{"id":4316,"date":"2014-07-22T21:48:16","date_gmt":"2014-07-22T20:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=4316"},"modified":"2014-07-22T21:48:16","modified_gmt":"2014-07-22T20:48:16","slug":"cat-40","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=4316","title":{"rendered":"CAT is 40"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>CAT is 40, CAT being the Centre for Alternative Technology.\u00a0 Last year the BBC interviewed some of the earliest members in the Radio 4 programme <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/b01s393k\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;The Reunion&#8221;<\/a>.\u00a0 Started by aristocrat Gerard Morgan-Grenville in 1973 its now Europe&#8217;s premier eco centre and attracts around 65,000 visitors a year.\u00a0 I went with the Scouts in 1976.\u00a0 In those days it was a few hippy types in a bare quarry standing around a wind turbine with blades made of sails and a single solar hot water panel.\u00a0 Nevertheless I was impressed and so were our Scout leaders.\u00a0 Even my grandparents went to visit and came away with surprisingly positive comments.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/CAT-solar-roof.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-4323\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/CAT-solar-roof-300x223.jpeg\" alt=\"CAT solar roof\" width=\"300\" height=\"223\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/CAT-solar-roof-300x223.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/CAT-solar-roof-1024x762.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/CAT-solar-roof.jpeg 1747w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>On the &#8220;The Reunion&#8221; the former members of the community remembered a pretty grime time.\u00a0 Very primitive living conditions without proper sanitation and roofs with mice running around everywhere.\u00a0 The locals had a pretty low opinion of the place too.\u00a0 When people turned up wanting advice they thought perhaps they had better open it up to visitors, which was pretty difficult at first.\u00a0 They also brought out a report on a sustainable UK which is amazingly accurate considering its age.\u00a0 They have published two more recent ones called Zerocarbonbritain which we have mentioned in our <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bookdepository.com\/No-Oil-Lamp-Andy-Mellen\/9780232529449\" target=\"_blank\">book<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I returned in 2005 for a course and found the place transformed as you see from these pictures I took when I returned with my family twice when we were on holiday nearby in Wales.\u00a0 The quarry is a wonderful garden with lots of educational exhibits on all aspects of greenliving and energy for all ages.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/cat-gardens.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-4327\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/cat-gardens-300x240.jpeg\" alt=\"cat gardens\" width=\"300\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/cat-gardens-300x240.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/cat-gardens-1024x821.jpeg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/00061.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-4324\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/00061-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"00061\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/00061-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/00061-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/00061.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>What can the fact that CAT is 40 teach us?\u00a0 The people interviewed I thought were surprisingly modest about their achievements.\u00a0 Most of what seemed weird and experimental then seems mainstream now.\u00a0 Recycling has mushroomed.\u00a0 From no on grid wind there is 320GWp worldwide, solar PV has gone from astronomically expensive to just over \u00a31\/watt with 130GWp installed worldwide.\u00a0 There are as\u00a0 the programme covered many challenges left for CAT over its next 40 years.\u00a0 Our fossil fuel dependency has not dropped and global temperatures continue to rise inexorably.\u00a0 Visit it and get inspired.<\/p>\n<p>Neil<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CAT is 40, CAT being the Centre for Alternative Technology.\u00a0 Last year the BBC interviewed some of the earliest members in the Radio 4 programme &#8220;The Reunion&#8221;.\u00a0 Started by aristocrat Gerard Morgan-Grenville in 1973 its now Europe&#8217;s premier eco centre &hellip; 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