project was recognised at a European level recently when Community Energy Plus was invited to attend the EU Thematic Forum on school and business co-operation as a best practice project. The objective of the conference, which was held in Brussels on 24-25 March, was to highlight and explore best practice projects, knowledge transfer and identify ways in which the EU can support the development of high quality school business initiatives in the future.

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

More about Students Shine at Sustainable Energy Use Presentations

Community Energy Plus selected as best practice project

29 Mar, 2010

Schools for Intelligent Energy Use (SIEU), a project led by Community Energy Plus in Cornwall, was selected as a best practice project for the EU Thematic Forum on school and business cooperation, taking place in Brussels on 24-25 March.

Community Energy Plus works at a local level to ensure that Cornwall's communities are consulted and that their views are taken into consideration when delivering local solutions to fuel poverty, energy efficiency and renewable energy. The objective of the conference was to highlight and explore best practice projects, knowledge transfer and identify ways in which the EU can support the development of high quality school business initiatives in the future.

Through the SIEU project students from five Cornish schools and colleges have been learning about the commercial benefits of sustainability by working as ‘green consultants’ for local businesses. Students have worked 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 project is funded by Intelligent Energy Europe, with eleven partners across nine EU countries.

Through a link with local businesses, students are given the opportunity to have greater control over their own learning and decision making processes and therefore draw their own conclusions. Students become motivated, have an entrepreneurial attitude and are proud of their work.

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