Category Archives: Energy

Energy, Film

Gasland 2

On Sunday 16th March at 7.30pm we are showing GASLAND 2, the explosive follow-up to Josh Fox’s Oscar-nominated film about hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’), the controversial method of extracting natural gas and oil, now being carried out in 32 countries worldwide including the UK.

Gasland2Graphics

GASLAND 2 shows how the stakes have been raised on all sides in one of the most important environmental issues facing the planet. The film argues that the gas industry’s portrayal of natural gas as a clean and safe alternative to oil is a myth and that fracked wells inevitably leak over time, contaminating water and air, hurting families, and endangering the earth’s climate with the potent greenhouse gas, methane. In addition the film looks at how the powerful oil and gas industries are, in his words, “contaminating our democracy”.

With the UK government solidly behind the development of the fossil fuel shale gas industry, there has never been a more urgent need to make the case for clean, green energy.

Do join us for this important film, which has only just gone on general release in the UK. You can watch the trailer at http://www.gaslandthemovie.com

There will be the usual hot drinks, cakes and discussion afterwards, and an opportunity to talk about the various initiatives we have running including changing your electricity supplier, and energy efficiency measures from DIY secondary glazing to ‘passive house’ retrofit.

As ever the event takes place at St Mary’s Church, St Mary’s Road Ealing W5 5RH. Entry is free but we will ask for donations to help us cover the cost of staging the event.

Community, Energy, Events, Sustainable Living

Follow-up to popular Secondary Glazing Workshop, 23 Feb

It was a packed house on a January Saturday afternoon in Hanwell, for a hands-on session installing secondary glazing panes to shut out the draughts and the cold.

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What is secondary glazing? For those of us who can’t afford double glazing, our version of secondary glazing uses acrylic panes fixed with magnetic strips.

Secondary glazing is suitable for older homes and doing it ourselves keeps costs down to between £100 and £150 for a set of bay windows. We learned through sustainability groups in North London that 3.3 mm thick acrylic panes fixed with magnetic strips are the most practical solution.

Window frames have to be sanded to make a rough surface on which the magnetic strips stick. The acrylic panes are cut to size at the factory and fit inside the frame snugly. Once the preparation had been done ahead of time, our gung-ho workshop participants helped cut the magnetic strips, stick them down onto the window frame and insert the acrylic pane. The panes can easily be removed any time.

IMG_0721The rooms with the fitted acrylic panes already feel warmer. This idea should help relieve some of the dire fuel poverty in Ealing, or at least save us some cash and reduce carbon emissions.

In the meantime, and to reduce costs further, we’ll soon be placing a bulk order for the material for the next installations.

The next workshop will be held in Hanwell, W7 on Sunday 23 February, at 2 pm; please contact Andrea if you are interested in taking part, or would like to know more about this energy-saving technique.

Building, Energy, Sustainable Living

Transition Homes

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Ealing Transition member Dora has started a fabulous blog  “West London Transition Homes” where she aims to collect and collate information helpful to those wanting to radically upgrade the energy efficiency of their homes, and has started with some great posts about the Varszegi family’s PassivHaus retrofit of their own ex-local authority 1930s semi in South Ealing.

The Varszegi’s now use 90% less gas than before the refit, and haven’t used the central heating for 18 months, but their home is a constant and comfortable 22°C! It’s almost certainly the most energy efficient home in West London.

See this month’s Ealing Council “Around Ealing” article for an interview with Dora, and visit the “West London Transition Homes” blog for more information.