Gathering together the Midlands family

On Saturday, we had our regional gathering for FoE campaigners in the West Midlands.

As always it was a great opportunity to swap stories, exchange knowledge and tips or just generally moan about the bad things going on with the environment.
Our biggest campaign at the moment is Final Demand, so we had Donna Hulme up from London to give us some detail on the plans for how that will develop, as well as explaining what's going on with FiTs - why the government wants to kill the solar industry.

The question I really wanted to put was how we counter the arguments put by Monbiot that solar can't deliver very much and is a tax on the poor for middle class people to get eco-bling. The answers were very convincing and it's a bit puzzling that Monbiot has refused to have a public debate on it, as our policy team are very confident they would be able to counter any points he makes. This blog post by Alan Simpson does a good job of it, but a few quick snippets of solar's positives are:

• we could generate a third of the electricity we need from domestic roofs
• solar and wind complement each other very well
• the behaviour changes you get from those with PV on their roofs are very marked
• community or social housing schemes can really benefit the most vulnerable, including fuel poor
• It's still well worth putting PV on your roof with the 21p FiT, but community schemes need more

My understanding has also been much improved by the emphasis that it's not just the rate which is the problem with the government's tinkering, but having to have band C energy performance, which takes out about 90% of the housing in this country. That makes far less sense for generating electricity than for heat, but there's no connection with the Renewable Heat Incentive and efficiency.

We also spoke about new campaigns on biodiversity and greener products, but these campaigns are still in development and also had a session where we looked at lobbying MPs.

On a lighter note I also won some chocolate for the following pretty awful limerick - it was the only entry in the poetry competition:

Chris Huhne's sped away from DECC
Where he was always a pain in the neck
He tried to kill solar
And melt all the polar
Icecaps, but his plans were wrecked.

Joe Peacock

Highlights of 2011 part 2

This picture shows a couple of members of The Opera Group, with whom we collaborated on a project to take art out onto the streets and engage with people ahead of their performance at the CBSO concert hall of Seven Angels.

One of the great perks of volunteering for Birmingham Friends of the Earth is the opportunity to get a free ticket to a festival in return for working shifts on our property lockups. The money raised from this is the main reason we can afford to employ a member of staff working on campaigning for all the environmental changes we seek in Birmingham.

It may not be the most glamorous or fun part of campaigning, but responding to consultations is really essential to developing our reputation as a serious organisation whose views carry weight. As well as the core strategy, we have responded to various transport consultations, including on HS2 and aviation and the National Planning Policy Framework. Copies of these can be seen on our website.

The award that we got was largely for the work done by our Faith and Climate Change project, whose funding was unfortunately cut before we received this. There is work under way to develop an even bigger project building on the foundations created to do something across the whole region now.

We won photo of the year for this shot from last year's Santa Parade:

Richard made a totally original acceptance speech that I would love to see taken up by one of the winners at the Oscars next year!

Rossiter's and LOAF did us proud with the food and our volunteers cooked up a storm on the Barbecue for this annual fundraiser that also acts as an awareness-raising event for the benefits of organic food.

Over the summer, we took some time to pause on the active energy campaigning and have a look around the city at what is already happening in the city. We drew up 15 case studies and this information is now proving very useful as we battle cuts to renewable energy subsidies and support for our new campaigns.

In September, for In Town Without My Car Day, we did something practical this year. 5 "Bike Trains" converged on the centre of Birmingham with commuters heading to work. The atmosphere was great and we hope to have inspired a few people to repeat this in 2012. We'd like it to become a regular event to get people building up their confidence for cycling in Birmingham.

Of course, what made it the perfect start to the day was that after burning off all those calories cycling in to work, people were then given a free breakfast to give them the energy to get through to lunch courtesy of three lovely local independent coffee shops.

SusMo success! Church roof turns into power station.

We've been following the situation with solar panels on the roof of St Mary's church in Moseley with interest for some time, as this should be a great opportunity to show other churches what can be done with a real demonstrator project that benefits the local community and the cause of renewable energy as a whole.

