February 13, 2010 16:37 by
dereksThis is my second Transition Ashtead report, this time on the Home Energy group. We have just applied for funding from Surrey County Council’s new climate change fund to carry out a programme of activities designed to reduce carbon emissions from Ashtead’s houses. The following description of our plan is copied straight from our fund application.
1. We aim to carry out a programme of planned activities over one year to promote the importance of reducing domestic energy consumption and carbon emissions to Ashtead residents. The plan is to have three events – the first in early April to initiate interest (speaker + some home energy efficiency equipment demonstrations), the second in June as a main event to have speakers and workshop/exhibitions on relevant locally available technology. The third is to have a speaker and equipment display on home renewable energy options.
2. We aim to set up a library of locally available energy efficiency equipment – some to show and some to loan e.g. draught meters, LED and low energy light bulbs, power meters so people can see and try them out.
3. Get a small number of people trained in (a) draught proofing methodologies so they can train others to create a pool of people who can do this and (b) advising people on the grants available for domestic carbon reduction work and if necessary helping people complete the grant application forms. We plan to carry this out as part of the Ashtead churches Act10n initiative in 8-12 July, and so the main beneficiaries should be needy and vulnerable people.
4. Research local suppliers of energy efficiency and renewable energy suppliers and identify those with real expertise and good reputations and create a preferred supplier list or get them added to the approved trade lists such as Checkatrade
If anyone is interested in learning more about any of these activities you can ring me on 01372-378914 or email info@ transitionashtead.org.uk
Derek Smith
When Cuba lost access to Soviet oil in the early 1990s, the country faced an immediate crisis — feeding the population, and an ongoing challenge: how to create a new, low-energy society. Cuba transitioned from large, fossil-fuel intensive farming to small, less energy intensive organic farms and urban gardens, and from a highly industrial society to a more sustainable one.
The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil tells the story of the Cuban people’s hardship, ingenuity and triumph over sudden adversity — through cooperation, conservation and community, told in their own words. As the world approaches Peak Oil, Cuba provides a valuable example of how to successfully address the challenge of reducing our energy use.
“Everyone who is concerned about Peak Oil needs to see this film. Cuba survived an energy famine during the 1990s, and how it did so constitutes one of the most important and hopeful stories of the past few decades. It is a story not just of individual achievement, but of the collective mobilization of an entire society to meet an enormous challenge.” – Richard Heinberg, author of The Party's Over and Powerdown
Transition Bookham is intending to screen this film as part of it's launch event. Date, time and venue to be announced soon.
Zap your leaks
We have been lending out energy monitors for some time, and now the Green Mole Forum can lend you a thermal leak detector.
This nifty gadget makes it easy to check your home's energy efficiency by finding places that let heat out or cold air in.
As you scan it around it shines a light on the surface your are measuring - green, blue, or red.
Simply set the detector's temperature tolerances to one, five, or 10 degrees farenheit (or 0.5, 3, or 5.5 celsius) and scan the light across the area you want to inspect. As well as displaying the temperature of the surface you aim it at, the light will change to red for warmer spots and blue for cooler spots to detect air leaks in both warm and cool weather.
Cut Energy Bills and Improve Your Home's Efficiency
Sealing the leaks and improving insulation in your home can help you save as much as 20 percent on your heating and cooling bills. An efficient, greener home will stay cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Use the Thermal Leak Detector to check your refrigerator and freezer temperatures and efficiency.
If you would like to borrow it for a week or two contact us or send an email to ask to be added to the waiting list. Happy hunting!
On the morning of 
Saturday 16th the Green Mole Forum was present at Bookham Vision's Volunteers fair.
It was an event to enable the many people who ticked the box in the village plan survey indicating they were interested in volunteering to meet groups they might be able to help.
More than 100 people who filled in the survey also indicated they would be interested in joining a Transition Towns initiative for Bookham - Transition Bookham - an initiative which the Green Mole Forum is helping to support. Not sure what the Transition Town initiative is about? Then click here. The Green Mole Forum has already helped Transition Dorking and Transition Ashtead get going. With your help we can start Transition Bookham and make it a success.
What you can do if you are interested in taking part:
And we will let you know. For more articles on Transition initiatives click here.
