Recent Blog Posts

Solar Panels Help Ambulances Save Lives

Lima Curtis — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:10:30 +0000

SOLAR panels are helping ambulances save lives by giving life-saving equipment vital extra power.

About 36 of the rapid response unit vehicles of the South Central Ambulance Service Trust, which covers Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Hampshire will have the PV panels installed to help run defibrillators, sirens, radio systems, GPS and lights.

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Water Company Invests In Solar Sewers

Lima Curtis — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:44:39 +0000

A WATER company in the South West of England has announced it will use solar energy to power even more of its sewers.

Last year, South West Water generated more than one million kilowatt hours of solar energy, helping to power 23 water and sewage treatment works in Devon and Cornwall.

It has now finished installing even more photovoltaic (PV) panels at seven of its sites in Devon and laid edge to edge they would cover a staggering 46 tennis courts.

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Paul Bright's GBH at Sustainability Live

David Thomas — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:31:59 +0000

THIS MAN is Paul Bright, sketched amidst my notes for his afternoon session on The Green Build Hub: A Living Laboratory.

Paul is from the Cornwall Sustainable Building Trust (CSBT) and believes the world must shift to a renewable economy and, naturally, that Cornwall is the sustainable heart of the UK even though it’s way down there at our island’s toetip.

• Cornwall’s sustainability credentials:

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Solar Panels to Halt Malaria in Kenya

Lima Curtis — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:50:52 +0000

A KENYAN island is installing solar PV panels in a bid to stop its inhabitants from catching malaria.

More than 4,000 solar panels are in the process of being installed in order to power insecticide-free mosquito traps.

Malaria, which kills 1.2 million people every year, is a big problem for the 30,000 people who live in Rusinga Island, which is situated in the eastern part of Lake Victoria.

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EcoExperts Welcome N.Ireland's Solar Panel Planning Permission Repeal

Lima Curtis — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:58:41 +0000

RENEWABLE energy specialist, The EcoExperts, has welcomed Northern Ireland’s decision to make installing solar panels easier.

Owners of schools, businesses and farm buildings in Northern Ireland will no longer need to get planning permission if they wish to install solar PV panels on their properties.

The move comes into force today (April 30) and will apply to both photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal installations.

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Fresh Back From Sustainability Live

David Thomas — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:18:18 +0000

SUSTAINABILITY LIVE is an annual event and like the sustainability industry itself it has grown steadily each year. The industry comprises many specialist technologies and methodologies, and expos are the best place to learn more, I find.

I attended the first day of the expo. It took up two halls in the Birmingham NEC and is a combination of three separate sustainability events:

NEMEX Energy Live – New Energy Management Excellence

EfW Expo – Energy from Waste

IWEX Water - Water sustainability

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Energy Policy At Sustainability Live

David Thomas — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 13:46:08 +0000

THE OPENING session in Energy Theatre 1 was on Energy Policy. The subject matter was technical and more relevant to people in industry than to customers, unless they take a special interest in policy.

Here are my notes. I’ve tried to explain the complicated bits and provide links wherever necessary.

Click below to skip to the section you want to read.

Chair – Andrew Warren, Association for Conservation of Energy (ACE)

Speaking about consequential improvement and his problem with Eric Pickles.

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Interview with the Engineers trying to Avoid Mass Extinction

David Thomas — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:56:53 +0000

Introducing amee

There’s a tech company out there that is trying to save life on Earth. amee’s mission is to track and map environmental data for every business in the world and create a platform for organisations of all sizes to assess, report and compare their own environmental performance with their peers. The team is full of PhDs (20%!), engineers, developers and communicators.

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Historic Yorkshire Racecourse Spends Thousands on Solar

Lima Curtis — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:18:06 +0000

A RACECOURSE in the North of England has spent £75,000 on more than 200 solar panels on the grandstand roof.

The 300 year old Beverley Racecourse, in Yorkshire, will now produce 50kW of renewable energy from the panels, cutting down dramatically the carbon footprint of the establishment.

The solar installation will also generate more than £5,000 a year as well as making huge savings to the racecourse’s energy bills.

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Millions of Australians now Benefit from Solar Energy

Lima Curtis — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:05:20 +0000

MORE than two million Australians are now getting cheaper power and saving some half a billion dollars a year on their electricity bills, because of their switch to solar energy.

The number of Australian homes with solar power systems has passed the one million mark, according to figures from the Clean Energy Regulator that confirm the milestone was reached in March.

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