newsletter
Issue 7 Winter 2009
MEA Comments on Copenhagen
As world leaders meet in
Copenhagen, we’ve been asked
to comment on the event and how
our work is part of the solution.
In an article on the Ashden
Awards website our Director,
Richard Davies comments on our
work to sustain energy-saving
practices in all sectors of the
community - parish, schools,
businesses and households
through five radical carbon-cutting
projects. The article can be found
here: www.ashdenawards.org/
media/copenhagen
RE:think Energy Funding Secured
for the West Midlands Until 2013
For those who aren’t familiar
with the Ashden Awards, they
are a leading national body who
champion practical, local energy
solutions that cut carbon, protect
the environment, reduce poverty
and improve people’s lives.
Earlier this year MEA was
recognised by the Ashden
Awards for its work galvanising
communities to adopt low
carbon lifestyles. The original
feature can be found here: www.
ashdenawards.org/winners/
MEA09
Advantage West Midlands have
confirmed that a further £4
million of funds will be made
available to support the RE:
think Energy project for a further
3 years, from 2010 until 2013.
The project will expand beyond
the Rural Regeneration Zone to
cover rural areas across the West
Midlands. The exact geographical
coverage will be clarified soon.
This means that funds will be
available to small and medium
sized businesses across the rural
West Midlands to install renewable
technologies, reducing both their
business running costs and carbon
emissions. This is excellent news
for local businesses who will be
1.
in this issue
MEA Technology:
p3 Radar Bioenergy
Project Finale
MEA Training:
p4 The Workshop that
Pays Off
MEA Events:
p5 Light Fantastic Hits
Another Milestone
MEA Grants:
p7 Renewable Installation
Training Grants
MEA Media:
p8 Carbon Forum in
Uganda
able to maximise opportunities to
embrace renewable technologies,
control their energy security and
associated business running costs,
as well as play their part in helping
the UK meet its carbon reduction
target of 20% by 2020.
The RE:think Energy team
welcome new registrations from
businesses to the scheme for
energy assessments, feasibility
studies and grant funding.
For further information contact:
The RE:think Energy Team at MEA
on 01743 277130 , email them at
info@rethinkenergy.org.uk or visit
the dedicated RE:think website at
rethinkenergy.org.uk
 MEA Technology
Rudolph the LED-Nosed Reindeer Visits Ross on Wye
We’re over the moon - as a
result of support we have given
to Ross Town Council over
the past few years, they have
now managed to put in place
changing all their Christmas
lights over to LED type.
Rudolph the LED-nosed
reindeer visited Ross-on-Wye
over the Christmas season.
He heard the Christmas
lights were good this year in
Tudorville and Three Crosses
and wanted to take a look and
say hello to all the children and
their parents.
He was accompanied by our
Light Fantastic exhibition,
giving away free light bulbs
and lots of information
about how to save energy at
Christmas - and all year round!
The Town Council said
“Rudolph is part of the Ross
Christmas lights project, which
aims to celebrate Christmas
with a beautiful and efficient
light display in the town whilst
helping householders and
businesses save energy. We
estimate the carbon emissions
from lights in the town will be
at least one tonne less this
year due to the Town Council’s
switch to energy efficient LED
Christmas lights”
The reindeer was built
on a bicycle chassis by
2.
engineering students
from Aston University to
demonstrate how much more
light comes out of LED bulbs,
compared to conventional
light bulbs. Children will be
able to generate electricity by
pedalling Rudolph until his
nose glows bright red.
The Ross Christmas lights
project has been supported by
Natural England’s Sustainable
Development Fund in the Wye
Valley Area of Outstanding
Natural Beauty (AONB) and
Ross Town Council is grateful
for this support.
RADAR Bioenergy Project Finale
The ‘RADAR’ bioenergy
project came to an end this
October after two years of
hard work.
The final partner meeting was
held near Tartu in Estonia at the
beginning of October and was
attended by our Tristan Haynes
and Joe Bentley as MEA is the
UK partner in the project.
After a day of tying up the
loose ends of the project and
its administration it was time to
celebrate the successes of the
project through each
partner (representing
7 European
Countries and 11
different academic,
energy agency
and local authority
organisations)
presenting the
outcomes of their
final feasibility study
to an audience of
over 100 delegates.
Each partner has
been looking at the Picture shows RADAR Project Partners visiting a pellet
potential bio energy production plant in Bulgaria earlier in the project (July 2008)
resource and energy
demand from a ‘pilot
area’ defined in their respective CO2, largely due to capturing
countries and work with local
communities to look at the
feasibility of a significant bio
energy project. Inspiration was
taken by all partners from a
study tour which MEA had the
privilege of conducting during
March 2008. Their final project
proposals range from wood
chip fired Combined Heat and
Power installations to anaerobic tial use for the heat produced
digesters (AD); all of which
were demonstrated on the initial site should ensure all the en-
UK study tour.
In the UK the proposal is to
take forward a project idea
for an AD facility based on a
large dairy farm in Cleobury
Mortimer, South Shropshire,
also taking in catering and food
processing food waste. Up to
4,000 tonnes per annum of this
have been identified within a
10 mile radius of the proposed
facility.
All in all this will result in the
production of 2.5% of the
400km2 pilot area’s heat and
power demand from a single
renewable energy installation.