We also had a great response to our Energy Monitor scheme. What's this? Simply: we can lend you whole-house energy monitors to help you easily identify where you can save money by not accidentally leaving energy-sapping appliances turned on.
December 31, 2009 16:43 by
anneb
It's much more fun trying to reduce your carbon footprint in company with others and having some sort of target to aim for. So to help encourage Mole Valley residents to cut their carbon we are inviting Mole Valley residents and their Councillors to take part in a 2010 footprint challenge, to see who can achieve the lowest carbon footprint - a resident or a councillor!
The contest is based on your individual household energy use, car use and airmiles during 2010 and your footprint is very easily calculated using www.thecarbonaccount.com. The Green Mole Forum will present a small award to the winner. If you saw the article in the local press about the green granny with a zero footprint - don't think its not worth you entering as the green granny won't be so green in 2010 - she's flying to California to visit her son!
If you want to take part in this challenge contact us here or telephone 01372 456421.
Over 50,000 people, including members of The GMF, attended The Wave this Saturday (5th December 2009), with Climate Marches being held in London, Glasgow and Belfast.
Such was the turnout that even the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, ended up inviting 24 supporters to 10 Downing Street afterwards, to hear their concerns.
The BBC will be broadcasting 'The Age of Stupid' either before or during Copenhagen (the opening day of Cop15 is Monday 7th December), so make sure you, your family, friends and neighbours all see it!
“In my opinion our use or misuse of resources the last 100 years or so, I’d probably rename that age, something like The Age of Ignorance, The Age of Stupid.” - Alvin DuVernay (Shell paleontologist and hero of Hurricane Katrina)
Firstly, RIGHT NOW!, sign the UN Climate Petition, which will be handed to delegates at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, and secondly go and watch the movie 'The Age of Stupid', if you haven't done so already!
Having seen the film at Croydon's Eco Veggie Fayre, I'm now on a mission to get EVERYONE to see it! It just makes so much sense! If you haven't seen it and can't find it 'locally' (low 'movie miles' please!), email me richardm@greenmoleforum.org with the subject line 'The Age of Stupid'... once I've got enough interest I'll try to arrange a screening in Leatherhead or Dorking.
October 21, 2009 15:51 by
dereksGreen Mole Forum has decided to form a group to look at the possibilities for installing anaerobic digestion (AD) plants in Mole Valley.
AD is a well established process for handing sewage, farm wastes, food wastes or combinations of these feedstocks to produce biogas and a solid residue that is a valuable soil fertiliser. AD keeps organic waste out of landfill, and cuts greenhouse gas emissions. AD plants vary from the very large (one AD plant handles all Stockholm’s sewage and food wastes for example) to plants the size of a large table. There are still not many AD plants in the UK, despite government support for them. The introduction of feed-in tariffs will give a big boost to all renewable energy technologies in the UK including AD.
A small AD plant is already being seriously considered in Headley to run on a mixture of horse manure and sewage. Local famers recognise the benefits of having an AD plant on farm land. Our new group intends to build on this existing local support, gather information, seek advice from experts, and come up with the most promising AD projects. If you would like to be part of this group or find out more, please send us an email using the ‘Contact us’ button on the website, or give me a ring on 01372-378914.
Derek Smith
One easy way to make your lifestyle more planet-friendly is to reduce your electricity consumption. The Green Mole Forum can help make this simple – just borrow a monitor pack and you can find out how to cut your electricity bill, with very little effort on your part. The monitors are also available through local libraries but, as they have long waiting lists, we're offering this alternative, along with some technical help, if you need it.
Each pack contains a pair of ingenious monitors – one that allows you to see how much electricity your whole house is using (and what this is costing) and another to see how much energy an individual appliance consumes at any given moment (useful to check out standby current) or over a period of time.
The monitors encourage getting into the habit of switching things off, especially last thing at night or when going out, the challenge being to get consumption to as near zero as possible. They also show which appliances are greedy guzzlers of electricity (freezers, tumble driers, irons, kettles, electric heaters) and which are relatively innocent (like a portable radio). And interesting things like, how much you save by boiling just enough water for a cup of tea, instead of a kettle full!
For a £20 refundable deposit you can borrow them for a fortnight. Call Anne Brewer (Bookham) on 01372 456421 or Derek Smith (Leatherhead) on 01372 378914 for more details or contact us to ask to be added to the waiting list.