Energy

Energy use and the related emissions come from many sources. Making steel, making concrete. Growing food, processing food, storing food, moving food. Making stuff, making packaging, packing stuff, moving stuff, keeping stuff. Powering the world’s data centres. Keeping the house / workplace warm, keeping it cool. Walking, cycling, driving, taking a flight. Collecting waste & recycling, treating waste & recycling. Cleaning fresh water, dealing with waste water and sewage. Digging tunnels, making roads. Making cars, dealing with waste cars.

All these require some kind of energy, all have carbon implications.

We ran out of space but you get the picture. What bigger changes and energy choices can we make and how can we work together on those bigger projects to produce low emissions energy? (Remember your biggest sphere of influence is usually your home and travel / transport – so check out those sections here too).

We can choose to buy electricity (and some gas) from renewable sources (see Buildings). However, we can also get involved in electricity generation (often through solar PV) on our buildings or local sites. When a home, school, farm, office, factory, hospital is powered by on-site or local solar or wind power, the electricity is low carbon. In addition, it’s also local, meaning that no money is leaving the area to pay for power generated elsewhere.

Having locally generated electricity (and there are some heat initiatives too) is open to all, through community energy schemes. Here local people can invest even a small amount in a community-owned scheme. Therefore such schemes are another way of people coming together to strengthen connections and create more resilient communities.

Simply having an awareness of the energy that has gone into refining, processing, manufacturing or transporting all those things that we buy can affect our choices.

Everything has so-called ’embodied’ energy, which is often unseen and is likely to have come from fossil fuels.

For a business, an energy audit will reveal ways that energy is being embodied in what is being produced, and how manufacturing and business processes, and transport, can be modified to use less energy.

Above all, the most direct contact most of us have with energy choices is in choosing the supply of energy for our homes and for transport.

Keep Herefordshire Warm is a great source of locally focused information about energy efficiency and grant funding support.

There are inspirational examples of established local community energy projects around the county. For more information see: Sharenergy and Pomona Solar.

From September 2020 households in Herefordshire are eligible for Government funding towards installing energy efficiency measures such as insulation, low emissions heating, draught proofing, glazing, energy efficient doors and heating controls. Most households will be eligible for support with two thirds of the cost up to £5k, with those in receipt of certain benefits eligible for all of the cost up to £10k. Click here for more details.