This will avoid the emission
of 5,752 tonnes equivalent of
the emission of methane emis-
sions from the breakdown of
the organic wastes feeding the
proposed plant. It is expected
that the increased value avail-
able from producing electricity
from AD, thanks to the Feed
In Tariff announced earlier this
year, could make this financially take forward. Contact Tristan
viable. Furthermore, the poten-
on and around the proposed
ergy produced is utilized.
Tristan Haynes, Project
Manager for the UK Partner,
said, “it is really positive to
3.
have such community support
enabling us to help them
take forward a real project
out of what could have been
a fairly theoretical exercise.
Our research has shown the
importance of co-digesting
commercial food wastes (with
higher biogas potential) with
farm wastes in farm-based
digesters although the current
regulatory framework doesn’t
make this straightforward!”
In July 2009 the UK
Government published its
Implementation
Plan for Anaerobic
Digestion which
identified these issues
and, it is hoped, will
result in action on
resolving them.
MEA hope to use
our learning from
involvement in this
project to continue
to work with other
partners and
stakeholders in the
region to identify and
take forward other
opportunities for bio
energy schemes, possibly
through funding from another
Intelligent Energy in Europe
project proposal for the next call
which is expected to open in
February 2010.
We would be interested in
hearing from anyone who
has an idea they want to
Haynes on tristan@mea.org.uk
 MEA Training
The workshop that pays off
In June MEA’s Low
Carbon Community team
ran a workshop in Codsall
as part of a wider range
of energy efficiency
awareness activities being
delivered in South Staffs.
Eco Driving Course in Wenlock helps residents save money
On Saturday 30 October 6
Wenlock residents attended
an eco driving course run by
Sustainable Wenlock.
Delivered in conjunction with
Marches Energy Agency the one
hour sessions showed residents
how to make each tank of petrol
go as far as possible.
With fuel prices rising the six
residents were grateful to be
shown how a few simple tips
could save then all around £100
a year on their car fuel bills, good
news at a time when most of us
are having to tighten our belts.
Mandy, a Council employee,
attended the workshop (see
photograph) and as a result
has reduced her CO2 emissions
by 57%. By attending the
workshop, Mandy discovered
that her electricity consumption
was twice as high as the
average for her house size, with
bills to match!
Her 4 bed semi-detached
house was on economy 7 to
feed storage heaters, and had
an immersion heater.
With the help of one of MEA’s
Low Carbon Communities
Project Managers, she drew up
an action plan and agreed to
track her energy consumption
pattern via a smart meter, and
to take regular meter readings.
It quickly transpired that the
immersion heater needed re-
setting, leading to a first lot of
savings.
Robert Saunders from MEA,
the instructor said ‘by thinking
more about the road ahead and
planning your speed and gear
use accordingly you can reduce
fuel consumption by 10-15% a
year. For an average car user
this can equate to a saving of
around £100 a year on avoided
fuel costs’.
Commenting on the training
Catherine Benbow said ‘this
training has really raised my
awareness of how I drive. I shall
certainly be recommending this
to my employer as a training
initiative. It’ll make our money
4.
It then became clear that
the storage heaters were
defective. At this point,
Mandy decided to have gas
central heating installed,
with a 90%+ energy efficient
condensing boiler, which led
to another set of savings.
Not only has Mandy reduced
her carbon footprint, but she
has also made net annual
savings of £420.
In her own words : “I’m so
glad we have got it sorted
out and every time I turn the
central heating on I can relax
knowing that it’s not going to
cost us a fortune! Thanks so
much for your help “
For further information on the
workshop offer from the Low
Carbon Community team,
please contact
sylvia@mea.org.uk
go further and will be important
in us starting to reduce our CO2
emissions’. Following on from the
succes of the day, Sustainable
Wenlock is planning to run
another training day in the New
Year.
In the photo are: (L to R) - Robert
Saunders from Marches Energy Agency,
Jo and Andy Jukes, Olive Bree and
Catherine Benbow.
Tackling NI186 Workshop
Kris McGowan (Team Leader for our Carbon Forum Team)
led a very successful workshop on Tackling NI186 - from
aspiration to planning practical action, using our Low Carbon
Leadership Workbook (pictured right).
The workshop took place at an event organised by our representative
Feedback from the event
in the East Midlands and was attended by 29 officers, representing all
was very positive in terms of
20 local authorities in Nottingham and Derbyshire.
content, format and networking
Kris highlighted the need to make rapid and significant cuts in carbon opportunities:
emissions of around 4% per year to avoid a more than 2oC rise in
“Great to be able to get to
global average temperature and consequently unstoppable climate
grips with NI186 and how to
change.
plan reduction targets”
The workbook exercises enabled participants to estimate the most
realistic and cost effective combination of measures in their area to “Kris’s session was brill - a
achieve these cuts. Participants used a prepared data set incorporating real eye-opener. Plenty of
total and per capita CO2 baseline emissions and reduction targets food for thought.”
for domestic, business & commercial and transport sectors for each
district, city and county area, together with population figures and “Helps to spend time with
national average neighbourhood statistics for domestic properties. other officers discussing
ideas and sharing solutions.”

