Category Archives: Practical low carbon living

A Community benefit society and fuel poverty

I read in yesterday’s Observer newspaper that a community benefit society is being set up in Scotland to provide cheap energy to households in fuel poverty.  Unlike a COOP a community benefit society is set up to benefit the wider … Continue reading

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One thing we have learnt this week – foraging

Is it going to be a good year for foraging?  Last week I went on the train to a family funeral shortly after going on holiday. What’s interesting is going to different parts of the country to see how agriculture … Continue reading

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Grid capacity restrictions hit solar

As a community energy scheme opened in Bristol last week there could be problems getting other such schemes off the ground due to grid capacity restrictions.   This is very much the case in SW England and Wales.  It seems that … Continue reading

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Future food

What will we eat in the future? What will future food look like? A programme on BBC2 raised these questions this week having followed a family through the decades since the 1950’s and then had a look forward. How about … Continue reading

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One thing we have learnt this week -ordinary heroes

Tearfund has launched a new campaign called ordinary heroes.  For someone who is not heroic like me the name is quite reassuring.  The idea is to get Tearfund supporters to make small changes in their lives to make the world … Continue reading

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Interconnector-interconnections

This week the worlds longest interconnector has been announced between the UK and Norway.  (An interconnector is an international transmission line that connects two countries.)  In our book we looked at the problems that switching to renewable electricity on a … Continue reading

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Lent thoughts

How is lent so far for you?  A few weeks ago I posted that we as a family were going to eat less meat.  This is something I have wanted to do for some time.  There are several reasons for … Continue reading

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Lime part 5. Finishing off.

Finishing off this series on lime (which has to be said is offered as more of a reference) I will describe the use of hydraulic lime and the overall effects the calcitherm system has had on the house With both … Continue reading

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Lime part 3. Lime plaster

In parts 1 and 2 of this occasional series on lime we looked at the background to lime and the use of lime mortar in re-pointing walls, today in the last  parts we will look at the use of lime … Continue reading

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One thing we have learnt this week – how much energy use is equitable?

                  How much energy use is equitable?  This is something that has been drawn to my attention this week.  Apparently the Swiss city of Zurich has its own version of the Energiewende.  … Continue reading

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