Richard Davies, Director of the Marches Energy Agency, has been named one of the top 50 Green Leaders in the West Midlands. The competition run by Sustainability West Midlands aimed to identify the 50 individuals who were most likely to take the region forward to achieve a low carbon and more sustainable future. Richard was chosen by an expert judging panel from over 70 nominations of individuals who are all making a difference for the West Midlands.

The Green Leaders competition sought to address the "leadership gap" which exists in this region between the knowledge and skill of its current leaders and what is required to create a better future for the region. It aimed to achieve this by highlighting and celebrating the top 50 individuals who have made significant contributions towards a more sustainable region.

In recognition of the work that Richard and his colleagues at the Marches Energy Agency have being doing Sustainability West Midlands will begin profiling the people, projects and the organization with their media partners. They will also offer support to Richard and his team through networking events and levering with partners so that they can continue working towards the Low Carbon Vision for 2020.

300 years ago, men and women from the West Midlands started the Industrial Revolution. Now Richard Davis has been named as one of the leaders who will start the new green revolution that we all require.

Go to Richard's Profile

We visited Bolsover on 16th June to give information and advice about climate change and home energy efficiency.

Employees of the Bolsover district council, as well as the general public, were give the opportunity to work out their individual carbon footprint using a simple carbon footprint calculator.

On average the people of Bolsover were doing well with their efforts, nearly everyone we spoke to was doing something to reduce their carbon footprint, however they still had an average carbon footprint of 11,212kg.  There is always something that could be improved to get those footprints down even lower and the 5-section carbon footprint calculator showed each individual the area that could best be improved for them; Be it using air travel less or buying more locally produced or organic food.

Using energy efficient light bulbs was a popular method that people reported already doing in their home to keep their carbon emissions down and we aimed to encourage this by giving out free energy saving bulbs to all that wanted them. Each bulb gives out 100 watts worth of light using only 18 watts of electricity!

We received queries about energy monitors for the home, local wind farm plans, low flush toilets and energy saving lighting. Many people were keen to look at our light bulb library and were pleased to see that a new range of energy efficient lighting is being brought out. There was some discussion about issues people were having with the traditional low energy bulbs and we were able to give advice on these issues.

Over all, the carbon footprint calculators were very popular and often people were pleased to learn that their efforts were having a significant impact on their carbon emissions.

Climate change is recognised as being one of the most important issues to be addressed over the next decade. Scientific opinion is almost universally agreed that we must cut man made emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to prevent irreversible damage to the ecosystem of the earth. The cuts required are big, and will need every person and organisation to make their contribution. Be Birmingham and BVSC (the Birmingham Voluntary Sector Council) acknowledge this and their actions through WeSave, the groundbreaking support package for the Voluntary Sector, demonstrate this.

Voluntary Sector Organisations are leaders on acting for the greater good and within these organisations there is a willingness to act to minimise the effects of climate change and to lead in their communities in a better use of energy and in the use of renewable technologies. Material exists but those in Voluntary Sector Organisations often don't know the best way to interpret all the various options for their particular building(s) and with respect to their organisation. Energy audits provided by consultants are an effective way to recommend to the organisation what they should do, although often these recommendations are not taken up and stay as just that, recommendations.

Wesave.org.uk supplies the Voluntary Sector with the tools to perform their own energy audit through the wesave.org.uk interactive website, accompanied by its help screens and guide book. This process gives the organisation ownership of its carbon descent, increasing the involvement of those within the organisation and resulting in large impacts on the organisation's or group's carbon descent. Wesave.org.uk then continues to interact with the organisation, showing them how their energy consumption decreases over time and assisting them with any future changes. In addition the tool incorporates various behavioural change elements which can then be disseminated to the members of the organisation and those who visit their premises.

This resource is intended to enable a person who is not an energy expert to work through a step by step process to build up an action plan to be used by their organisation. The work can be carried out in manageable chunks, and the workbook and online tool are linked together so that you can keep track of what stage you have reached.

WeSave aims to be a bit different; to be inspiring, to be empowering. But more importantly it seeks to help all that use it to get from aspiration to planning practical action. There is certainly no shortage of information on sustainable energy and climate change, although there does seem to be a sizeable amount of carbon illiteracy. As the English Romantic painter John Constable said in the year before his death "We see nothing truly till we understand it." WeSave helps you and those around you truly see the challenge and the opportunity of sustainable energy and climate change.

