Energy Topic Group
Next Meeting
Energy and economy for YOUR community: Wednesday 26-July 2023 7pm
A Group Chat led by Tony Currivan, drawing on the experience of our groups to explore the why, what, how, bumps in the road and benefits of many forms of community energy.
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Bristol-based CSE (Centre for Sustainable Energy) has supported a range of projects, just to give some ideas.
Come hear from WCA group member local industry experts and bring YOUR experience to share. We have invited the following to share their experience with us:
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Peter Capener (Bath and West Community Energy).
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Sophy Fearnley-Whittingstall (SFW Communications),
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Dr Nick Murray (Wiltshire Councillor and Zero Chippenham CE)
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Jeremy Wyatt (Great Green Bedwyn)
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AGENDA
1. Intros
2. Why community energy
3. What - The many types of community energy e.g. heat pumps, wind, solar, storage, microgrids
4. How - Alternative models for community engagement
What is a community energy company (CEC)?
What forms can they take? How do they work?
Setting up a CEC
What is the process? How do you start?
5. Bumps in the road - What are the barriers and common issues (planning, govt policy, grid capacity etc)?
6. Next steps - What advice and help is there?
What might the future hold for new CECs?
7. Questions and discussion
ask your questions, share your experience, agree next steps
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RSVP Here for Zoom link to join the online meeting
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Please share the facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/234194846195256/
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and share the link to this page on social media:
https://www.wiltshireclimatealliance.org.uk/energy-topic-group
This topic group is currently reorganizing following our workshop in February 2023.
Please register below to receive future topic group emails.
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(We had been meeting on the 3rd Tuesday of the month, 7:00pm.)
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Please feel free to contact Adam, the current topic group lead, on all things energy at adam@wiltshireclimatealliance.org.uk .
Previous Meetings and Other Information
Energy Efficiency at Selwood Housing: Paul Walsh, Development Director (November 2022)
Paul Walsh, Group Development Director at Selwood Housing, discussed what they are doing to make their estate more energy efficient.
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Selwood have a number of current developments in Wilts, and are also renovating their existing stock. There is potentially some government money available for energy efficiency improvements in social housing and these works can lead the way in developing skills and experience.
Retrofit Experiences
We are starting to gather a list of people with experience of retrofit who are happy to give us local case studies, and if possible to answer questions or talk to people about their experience.
This includes insulation, draughtproofing, heat recovery ventilation and waste water heat recovery from showers, as well as solar panels and heat pumps etc.​​
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Local events and souces of advice are listed here - please let us know of other relevant information for this page.
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We are also very keen to hear from people with experience as well as people who are thinking about reducing energy use in their homes: more details here.
Solar Farm presentations, July 2021
Our July meeting discussed the importance of solar farms, and featured presentations from two speakers on new proposed projects.
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A speaker from JBM Solar talked about the Minety proposal.
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Sophy Fearnley-Whittingstall from Eden Renewables talked about Leigh Delamare and Forest Gate proposals.​
Sophy Fearnley-Whittingstall from Eden Renewables presented Leigh Delamare and Forest Gate proposals to a WCA general meeting, 4-Aug-2021.
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Supporting comments are neded on the planning applications to Wiltshire Council: there are simple online forms to fill, see here for details.
Community energy groups across England can benefit from a new peer support programme, launched today (22 February 2021).
Experienced community energy mentors will be matched with existing community energy groups to help them develop their project or business. Up to 4 days of peer mentoring support is available taking place between March and September 2021.
Full details here: www.next-generation.org.uk/peer-mentoring
Now you can subscribe to an electric car - Interesting Article
You’ve already got a monthly Netflix subscription, and maybe a veg box delivery service. So why wouldn’t you start leasing an electric car on the same month-to-month terms?
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A number of firms are now offering this fresh take on driving, effectively giving people a chance to try electric vehicles without the commitment of buying or entering a lengthy leasing agreement.
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Read the article Here
Please help us by taking this 3 minute survey about electric vehicles - Click on the LINK to complete the survey
This is where you will find lots of very interesting documents under the following headings:
Here you will find a whole section on electric cars which many of our members find particularly interesting
At the October meeting we were very fortunate to have two excellent talks. The first was by Dr. Nick Murry about Zero Chippenham's Solar PV Preferred supplier scheme. The second was from Pete Capener, CEO of Bath & West Community Energy. The video of Pete's very interesting talk can be seen below.
Other previous meetings for reference:
September 2022:​
1. Events:
- recent events - report backs
- sharing local events
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2. Ongoing things:
- Solar Together experiences so far
- CHEESE latest, and getting it going in Wilts
- Wiltshire Wildlife Community Energy (tbc)
- Council housing retrofit - any experience of this to date?
- sharing local Town/Parish council energy activities
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3. Campaigning:
- MP discussions: briefing, UK energy policy etc
- Friends of the Earth 'United for Warm Homes' campaign
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4. Other input from local groups and feedback