SusMo has put in a huge amount of work to make this project a success. They won £30,000 from the Green Streets award for this part of the bid (the other money going to the Mosque and some residential properties). The project also had a further £20,000 lined up to meet the full cost, but that opportunity has now expired. SusMo are now actively seeking a replacement source of funding, and would be delighted to hear from people who can help them find it.

However, the important barrier of permission to install the solar panels has now been overcome. This result comes after a long and arduous campaign. The Planning Inspectorate overturned the decision of the Planning Committee, thereby granting planning permission, in September 2010. The Diocese of Birmingham had to follow a separate (and lengthy) process of evaluation before reaching their decision, but was eventually swayed by the sense and viability of the project.

John Dowell, the agent for St. Mary’s Moseley Parochial Church Council, expressed joy and relief at the Chancellor’s decision. “His decision backs the views of the churchgoers, Moseley residents, and members of the wider public who have written in support, rather than the objectors who wished to preserve the church building exactly as it was in 1910.” He added that it brought the Diocese of Birmingham in line with projects in other parts of the country‚ including London, Bath and Bristol‚ ensuring that the city is not left behind in its response to climate change and rising fuel prices.

SusMo Chair Claire Spencer echoed John’s sentiments. “This installation will ensure that St. Mary’s is less reliant on energy from fossil fuels, and makes a great deal of financial sense. Visually, it sends a wonderful, positive message ‚ the people of Moseley care deeply about its present, its future, and one another. But the process that we have been through with St. Mary’s has also set a precedent, making it easier for other churches to tap into renewable energy‚ and we look forward to their plans!”

SusMo would like to thank everyone who has supported them and St. Mary’s throughout this project‚ the good advice, letters of support and words of encouragement made all the difference.

Birmingham Friends of the Earth offers our congratulations and hopes that this will be the first of many similar schemes in the city.

Eco Dimension Day

Blog entries seem to be a little scarce of late, so I thought I'd do a quick report on an Eco Dimension Day I went along to on behalf of BFoE last week at Washwood Heath Technology College.

The Eco Dimension Day was the brainchild of Corinne Campbell, and the aim of the day was to raise awareness about environmental issues, such as recycling and sustainability, amongst the 11-13 year olds who attend the school. There were loads of activities lined up for the day, including re-using items to make clothes, cooking demonstrations and workshops, and animation classes. Before I arrived at the school I had no idea in which area Corinne wanted me to help out, and to be honest I was a little apprehensive, mainly as I didn't want to appear to not know my stuff in front of people half my age! After nervously sitting through an assembly (for the first time in about 10 years!), I was last to be assigned a task for the day. Luckily for me the group I was working with were looking at two of my favourite things: environmental issues and Lego. I was helping out a class who were given the difficult task of designing an "Eco Village".

The day kicked off with the students watching a few topical videos to get them thinking about what sort of ideas would need to be incorporated into the village to make it environmentally friendly and sustainable. They were then split into four groups and asked to brainstorm ideas for their village (on a side note, brainstorming these days is referred to as mind mapping, I'm so out of touch!). I was then asked to give a demonstration on renewable energy sources using a clever little model which incorporated wind, solar and hydroelectric power. It was then break time, and an exciting opportunity for me to see inside the staff room! Needless to say, once you're an adult the mysteries of the staff room are slightly less romantic than when I was a child. It in fact resembled the staff room of most places I've worked at, although they were giving out free tea, and by this point I was gasping.

After break, the students had until lunch time to design and make a model village out of Lego using the ideas they'd been discussing all morning. At first, most of the pupils set about making an ultimate village, with little regard for the environment, not believing their luck that they were allowed to play with Lego during school hours! After experiencing similar excitement, I thought I'd best interject and encourage them to think about practical issues, such as energy sources, food, farmland, and transport. Many of the pupils had areas set aside for wind farms and areas to grow fruit and vegetables. They also organised their village so everything was close by to reduce the need to use cars, and had various ideas to encourage cycling. Other ideas were not so green (one village had an enormous block of flats in the centre, possibly a first for a village?!), but the exercise certainly achieved its aim of getting the children to think about the way they live.

