We recently had the pleasure of attending the Powering Up North conference in Manchester.
More info here: http://claspinfo.org/powering-up
It was great to see so many familiar faces that we’ve met or worked with over the years, in various capacities.
The day outlined the challenges and opportunities for community renewable energy and had a fast-paced array of presentations from a variety of inspiring speakers related to community energy. There was a real energy to the proceedings, even if, in many ways, it felt like we’ve been here before in terms of outlining the problems of fossil fuels and the need for clean renewable energy replacements and a renewables revolution. With the huge uptake of renewables such as wind and solar across the world, and the subsequent drop in prices, it feels like the renewable energy revolution is in full swing. In many ways, it’s an open door… but we still need to push on it.
It was good to meet people from the Urban Community Energy Fund (UCEF): https://www.gov.uk/urban-community-energy-fund.
The UCEF is a £10m fund aimed at kick-starting renewable energy projects in urban communities in England. Grants of up to £20,000 are available for feasibility studies. Through our business, we offer renewable energy feasibility studies to community organisations. Follow the link above for more details and to see if your community organisation is eligible. If they are, contact us for a feasibility study.
‘Recovering politician’ – Ex MP Alan Simpson gave a rather enjoyable presentation. We love his delivery style. Looks like Alan’s slides are still available: http://media.claspinfo.org/sites/default/files/Community%20Energy%20-%20Alan%20Simpson.pdf
The thrust of Alan’s message to decision makers was that in terms of them getting on board with the renewables revolution, ‘the bus is leaving!’ and they need to be on it.
Smart politicians and business people will recognise that this shift towards renewable energy is inevitable. It’s a no-brainer; clean energy that lasts forever.
So people, the bus is leaving. Get on board with us.
Jeff Rice