Posts filed under ‘Energy Group’
Collection of unwanted hand tools for the charity Tools for Self Reliance
The Epsom & Ewell Energy Group organised a collection of tools for the charity on Saturday 12th May. The charity Tools for Self Reliance gives people in Africa the skills and tools to get them out of poverty and into work. Each year they ship tens of thousands of high-quality refurbished hand tools and sewing machines to projects.Many kind borough residents brought down boxes of tools, making up a large car load. These were taken to the workshops of the charity, Tools for Self Reliance, in Carshalton, to be refurbished. Tools are then boxed up into sets, and shipped out to Africa. The tools will be used to help people earn a living. Tools are packed into boxes in kits suitable for plumbers, carpenters, shoe makers, blacksmiths, tailors etc, and shipped abroad. What each toolkit contains People in remote villages can then set up in a trade, even if there is no electricity available. More information about the charity at www.tfsr.org If you have tools to donate, and missed the collection, you can contact Alan Swanson, who runs the Carshalton workshop, on 0208 647 2977
Surrey Green Homes. Eco Open Homes weekend, 24th and 25th March 2012
Action Surrey has organised, for the second year, a weekend were householders who have installed energy saving, or energy efficient measures in their homes invite visitors to see what they have done. There are a variety of measures, including solar PV, solar hot water, heat pumps, wood burning stoves, high levels of insulation etc. You can book a visit on the Action Surrey website now.
Film showing of “The Story of Stuff” – was held on Thursday 1st March
There was a film showing of “The Story of Stuff” and also two other short films on bottle water and electronics.
Energy Group meeting – Weds 13th July – Solar Photovoltaics
The meeting was about solar photovoltaics, and how to make use of your roof to both generate electricity, and get the feed-in tariff.
Paul Hunter, from a company called Gotta Go Greener http://www.gottagogreena.co.uk and John Sandison from 1st Solar PV Ltd http://www.1stsolarpv.co.uk gave presentations, and answered many questions. Barrie Mould, from the Transition group in Ashtead, also spoke about his own, recently installed, solar PV system.
It was an excellent opportunity to find out a lot of detail about the products and systems available, installation, technical issues etc.
Notes of the meeting are at: EEEG Minutes 13.7.2011
Backing the Lighter Later campaign ? Your views needed !
Do you know about the Lighter Later coalition? And do you support the idea of changing our clocks, so we get an extra hour of daylight in the evening, and one less in the early morning (when many of us sleep through it)? At present, the campaign is waiting for the Daylight Saving Bill to get to the top of the queue for committee stage, in Parliament, where a group of MPs will tinker with the wording and thrash out the finer details. Should we, as an organisation, officially back the campaign? We would be interested to hear your views.
Next Public Meeting: Sustainable development and the Olympics in 2012, Wednesday 11th May 2011, 19:30
Energy Group meeting on Wednesday 11th May 2011, at 7.30pm at W S Atkins, Woodcote Grove, Epsom KT18 5BW
Julian Sutherland, Director of Sustainable Development at Atkins will be giving an interesting presentation on sustainable development answering questions such as:
- How can we develop low-carbon infrastructure and why is this important?
- What tools are available to support the design process?
- How will the cities of tomorrow be built?
- How has sustainable development been applied to the London 2012 Olympic Park?
Meeting free to anyone interested. Ends approximately 9.30pm
Showing of the film “The 11th Hour” on Thursday 24th March 2011
The Energy Group will be showing this remarkable film, as part of Climate Week. It will be on Thursday 24th March, at 7.30pm at WS Atkins, Woodcote Grove, Epsom
The film, “The 11th Hour” was released in March 2008, and made largely by Leonardo di Caprio.
It is a look at the state of the global environment including visionary and practical solutions for restoring the planet’s ecosystems. It was directed by Leila Conners and written partly by Leonardo.
The 11th Hour is the last moment when change is possible. The film explores how we’ve arrived at this moment – how we live, how we impact the earth’s ecosystems, and what we can do to change our course. Featuring ongoing dialogues of experts from all over the world, including former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev, renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, former head of the CIA R. James Woolsey and sustainable design experts William McDonough and Bruce Mau in addition to over 50 leading scientists, thinkers and leaders who discuss the most important issues that face our planet and people.
There is a lot more about the film on the IMDB website at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0492931/
including a video clip.
Do come along and see the film.
There are other activities during Climate Week. For more information please see
http://www.climateweek.com/
Surrey Green Homes Open Days – Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 March 2011
On Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th March, 28 homeowners throughout Surrey will open their doors to the public to share their knowledge and experience about making their own homes more energy efficient and ecologically sustainable. Homeowners will be able to report on how these changes have affected their fuel bills, and the comfort of their homes.
See full article for details of how to book visits to these properties.
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)
CCS is the technology through which the carbon emissions from a power station (generally coal fired) would be captured, and then transferred to an underground location for permanent burial, thus removing the CO2 from the air. It is a technology that still needs to be tested and shown to work in pilot plants, and there is no working CCS unit anywhere in the world yet. Power stations with CCS would use more energy than those without, as the process of capturing and storing the CO2 takes up energy, so a power station could never capture 100% of its emissions. The figure would generally be much lower – in the range of 30% or so.
Herald of Spring 2009
Our stand at this year’s Herald of Spring was a great success. Sharing the stand with the Recycling Group and the Food Group, we had plenty of information for the public. Our lighting display attracted a lot of attention, and we ran a competition to promote energy saving. We also had activities and a competition for children.
