April 2009 Archives

Bishop Heber pupils turned the lights off to show they care about climate change.

To support Earth Hour, students at the Malpas high school switched off all lights for one hour during their citizenship lesson.

This was to support the international WWF-led initiative where people across the globe were asked to turn their lights off for one hour to show world leaders that they want action to tackle climate change.

COMMUTERS working at the Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet and neighbouring business park are being urged to get on the bus.

The Highways Agency, which operates the M53 and M56 in the area, is working with businesses to develop smarter shopper and commuter travel options.

And, as part of its efforts to promote greener transport usage, the Highways Agency has now persuaded major bus company First Group to run a regular service closer to workers offices and shops.

SOUTH Cheshire's biggest social housing landlord Wulvern has come up with an answer to spiralling fuel costs and the threat of global warming - solar power.

In its first renewable energy scheme, the tenants of four bungalows in Main Road at Wybunbury, who are not connected to the mains gas supply, are now enjoying the benefits of solar-powered hot water and central heating.

The system, which includes an air-source heat pump, will mean real savings in their electric bills. It has replaced their costly storage heaters with new streamline radiators.

FREE POWER FOR PIONEERING VILLAGE HALL

Bickerton Village Hall has become the first village hall in Cheshire to receive 100% funding to install electricity producing solar panels on its roof, supplying green electricity to the National Grid and free power for the hall.

The installation by local company, The Green Electrician, of 27 photovoltaic panels will provide the village hall with an estimated 4,100kW per year, 80% of the hall's current electricity usage. The hall committee plan to make this 100% by introducing new energy efficient measures. Any electricity produced when the hall is not in use will be exported to green energy supplier, Southern Electric for 28p per kWh.

"We believe we are the first village hall in Cheshire to generate electricity for the National Grid. The contractors for the project are a local company and the panels were made locally too, we believe it will encourage our community to look at cleaner ways to power their homes and businesses. If this project could be reproduced in buildings throughout the country, the combined impact would be huge." Carol Shadbolt, Managing Trustee, Bickerton Village Hall.

Carol Shadbolt secured 100% funding for the £30,389 project from the Government's Low Carbon Buildings Programme, Community Sustainable Fund (Big Lottery Fund) and Foundation, a new northwest climate fund launched in April 2009, backed by the Northwest Regional Development Agency.

Bickerton Village Hall has a public display inside the entrance so that hall users and local school children can monitor the amount of electricity being produced and CO2 saved at any time, a figure estimated to reach 1,793kg a year.

Stephen Davies of Tushingham company The Green Electrician, said: "To get 100% funding for this community project has meant that the village hall gets free electricity and an income from the moment we connected the panels. Not only are they quietly and discreetly producing green energy, but they are also demonstrating an environmental commitment to the wider community, encouraging others to do the same."

While other villages talk about renewables projects to reduce carbon emissions, Bickerton has led the way, securing funding and advice from local professionals. Their achievement will hopefully inspire more local communities and households to investigate renewable power.

The UK government has launched an £11m ($16m) five-year research programme into ocean acidification.

Researchers say seas are becoming more acidic as a result of CO2 from human activities being absorbed by seawater, which alters the oceans' chemistry.

Ministers say acidification of the oceans will be one of the major environmental concerns of this century.

The study will focus on the Atlantic, Antarctic and Arctic oceans and assess how marine ecosystems are affected.

The programme, co-funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Natural Environment Research Council (Nerc), will also examine the implications for people and the economy.

SCHOOLS and colleges are being encouraged to swap indoor lessons for a new outdoor learning experience at Delamere Forest.

The initiative has been developed by the Forestry Commission, which owns Cheshire's largest woodland area, to take children out of the conventional classroom setting and into the natural world to help them learn more about the environment and its significance to everyday life.

Climate change, sustainability and ecology are three of the key topics covered by the programme, which works with all ages from pre-school to university students as well as adults and families. 

Lessons cover curriculum-based topics such as science and geography, as well as wider personal, social and health issues relating to the environment. 

On 5th May I'll be heading off to London for Unltd World's first birthday party. I've been nominated for an award too - in the Environmental category. It's always nice to have your work recognised, but the really award belongs to all the Low Carbon Communities Network members across the UK who support each other through their membership of the LCCN. We have over 200 members in England alone and over 15 member groups in Cheshire (unfortunately Ashton Hayes Going Carbon Neutral isn't one of them, which seems a shame when you consider that our office is right in the heart of the village).
LCCN community groups are run by volunteers giving free advice to their friends and neighbours to help them reduce their use of the earth's finite resources (such as coal, oil and gas). The LCCN has members who will visit your home and give you one-to-one advice on how to reduce your energy bills and give you honest advice about how to make smarter choices in the ways you use and generate power in your own home. Later this week I have a meeting with the Department for Energy and Climate Change and Dept for Communities and Local Government, we'll be discussing how all of us can work together to reduce domestic energy demand - they know our members are already reducing domestic carbon emissions by up to 80% - because they want to - not because they're told to. If the Government are serious about their "Great British Refurb" plans then they need to work with groups like ours to get their message across and support those of us who are already making plans to adapt to our changing climate and mitigate against the future effects we might face as carbon emissions continue to rise. Low carbon communities are smart communities and no-one is better placed to help you make informed choices about how to heat and power your home than ordinary people who have done it for themselves.

Kate Hodal looks at ways to make your home more energy-efficient through insulation, water and food usage.

The last thing you probably want to do in your free time this month is check your loft to see if it has any insulation.

Insulation is basically a giant duvet, interwoven in between your house's walls and in its loft, which acts as a blanket to keep heat trapped in and cold out. Without it, your home can lose around a third of its heat through the walls, and another 25% through the roof. Making sure you have it isn't just a nicety - it's an essential.

BUNDLED UP

One of the biggest drawbacks of my rented, four-storey Victorian home is its lack of wall insulation. Bricks might make the walls solid, but they certainly aren't warm, as proven by my housemate's extremely cold bedroom at the top of the house.

Letter to the Chester Chronicle Editor from Miranda Harle:

I AM FOURTEEN and was infuriated when I read the article 'Legal experts hired to beat wind farm'. I think it is ridiculous that people are campaigning to not try and save our planet! I agree that the turbines could perhaps impose on the surrounding scenery but to be honest I would rather look at the turbines and know that as a county we were trying to reduce our fossil fuel comsumption.

The amount of money being spent to try and deter the construction of this windfarm is obscene! That money could be put to a much btter use, for instance it could aid those who would have to give their farmland up.

MEMBERS of the public are being invited to hear the latest news and future plans of Ashton Hayes Carbon Neutral Project.

Those behind the groundbreaking Cheshire initiative, that has gained interest from South Korea and Norway, will be presenting what has been achieved since it began in 2006.

Details of the year-long microgrid study and future proposals, including the possibility of power generation, will be discussed.