🧵🌞 It’s a huge day for community energy. Our statement on the Local Power Plan:
"We're delighted to see the long-awaited Local Power Plan launch. The Plan’s landmark commitment of £1bn to support 1000+ local & community energy projects has the potential to drive community ownership like never before
We'll be sharing more of our findings on this soon, but for now, thanks to @neonuk.bsky.social for the clip!
We are working to understand+address structural, organisational & delivery factors which Stop ss seeing this potential thru govt-funded social housing retrofit - e.g: the way government funding is structured, culture around working with tenants, and impact of lack of trust between tenants+landlords.
In addition, at @carbon.coop we feel that understanding and valuing the social factors shaping how retrofit is being delivered and experienced will be critical if this investment is going to realise its full potential.
Making sure this money being spent by government is directed towards the places and communities that need it will be critical if it's going to achieve the outcomes we want to see.
While there were some big ticket announcements (like the £14.2bn for Sizewell C and £8.3bn for GB Energy), the one that stood out for me as something that can make a tangible difference, comparatively quickly, to peoples' lives was the £13.2bn Warm Homes Plan.
It was great to get the chance to speak across thirteen regional BBC radio shows on Monday about the spending review and what it means for the world of housing and energy!🧵
#spendingreview #warmhomesplan #retrofit #netzero
A few bits and pieces we've written/I've weighed in on with this type of thing:
www.landcommission.gov.scot/news-events/...
cc-site-media.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024...
On both a practical and a political level, taking this seriously and really putting in place mechanisms to involve people both in decision-making and benefitting from new infrastructure is going to be vital if we're going to a) be successful, and b) avoid a reactionary shift to anti-green politics.
More concerning is the fact that this is becoming another culture war battleground. Reform are weighing in on the discussion about pylons, and we're seeing in other countries how state-led climate action is on the receiving end of "greenlash".
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Not to say there aren't sometimes other factors at play. But to move at the pace and scale required to deliver the energy transition and become a "Clean Energy Superpower", Westminster can't underestimate the need to bring people with them.
The reality is, people really care about where they live and the landscapes they're connected to. New infrastructure, whether it's beneficial or not, can be very poorly received because people don't have a say over what is happening to the places they call home.
I wish I wasn't able to say "I saw this coming", but...
So so much to take from our work at Carbon Co-op and previous experience at CLES re: the need for people to be involved in shaping the energy system to avoid this type of clash. 🧵
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Our first panel of our the day was a fascinating discussion of the challenges in encouraging households to engage with retrofit. Thanks so much to Alastair Mumford, Eleanor Radcliffe, David Farmer and Colin Timmins. #FuelPovertyConf
Great to speak about our work at the @nea-ukcharity.bsky.social Conference today in Liverpool alongside other brilliant panellists. An excellent event and lots of brilliant conversations!
Eleanor Radcliffe, Project Manager at @carbon.coop stresses the importance of people-centred approaches to retrofit schemes. Their Retrofit for All project includes a co-creation phase where the pain points for households are identified. #FuelPovertyConf
I’ve got a brand new @nestauk.bsky.social blog up.
Should we try splitting the heat pump journey into two stages, with two different grants: one to get “heat pump ready”, one to fit the actual heat pump?
www.nesta.org.uk/blog/getting...
“Community energy is a nice-to-have for leafy middle class villages!” I hear you cry.
Once upon a time maybe, but not today.
Community energy groups do immense work for a just transition. In this blog, I outline the opportunity and how it can be unlocked at scale: www.regen.co.uk/community-en...
Shell is doubling down on new oil and gas. This JV involves the extraction and sale of resources that are incompatible with 1.5C, which the market doesn't need, and which won't make UK energy any cheaper or more secure
These companies need regulating to extinction
www.ft.com/content/f6b0...
All digits and limbs crossed for the former and 100% for the latter.
Dead interested to hear what's happening on the delivery end for you guys and to compare notes. Hopefully we can catch a minute some time to chat about it!
"Legalising & moralising nature are not enough to resolve the accelerating climate, biodiversity & environmental crises of the present ... a social answer [is required]."
@cominsitu.bsky.social on socialising nature. 🔗⬇️
break-down.org/post/sociali...
Don't mistake deindustrialisation for emissions reduction.
This chart tells a huge story of our times: we closed down our coal mines, steelworks and factories only to import products from abroad as well. We're still consuming the C02 even if we aren't producing it.
But as always, ownership and wealth need to be understood as one and the same imo within the context of the energy system. The size of the prize is massive. Great to hear Jess talking about the way ownership feels and IS different for communities. More of this!
Interesting to think about the crossover of community benefit funds/participatory grantmaking/community-led economic development approaches here too - how can people who can't/don't invest directly but are within a locality make sure the £ benefits deliver for them/their places.
Question of finance is really interesting - how we make debt cheap and make shared ownership a good opportunity. Local Energy Scotland are always on it 💪
Good mention of engagement and the role of local community groups in enabling engagement with local people, but this FUNDAMENTALLY requires sufficient resourcing and needs to be done WELL. Otherwise can cause more harm than good.
In addition, while there's a commitment to this with GB Energy, surely we could be more ambitious? Look at Denmark or Germany - to ensure the benefits are driven back into our localities and this is hardwired into the energy system do we need something like their Renewable Energy Acts?
I think it's really interesting to look at the question of shared ownership in the context of what we've seen work/not work elsewhere. Comparable to housing development? Where has there been good work to shift housing into community ownership? CLTs etc? What are the pitfalls?
Interesting to hear from Harry about perspective of developers - challenge of marrying timeframes communities working under vs big commercial project. Some solutions = MoUs at the right time, public commitment to the relationship, community ownership once the infrastructure is operational.