One way or another, this generation - that's you and me - have this awesome responsibility of delivering low carbon lifestyles in our communities. So log on to the website (www.wesave.org.uk) , read the workbook and spend an important hour or so as a carbon accountant and low carbon building planner & engineer. This isn't a guidebook to read, it is a workbook to do and an interactive tool to use - so get reading, entering, and planning - the future is in your hands. The workbook is also availabe to donwload from our resources section on the left.

The online carbon management tool WeSave (www.wesave.org.uk) was officially introduced to the public for the first time last Saturday (5th June 2010) at the Birmingham Climate Change Festival. Throughout the day a busy stream of people visited the WeSave stall to receive information on how to conduct their own energy audits.

The WeSave stall was also approached by members of different third sector organisations interested in using the tool to raise awareness of the energy usage amongst the users of their respective buildings. In this instance each representative was given a WeSave workbook to take away with them, allowing them to see exactly how the tool works step-by-step. Relationships were formed with 11 voluntary sector organisations and each one took away one of the new WeSave workbooks in exchange for contact information so that future partnerships may be formed.

Also a large number of people who visited the stall requested information about applying the tool to their own home in order to learn more about their energy usage, as well as to receive specific recommendations which may enable them to save money and reduce their carbon footprint. We received an enthusiastic response from many of the people spoken to who each took a flyer providing them with the web address and all relevant contact information so that they could try WeSave out for themsleves.

All in all, it was a highly successful and enjoyable day for both the WeSave team and for the public visiting the festival. Many people who had not heard of the project before commented on its usefulness and pledged to use it to carry out their own energy audits at home. Information about future training sessions and possible partnerships was also passed on.

If you are interested in performing an energy audit of your own building and making the most of WeSave's resources then please visit www.wesave.org.uk for more information or contact Greg at wesave@mea.org.uk

Marches Energy Agency (MEA) will be open for business at the Three Counties Show at the Malvern showground on the 18, 19 and 20th of June.  Complementing the likely sizzling weather Low Carbon Enterprise (MEA's technical team) has a hot offer of a 10% discount off its daily rate for any business energy audits ordered before the end of August 2010 for anyone who visits us at the show.

Our team of sustainable energy experts offer a range of services to help you and your business generate an income from the recently introduced Feed-In Tariffs (FITs)*, save money on your energy bills and help reduce carbon emissions.  The team will be present in the Rural Enterprise Pavilion over the three days. 

Question marks over energy security and costs** will increasingly bear down on business energy use so now is the time to benefit from FITs and cut energy costs.  As if businesses didn't have enough to contend with there is also the challenge posed by the Carbon Reduction Commitment*** which will increasingly impact on businesses in the next few years.   

The Three Counties Show is the region's premier agricultural and countryside event with a wide range of attractions offering a superb day out for all ages and interests.  Over the three days, the event showcases the best of British food, farming and rural life through a varied and full programme.  If you are interested in supporting the countryside, seeing magnificent animals, rural living and country pursuits or even just want a fun day out with the family then this is place to be. 

Tristan Haynes, MEA's Technical Adviser, said:

"For a business there has never been a better time to evaluate its energy use and potential for renewable energy.  The government has designed the Feed-In Tariffs to deliver an approximate rate of return of 5-8% for well-sited installations.  As the tariffs are linked to inflation in nominal terms this rate of return could then be considered even higher at some 7-10%.  We have a track record with small to medium sized enterprises in the West Midlands and are keen to deliver even more benefits to our local businesses." 

*  April 2010 saw the government introduction of Feed-In Tariffs which offer businesses, householders and third sector organisations, the opportunity to make money from renewable electricity generation.   

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generate-your-own-energy/Sell-your-own-energy/Feed-in-Tariff-Clean-Energy-Cashback-scheme  

**  The second report of the UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security (ITPOES) finds that oil shortages, insecurity of supply and price volatility will destabilise economic, political and social activity potentially by 2015.  Peak Oil refers to the point where the highest practicable rate of global oil production has been achieved and from which future levels of production will either plateau, or begin to diminish.  This means an end to the era of cheap oil.  http://peakoiltaskforce.net/  

***  The Carbon Reduction Commitment (recently renamed the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme) is a mandatory carbon emissions trading scheme to cover all organisations using more than 6,000MWh per year of electricity (equivalent to an annual electricity bill of about £500,000).  http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/lc_uk/crc/crc.aspx