Transition Island Blog

The government is urging those who receive Pension Credit to apply for grants to help insulate their homes against the cold and rising fuel bills.

Minister for Pensions Reform Mike O’Brien said that with rising fuel prices it was more important than ever for people to properly insulate their homes and cut down on fuel usage.

a third lost

“As much as £1 in every £3 spent on heating bills is wasted in poorly insulated homes,” the minister said.

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Supermarkets, the original source of free plastic carrier bags, are now moving towards a greener approach.

green buildings

ASDA’s latest high efficiency store in Bootle, Merseyside is due to open in November 2008. The timber-framed store has many sustainable features, including recycled bricks, a recycled aluminium roof, rainwater harvesting and natural lighting. All this will help the store become 50% more energy efficient than a typical ASDA store.

Other supermarkets are also going the same route - eg Marks & Spencer’s first eco-store, opened late last year, uses 55% less power and is powered by turbine.

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From The Arran Voice

Two weeks ago the Arran Voice flagged up the fact that the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP) had withered to almost nothing.

It was effectively scuppered in May 2007, when grants for solar panels, ground source heat pumps and small wind turbines were slashed from a maximum of £15,000 to a mere £2,500, with many applications being refused altogether.

It was not through lack of public interest - quite the reverse. The huge enthusiasm for energy efficient houses meant that the original grants were all allocated within half an hour of each month’s fund being released. And yet the DTI, now renamed as BERR, (Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) has slammed the brakes on.

Why should a run-away success in the field of energy conservation be cut back just as it is beginning to blossom?

The answer is, at least £15 million from the LCBP has been diverted to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), where it has vanished into the huge expenses of cleaning up toxic waste at Sellafield and other sites.

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The UK’s first Energy Saving Day achieved no noticeable decrease in UK electricity use.

E-Day asked people to switch off electrical appliances they did not need over a period of 24 hours, with the National Grid monitoring consumption. It found that electricity usage was almost exactly what would have been expected without E-Day.

Colder weather than forecast in some regions may have led to higher use of heating, masking any small savings.

The event also received very little publicity, despite having backing from campaign groups such as Greenpeace, Christian Aid and the RSPB, and from major energy companies such as EDF, E.On and Scottish Power.

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An eco engine for small boats has scooped its Sandown inventor a major deal with a top marine manufacturer.

Graeme Hawksley’s super-efficient propul­sion system is the result of five years’ research into hybrid electric technology and looks set to go into production following a deal struck on Tuesday with leading marine engine manufac­turer Beta Marine.

The partnership sees joint collaboration for the final development, testing and marketing of the system, which is due to be launched in May.

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Twelve Things You CAN Do Right Now

01) Use Low Energy Light Bulbs
02) Monitor Your Use Of Electricity
03) Banish Standby
04) Super Insulate Your Home
05) Reduce Your Heating
06) Heat Your Water With The Sun
07) Switch to Green Energy
08) Change Your Transport Priorities
09) Shop Locally
10) Grow Your Own Food
11) Save Water
12) Subscribe To Permaculture Magazine 

[Details at ReverseClimateChange.co.uk]

You are invited to join an energy-saving experiment tomorrow, 27th February.

During E-Day (27th February), the National Grid will assess what difference it makes to electricity consumption

big difference

“The small things in life can make a big difference”

Energy Saving Day (E-Day) will be happening between 6pm on Wednesday 27 February 2008 and 6pm on Thursday 28 February.

Over 24 hours, E-Day will be trying to show how even small energy saving measures can be made to add up, and potentially play a part in tackling climate change.

Everyone who wants to take part in E-Day is being asked to leave off household electrical items, which do not need to be on, and to leave these items off for as long as possible.

These might include lights in rooms that are not being used, televisions left on standby, mobile phone chargers left plugged in, unused printers, etc, etc.

leave it off

During this experiment everyone in the country will be invited to see if they can save energy in their home, school or office, by leaving off electrical items which are not in use, and then offered direct feedback on the results of their actions on national electricity demand via the E-Day website (www.e-day.org.uk).

The cumulative effects of millions of energy saving measures will be updated on the E-Day website on a minute-by-minute basis.

Energy Saving Day (E-Day) is an editorially and financially independent and apolitical organisation which aims to make action to tackle climate change fun, positive, evidence-based and inclusive.

half power

You can cut your electricity consumption in half by updating elderly kitchen appliances, that use more power to do their job.

Action
1. Leave it off
2. Make a list of upgradable appliances

A new type of ‘molecular sieve’ is capable of removing water out of solvents and biofuels.

It is a very energy efficient alternative to existing techniques like distillation.

The previous generation of ‘nano-sieve’ membranes, made of silica, degrade because they react with water and steam.

In the new membrane, part of the ceramic links is therefore replaced by organic links. By doing this, water doesn’t have the chance to ‘attack’ the membranes. Manufacturing the new hybrid membranes is simpler than that of ceramic membranes, because the material is flexible and will not show cracks.

The hybrid membranes are suitable for ‘drying’ solvents and biofuels, an application for which there is a large potential market worldwide. The main advantage of membrane technology is that it consumes far less energy than common distillation techniques.

This technology - mixing organic molecules with inorganic - to produce new materials is producing great advances.

Reversing the flow means that dirty water can be cleaned very easily, filtering out bacteria and dirt.

Another nano-sieve is suitable for filtering out carbon dioxide. This has great applications in exhaust fume management from cars to factories and coal-fired electricity generators.

“At the end of 2006 I had a new kitchen fitted, along with new appliances (oven, ceramic hob, washing machine and fridge/freezer).

The old oven, washing machine and fridge freezer were all defective and needed replacing regardless.

The hob was an old fashioned unit with circular solid elements, and 20-odd years old, so I decided that it would be worth getting a something more efficient.

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Free insulation scheme for 64,000 houses.

The first phase of the scheme to cut fuel bills and reduce the city’s carbon footprint is announced by Sheffield City Council on 30/1/08.

Householders will be offered free loft and cavity wall insulation. A third of money spent on energy is lost through poor insulation, and insulating a house can reduce energy bills by as much as £300 a year!

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