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Wednesday 11 December 2013

Cutting carbon 10% at a time | 10:10

Some good ideas from the 10:10 campaign group:
> business keen to develop a 'low-carbon economy'
> saving money by cutting energy use
> the 10:10 campaign for 'solar schools'
> some practical tips for keeping warm...


RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

OSBORNE: 'AMBITIOUS CARBON CUTTING HURTS BUSINESS!' ACTUAL BUSINESSES: 'AMBITIOUS CARBON TARGETS PLEASE!'

If you flick through the Times today, keep an eye out for this ad.
It's calling on the government to stick to our ambitious national carbon cutting targets, a portion of which are up for review next year.
We've joined a whole range of businesses and organisations in putting our name to this.
The tiny grey-on-grey text is hard to read at this size, so I've typed it out below, with a few annotations. Hover over the underlined text to read my explanation:

HOW WE CAN STOP HEATING GOING THROUGH THE ROOF

Tucked away in a new estate in Oldham, there's a couple of houses that are different from the rest. They look pretty unremarkable from the outside, but a glance at their energy bills tell a very different story.
These homes are build to the ultra efficient Passivhaus standard, which combines thick insulation with a clever heat-exchanger that circulates fresh air without letting the precious warmth escape.
With heating bills of around £20 a year, you can imagine what that means for their carbon footprint. The Guardian spoke to resident Justine Hutton, who's now a Passivhaus convert: "I Googled it but I was still sceptical. But it's great. There are no draughts and it's quiet. They should definitely build more like this."
Justine's home isn't the first of its kind (we wrote about Passivhaus back in 2010) but with energy bills back in the headlines, it's a timely reminder of what’s possible, and a perfect illustration of how muddled the whole debate has become.

CHRISTMAS PRESENTS THE LOW-CARBON WAY

Wouldn't you rather a trip to Glastonbury than thousands of pairs of socks for Christmas?
I don’t want to alarm you, but it’s less than three weeks till Christmas. You’ve probably already seen the lights on the high street, heard festive songs in shops and possibly been offered an early mince pie.
But unless you’re super organised, you probably haven’t sorted your Christmas presents yet.

WHY WE'RE NOT STRESSING ABOUT TODAY'S CLEAN ENERGY CUTS

Solar Schools: distinctly unflustured
If you've been following the news today, you might have caught a scary story about cuts to government support for wind and solar power.
The news has got a few people worried about what this means for their home solar panels and community energy projects like Solar Schools, and the good news is that these changes aren't nearly as bad as today's stories suggest.
Long story short, the government has spun the story to make a modest subsidy tweak look like a major attack on renewable energy, presumably to get the anti renewables lobby off their backs. 
Here's a couple of key points that have mostly been missed in the media reports:

FIVE MORE TRICKS TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR HEATING

So, you’ve mastered the central heating timer and stopped the sofa from blocking the radiator. Still wearing ski gloves in the living room? Let’s take this to the next level!
These heating tips are a bit more advanced than the last lot, but they're still cheaper and easier than insulating. And you’ll definitely notice the difference!








































































































































































Cutting carbon 10% at a time | 10:10
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