“Really enjoyed hearing how

other LAA’s are tackling
NI186...perhaps we should
share delivery plans and our
approaches to NI186?”

MEA Events

Light Fantastic reaches another milestone

November saw the Light Fantastic project exceed
another amazing target with CO2 savings now over 9
million kg and economic savings over £4 million for
the communities it has visited.

Project Manager Sarah Meredith said “We’ve seen

around 57,000 people with this exhibition and it’s
amazing to think that so many people having been able
to reduce their energy use as a result. We aim to lower
CO2 emissions by giving people practical solutions and
they are always pleased to see how much money they
can save as a result.”
The most recent event was a Christmas Fair in Ross on
Wye, Herefordshire which was sponsored by Ross Town
Council.
5.
Dudley Light Fantastic Project
Marches Energy Agency has
just completed a series of
10 Light Fantastic events
in partnership with Dudley
Community Partnership and
Dudley Metropolitan Borough
Council.
Visitors to a whole range of
public events throughout the
Dudley borough were able to
receive advice on low energy
lighting, energy efficiency and
grants available for insulation
and renewable technology. In
addition visitors were given low
energy bulbs and Powerdowns
for desktop computers.

Project Manager Sarah Meredith said “We’ve been delighted to be able to help over 6,000 people
with this project and overall they have had lifetime savings of 1,318 tonnes of CO2 and £614,791 on
running costs for the items we’ve given away.”

Light Fantastic at Swadlincote Flood Fair

• Visitors: approx 350
• Bulbs distributed: 680
• Powerdown Units
distributed: 200
• CO2 saved (lifetime):
98,631 tonnes
• Retained economic
benefit (lifetime): £62,098
Light Fantastic visited
Swadlincote in October 2009.
Despite threatening weather,
the rain never came and we
had a steady flow of interest
throughout the day. Many of the
people who came to visit the
trailer were then directed into
the town hall.
Two representatives from South
Derbyshire District Council
were on hand to give expert
local advice. Most people had
low energy light bulbs of some
kind and some had all but the
most difficult ones changed. We
were able to show these people
the range available to them
and direct them to stockists of
LED’s GU10 replacements and
candle type bulbs.
Younger people of the town
enjoyed the energy bike and
carbon countdown game, with
a bunch of teenagers taking
up the challenge to light up
nine low energy light bulbs
- it was actually quite easy
as they only added up to
56W, less than the 60W
incandescent bulb in the
case.
We were also able to assist
people with insulation and
renewable technology
enquiries. Several people
have been thinking about
solar thermal, and we were
able to give them detailed
technical advice, as well
as advice on photovoltaic
installations and one enquiry
about domestic wind in a
semi-rural location.

