Energy Saving News
Brecon Beacons Win Energy Saving Grant
A £1m prize has been won by a community group in the Brecon Beacons for measures to tackle climate change.
The Green Valleys Project, 'Technology and the Arts Big Challenge', based in the Brecon Beacons, has cut CO2 emissions in the National Park by up to 33% in 2009 and has now won £300,000 in the National Endowment for Science.
The challenge encourages communities to reduce their carbon emissions through measures including free energy surveys for homes and developing small-scale renewable energy schemes.
Ken Cheyne, Council Member of the Energy Saving Association (ESA), is thrilled to hear about such encouraging projects: "Saving energy is so beneficial for the environment, to preserve the planet's resources, and also financially! The Green Valleys projects have set a fantastic example to follow!"
Green Valleys, which aims to make the Beacons a net exporter of energy through community renewable projects, achieved a 20% cut in emissions across 155 homes and 4 public buildings.
All profit made from selling green energy will be reinvested into low carbon projects, some of which include electric bikes and community woodlands, and the organisation also plans to support a hydroelectric scheme intended to generate 80% of the energy needed by the local community.
Grenville Ham, founder of Green Valleys and officer for Brecon Beacons National Park Authority expressed his excitement about the project winning the grant:
“The most important thing is that the people in the Brecon Beacons believed in themselves; they knew they could do it and be successful,” he said.
“We hope to work together with the other parks of Wales and learn from each other. This year is going to be all about setting up and running hydro schemes. And we will be using the revenue to create more of them, while investing in other technologies such as the use of timber from community-managed woodlands, solar energy and community-owned super efficient vehicles.”
He added that the project’s hydro-electric schemes aim to generate clean energy from streams and rivers into usable electrical energy, which is then sold back to the National Grid.
“In 2025 we hope the Green Valleys will realise its long term ambition of the Brecon Beacons becoming carbon negative," he concluded.
The director of Green Valleys, Mr. Chris Blake, coments: “All our members are volunteers from communities around the National Park. Carbon saving works on so many levels – it works to alleviate some of the factors of climate change, it introduces a number of community benefits, from bringing people together to achieve a common aim, to providing the funding to improve facilities, and it has the capacity to save people money on their energy bills.
“We think our approach is one with many merits and one which can easily be reproduced anywhere in the country.”
Thursday 14th January 2010