Next came lunch. I was unaware, but one of the perks of being a teacher is that you can push to the front of the line for a hot school dinner, so I was straight in with my healthy pizza and chips option to relive my school days further. The rest of the afternoon was taken up with an assembly where the pupils had the opportunity to display and talk about what they had been doing that day. All in all, the day was a huge success, and got everyone, both staff and students, thinking about environmental issues.

I was alarmed at how many of the students got a lift to school, even though some of them lived a mere ten minute walk away. In their defense, if offered a lift to school on a cold morning, I'm sure it's hard to refuse. However, this outlined to me that the onus lies on the parents in educating their children on the importance of being what is frequently termed "eco-friendly". The majority of the students had no idea why making short trips in a car was bad for the environment, and similarly why they should recycle and shouldn't be leaving electrical items on when not in use, to name but three. That's why this day was so important. Children need to be aware that their actions, however small, will make a difference, whether positively or negatively. So hopefully at the very least the pupils involved in the event will think about their actions and their lifestyle, as at the end of the day it will be them who will benefit from a green lifestyle in the future.

Switching to a “Green” Supplier

What is a Green Supplier?

A green energy supplier is an electricity supplier which sources the electricity they supply from a renewable source. At the moment, there are very few options for switching to a green supplier for gas. This is because the uptake of sources of renewable gas in the UK are so few and far between at present.

Consumers have been able to change our electricity supplier since the mid 1990s but still relatively few people choose to switch supplier despite the fact that by switching supplier, customers can choose to save money or make ethical choices about the energy they consume.

There are a number of suppliers with green credentials out there. Some of the biggest suppliers operate green tariffs which involve sourcing energy from renewable sources and a donation to a charity such as the National Trust. For details about different companies and tariffs available go to: www.greenelectricity.org. This site gives a comprehensive account of the sources of the electricity being sold different suppliers. You can also use this site to sign up to a new supplier but be sure to look at the individual company’s website first because this site earns referral fees from suppliers so you may pay a lower fee by going direct to the supplier.


Types of Renewable Energy

Suppliers operate by sourcing electricity from generators and selling it on to consumers at a profit. Your new green supplier could source all or some of its energy from renewables such as:

Wind
Hydroelectric
Waste incineration (this is still termed a “renewable” source of energy)

As the uptake of renewables increases, suppliers may be able to source electricity from tidal and wave power and off shore wind farms. However, sourcing from solar would be a more practical solution for individual households for the foreseeable future rather than electricity suppliers and until the production and subsequent improves, I think it will be extremely difficult for a consumer to source a 100% renewable heat supply from an energy supplier.

Some suppliers only source a proportion of their electricity from renewables and you will have to consider which tariff and which company appeals to you. Doing some research before switching is recommended! It is likely that you will not be able to avoid a supplier that buys some of its electricity from waste incineration generators.

You may also wish to consider the way a supplier makes use of ROCs. “ROC” stands for Renewables Obligation Certificate. All electricity suppliers have an obligation to supply a minimum percentage of the electricity they supply from renewable sources. If a supplier cannot or does not meet this requirement, they have to either:

buy ROCs from other organisations; or
pay a fee (which is comparatively more expensive than buying ROCs.

Renewable generators obtain income from ROCs which helps keep the price down for their customers (the suppliers) because renewable generation is more expensive than burning fossil fuels to generate electricity. Some suppliers choose to “retire” their ROCs instead of trading them with the generators. This means that there are fewer ROCs for suppliers to buy which in turn, creates an opportunity for increased investment in renewables. If you are thinking about switching, do consider what percentage of their ROCs your supplier sells and which proportion it keeps. Selling ROCs will generate income for your supplier which might (but only “might”) reduce the cost a bit for you. Buying electricity from a 100% renewable supplier is still likely to be a bit more expensive than buying from one of the “usual” suppliers. However, you can always use this as an incentive to use less energy when you make the switch!

How to make the switch

First, do your research! Get some quotes from suppliers. You can get a more accurate quote if you know roughly how much electricity you use per year or per quarter. When you are happy that you want to switch and have found a company that you want to switch to - then sign up!

It is usually possible to sign up online. You will need to complete various forms and it will take a couple of weeks (estimated) before you have switched supplier. Some suppliers will be able to talk you through the process over the phone and should be able to answer any questions that you may have.

Good luck!

Melanie Brookes