All posts by sophialouisecox

Energy

Green Energy

The news has been full of outrage about recent raises in energy prices, with the ‘Big Six’ suppliers hiking their prices by between 8-11%, just as the winter heating season starts.

As usual, there’s been a lot of dis-information in the media, an in particular ‘green taxes’ are getting the blame: of course this is a gross distortion of the truth.

Dual Fuel Breakdown
Source: OFGEM

The so-called ‘green taxes’, which include energy efficiency measures for the poorest households, as well as incentives to help encourage renewable technologies, make up less than 9% of the typical fuel bill rise since 2004, and just £10 of the overall rise in energy bills in 2013.

Most of the £520 rise in fuel bills since 2004 is actually due to the increase in whole-sale gas prices, because gas is used both to heat most homes, and to generate electricity. Remember that ‘peak oil’ thing? Yeah, that.

In fact, this year’s relatively large energy price rises are just the beginning of what will happen if we don’t move away from fossil fuels, and towards more renewables; remember that once you build a wind-turbine, your fuel is free, for ever, whereas for gas and other fossil fuels (and nuclear), building the power station is just part of the cost of producing energy, and fuel costs are out of your control.

Add to this the externalities of fossil fuels, such as the so-called Death Print (e.g. the 170,000 deaths per trillion kWh for coal), and it’s clear that the small fraction of ‘green taxes’ is worth paying.

Ealing Transition has entered into partnership with Good Energy, a green energy supplier whose electricity comes from certified renewables like sunshine, wind and rain. They’re not only developing new wind and solar farms across the country, they also support a growing community of over 52,000 independent renewable generators across the country, who are making the most of the natural elements around them. And they’re normally cheaper than the Big Six’s standard tariffs. Switch to Good Energy with Ealing Transition, and they’ll pay £25 to us, helping us continue our work .

Energy, Film

Inspired into Action!

Anna came along to our showing of 350.org’s film “Do the Math” in July, and this is what happened next…

How we can really make change come about?

Margaret Mead’s words, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has” inspire me. They are the kind of phrase I would happily post on my Facebook page. Whilst the sentiment is definitely there, perhaps action was lacking – a little disconnect between wanting and being willing to actually do something concrete to make my life in the city, on our one shared earth, a more sustainable one.

I attended Ealing Transition’s film night and enjoyed a 40 min film called ‘Do the Math’ which Trevor introduced and we followed by small group discussions. Being here, seeing the film and talking to like–minded people inspired me to make a change.

Whilst the film examined ideas of ‘divesting’ and asking your college/church/bank about its investments, were they linked to oil companies, or fossil fuel destroying companies, and if so to move away from these investments. I wondered who or how I could ask about such things. I didn’t think I invested in oil companies. Do be honest I felt a little removed and powerless to affect things.

I asked my neighbour, and fellow gardener at the Community Garden, what real change we could affect on a small, local, individual family level.

“Well” he quickly responded “Who do you bank with? Who supplies the energy to your home?”

Very good starting places. I don’t need to be part of an activist group to not give money to British Gas anymore! The following week, my husband and I looked into 100% renewable energy companies like Ecotricity and Good Energy.

They are out there, fully professional, friendly energy companies who are run by business people who don’t want to damage the earth, but make a successful passage, treading lightly and supplying energy to an electricity dependant society.

We decided to switch supplier and not only that. The film made me think about how the power of the pocket is really a very direct way to approach positive change ‘Voting with your pocket’. It’s the language all the oil companies understand, indeed the only language.

We had a ‘solar project’ written on our vision board for 2013 and the impetus was finally here. I came across a marketing card in the garden centre which led to a sales man calling from The Big Green company and measuring our home up. A week later we have 10 solar panels on the roof. The 2.5kw power station, our very own, will be used by us, for free, during the day, and excess sent back to (sold back to I may add with the Feed In Tariff government initiative) a 100% renewable energy company.

panelsIt feels good. I feel connected to my values in doing this.

So moving from the vast opening statement about a small group of people changing the world, I will end on the note form Mother Teresa:

“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop. The ocean is made of many drops.”