6.
 MEA Grants
Renewable Installation Training Grants - Last Few
remaining from RE:think
There is a small amount of
funding left to train in the
installation of renewable
technologies. The remaining
money will go to businesses
on a first come first served
basis.
So far 26 businesses in the
Rural Regeneration Zone (RRZ
- basically rural Herefordshire,
south and west Shropshire,
and west Worcestershire) have
been successful in applying for
this grant.
To be eligible, you need to be
Keep Shropshire Warm Helping You Heat Your
Homes This Winter
The County’s Affordable
Warmth initiative Keep
Shropshire Warm is offering
all home owners and private
tenants the chance of huge
insulation discounts.
Having already assisted over
5000 households since its
launch in January 2008, MEA’s
Keep Shropshire Warm team
are pleased to announce that
continued help is available this
winter. Welcome news as the
weather begins to turn cold.
Project Manager Jo Meakin
states “We are delighted to be
able to offer further reductions
off our already discounted
insulation. Any home owner
or private tenant that pays
their Council Tax to Shropshire
Council can get cavity wall
rethinkenergy.org.uk/training/
a registered plumber, heating introduction or contact Kris
engineer or electrician. You McGowan kris@mea.org.uk
need to be based in or serve
the RRZ. You can
apply to us for
training in solar
hot water systems,
solar photovoltaics,
biomass or ground
source heat pump
installations.
For more
information please
visit the training
section of our RE:
think website:
insulation for just £89 and loft affordable warmth related
insulation for £89. queries you may have.
This is going to prove to be a Contact the Keep Shropshire
massive help to householders Warm Team on 01743
in a time when people are 277123 or visit www.
worried about their finances. keepshropshirewarm.org
We would suggest that the
installation of both measures
can save a household as much
as £300 per year on their
energy bills, proving that it
really does pay to insulate”
Those aged over 70 or in
receipt of benefits may also
be entitled to free insulation
subject to the availability of
funding and further qualifying
criteria.
Keep Shropshire Warm can
also advise on heating grants,
energy efficiency or any other
7.
 MEA Media and Publications
Carbon Forum in Uganda
Our Carbon Forum (CF) team has
been applying their well-honed
communications skills and striking
out into what is certainly new
territory for MEA with the successful
completion of a recent project for
the Ugandan Parliamentary Forum
on Climate Change (PFCC).
The project came about as a
result of the first CF project in
Uganda, developing an exhibition
on climate change for the National
Museum in Kampala for the British
High Commission earlier this
year. The positive response and
interest in the exhibition led to an
enquiry from the Parliamentary
Forum on Climate Change about
us producing a display for the
Parliament of Uganda, with funding
provided again by the British
High Commission. The display
would feature a model landscape,
showing two possible futures for
Uganda based on best-case and
worst-case scenarios for climate
change impacts and responses.
One of the biggest challenges
we faced when developing the
museum exhibition was starting well received and generated a
from a point of limited knowledge great deal of interest and positive
about Uganda and the issues responses, culminating in the
and impacts that climate change official hand-over of the display
is creating there. For this project to the Deputy Speaker by the
our Richard Hammerton, who built British High Commissioner, Martin
a similar display model for the Shearman, at the well-attended
exhibition, went out to Uganda for launch event in Parliament.
a month in order to research and
Because of the success of this
develop the model.
project and the museum exhibition,
We were extremely lucky to have and with a heightened appreciation
support from the Uganda Carbon of the need for more widespread
Bureau (UCB), providing expert climate change awareness
knowledge on climate issues in work there, Carbon Forum are
Uganda, relevant technologies and now seeking opportunities for
so on. following this up with an even more
ambitious project and strengthening
After a few days of travelling
our link with Uganda.
around Kampala and the
surrounding district for research,
the work of constructing the display
began. As the schedule left a little
over two weeks to complete the
project it took many long days
and some late nights to complete
the job, and somehow time was
found to fit in visits by art students
from the International School and
interviews with the press. All the
hard work was justified by the end Photograph shows a UN World Food
result, as the display was very Programme truck from the finished model
Marches Energy Agency is a
registered charity #1070942
Main website:
www.mea.org.uk
MEA team websites:
www.carbonforum.org
www.rethinkenergy.org.uk
www.lowcarboncommunity.org
www.keepshropshirewarm.org
Switchboard: 01743 246 007
Email: info@mea.org.uk
The Pump House, Coton Hill,
Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY1 2DP
8.