Ref Denmark. Cycling video CLICK HERE from youtube and this document from Sustrans might be interesting read too. BikeBelles

People interested in wind turbines can visit our Energy Showcase on May the 8th. Just a few turbines sited near-by could generate a lot of energy and also an income for the town of over £150k per turbine. Contemplate that.

excellent links John. I'll add them to our website.

On toilets, I think we need to look seriously at separating the solids from liquids at source and not mixing them at home and spending £m's separating them again at the other end. Those phosphates in urine are perfect and I've read somewhere recently that they are even profitable !

One small comment on the heating Dorte. it is most definitely not right to leave the heating on all the time but on low. Boilers these days are most efficient when they are worked hard and constantly. Not tripping in and out to trickle heat a space you are not in.
If you have a ground source heat pump or underfloor heating then that's a different matter as the primary objective is constant low grade heat into a large thermal mass. Cold poorly insulated homes with radiators heated by a gas boiler should be run through a timer where the heating is only on when you need it, with perhaps a little pre-heat time before you get up or arrive back from work, but no more.
Some boilers have frost thermostats which sense if the temp gets too cold and boost the heating and I'd recommend that to avoid burst pipes, but no. Don't leave it on all the time.

As for the chocolate. At least that's better than the flowers which consume vast amounts of water and heat to force grow, many of them are imported from Holland or Africa.
Stick to fairtrade if you are un-sure, and make sure you share them with friends :-)

On the Veg box, transport is a small percentage of the CO2 emissions on food, at least from field to shelf. Some of the largest CO2 impacts from food transport are actually you driving the 1 or 2 miles to the shop to collect them. Lorries delivering large volumes of food are reasonably efficient but neither are as good as LOCAL. ie right from your back garden or local farmer if you can convince them to grow for you, there's also the water issue, that if you are picking lots of fruit and veg from a country that has scarce water resources then you'll be creating a problem there too. So Aim Local, Aim Organic to reduce the Fertilizer impacts on the soil and it releasing the Nitrates back into the atmosphere, and go for seasonal as a priority to encourage it to be local.

Interesting Dilemmas.
Anyone else care to comment or dis-agree ? Clearly there's a lot of tough choices to be made, but at least you are making them and learning as part of the process. Far better than to purchase blind without a care on the environment or labour issues in 3rd world countries, or pollution etc.

Dorte that made me laugh and sorry for that weak moment.
I guess all the power companies are struggling to find ways to help us and one had their fingers rapped for sending out light bulbs the other month just to meet target deadlines
one big issue is that this is cheap advertising
this company in this case are getting more from brand recognition than co2 savings so we should be wary of schools taking the easy option when there's plenty of free teachers packs that do the same thing with no marketing element.
well done for helping the kids to plot energy consumption as that helps them connect and the staff too. I do this for low port Eco committee too.

See here.

http://www.westlothian.gov.uk/media/downloaddoc/1799465/lcp/2020_Engagement

Hmm... Not a hind of sustainable planning anywhere.

I live in a 1930's brick built bungalow, close to the coast where we recieve a fair amount of wind driven rain and was recently advised by an installer that I could have CWI. Concerned about the after effects of filling the cavity I have found this on the internet.

http://www.askjeff.co.uk/cavity.html

The survey, which was provided by my power company, did not look at the type of mortar or the type of metal wall ties in the wall. I suspect they would be using mineral wool for the insulation which according to the above site is unsuitable in my location.

Whilst the survey was provided via my power company it is part of the wider government scheme and I am concerned that people are being given bad advice.

If anyone has any thoughts on this I would be interested to hear them as it is difficult to find unbiased information.

Good points..

You can also alter the finances by making your own turbine. Thus lowering the cost
to make/build, and ignore the grid connection. Just go off-grid and be free of power
companies. [Dream on].

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2008/may/19/wind.powered.com...

Right now, our renewables sub group think that there's more chance for a hydro scheme like the one at http://www.h2ope.org.uk/ - For several reasons.

1. Consistency of power from rivers compared to wind.
2. Lower chance that the NIMBY's will object to big thing on a hill !..
3. Cheaper and simpler to install.

Of course this is all just a theory at this stage. We also would like to consider heating community buildings around the loch using a water source heat pump. but again, the issues with impacting loch pond-life would need considered.

There's also CHP from waste etc.. another idea to start building small local CHP's near homes. But that will struggle with local objections / planning / etc...

Our aim is to employ consultants through SCHRI funding, to do studies / analysis on several projects for the town, then to present all of these to the public to get their thoughts. We need local support before starting such a big project.

One area of potential with the hydro plant, is to link in with the Battle of Linlithgow Bridge pathway plans, and to make bigger loop with canal/falkirk wheel etc, and then we have a loop of interest to cycle and walk around. People could visit the hydro plant and learn of it's benefits. Challenges are : 2x Councils, Historic issues, and local grid feeds and also more importantly, local buildings to power, as the grant system is screwed up and you get different grant rates for community projects vs domestic ones.

Wind, I agree the local hills will be prefect for some turbines, but we need to engage the land owners. I know some of them, so will open discussions. With WLC's 2020 vision planning for 20% increases in population, we need to pressure the council in it's next planning docs to provide space for wind and other renewables.

Dr Maitland Mackie (Mr ice-cream) has a good vision for farmers and land-owners to cash in for wind power, and why not...... See below.

http://www.energyhelpline.com/news/article.aspx?aaid=18781369&y=2008&m=9...

Watch this space.