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Transition Lavenham – Newsletter number one
Welcome to the first Newsletter from the Transition Lavenham team. A lot has gone on since the launch meeting in November – more of this below.
What is Transition The aim is to make Lavenham more self-reliant in energy, food and local services thus reducing its carbon footprint. Transition Lavenham would therefore work to reduce energy (oil, gas and electricity) dependency and promote sustainability, by addressing; ● the effect of climate change, ● availability and security of energy supplies and ● the promotion of local food production. To achieve this we first need enthusiasm, energy and imagination of every one living in and around Lavenham. Suffolk County Council has, of course, already put its marker down with its aspirational policy document Transforming Suffolk – Suffolk 's Community Strategy for the next 20 years. One of its four key goals is for Suffolk to be the greenest county. From the early 1900's plentiful supplies of oil (and coal, and latterly gas) have allowed the industrial world as we know it to develop. Supply has until very recently met demand. As other nations and their inhabitants seek to join the industrialised world and its higher standard of living, so demand continues to grow. This, of course, ignores any consideration of the carbon emissions generated and any contribution to climate change. Coal and oil have yet to run out. However, they may well have peaked and the easy stuff has already been extracted. What is left is going to be more difficult to extract and therefore more expensive. This coupled with increasing demand and the volatility of world markets can only lead to pressure on availability and prices of energy facing an upward trend. The so called world economic downturn may offer, in this regard some respite, but long term trends are ever upwards. The transition initiative aims to look at the long term and what can be done at a local level to augment our reliance on energy and food and provide an element of security outside the vagaries of world commodity and currency markets.
Launch meeting A meeting to discuss this initiative was held in the Guildhall on Wednesday, 19 th November. Some 80 people attended. The leader of Suffolk County Council, Mr Jeremy Pembroke joined us, as did our District Councillor, Philip Gibson, Lyn Gurling, Chairman of Lavenham Parish Council together with other Parish Councillors. Officers from Suffolk CC, Babergh DC and Suffolk ACRE also attended. Following a presentation and explanation of the issues we had an open discussion and exchange of views. The consensus view is that Lavenham should take this initiative further. It is seen as a long haul and the outcome and time-frame can not be determined, but action is considered necessary and now. A number of people have volunteered to start the task and steering team has been formed. If you would like to help, please contact a member of the steering team.
Steering team John Busby 01284 830138 johnbusbyltd@hotmail.com Philip Gibson 01787 248417 philip@angelgallery.co.uk Jane Gosling 01787 247646 jane.gosling@nationaltrust.org.uk Mike Hodges 01787 247434 mike@lavenhamphotographic.co.uk Sue and John Knight 01787 247728 jknigh@uwclub.net Ray Peevore 01787 247530 raypeevor@aol.com Carroll Reeve 01787 247674 Tony Sheppard 01787 248588 tony@sheppard101.freeserve.co.uk Roy Whitworth 01787 248178 John Busby – is looking at available technology Mike Hodges – is considering introducing a local trade currency John Knight – is investigating wood as fuel Sue Knight – is considering the need for local 'green' bags and packaging Carroll Reeve – is establishing contacts and information sources Roy Whitworth – is looking into local food production Events On the Saturday 31 st January, a number of us visited the Green Light Trust at Lawshall, to look at their progress in establishing a sustainable environment. Saturday 7 th March, come along to the village hall, between 11.00 and 4.00 to see in action what the Transition team are looking at. Experts will be on hand to field questions, including planners from Babergh District Council, who will hold a Planning Surgery.
Web site Our web site www.TransitionLavenham.co.uk is now up and running. Roy Whitworth is our web master. Let Roy know if you have any ideas for content or links.
Food Production One of the aims of Transition Lavenham is to become more self reliant in food production. Do you live in Lavenham or the surrounding area and; l Grow your own vegetables, salads or fruit l Have (or know of) an area of land which is suitable and available for food production (this could be part of your garden or a separate piece of land that you own) l Have expertise in growing and/or marketing of produce l Would like to grow your own produce but lack suitable land If so then you may be able to assist us in the realisation of this aim. To assist, contact Roy. Our objectives are to; l Identify land which is available and suitable for food production l Bring together potential growers with those who have suitable land. l Organise outlets for produce (surplus to the grower’s own requirements) with the aim of producing a realistic return. l Co-ordinate requirements to take advantage of bulk buying, and access to services such as professional help and advice. We envisage that land owners and growers would enter into a simple form of annual agreement in which the land owner would agree to make the land available in return for a half share of the proceeds of any sales of produce. The grower would provide all the inputs of seeds, plants, labour etc in return for his/her half share. It is assumed that both parties would make produce available for sale to Transition Lavenham after their own personal use. Transition Lavenham plans to use outlets such as farm shops, farmers’ markets and other local outlets. It is envisaged that at an early stage a suitable local facility would be rented to act as a base for receiving and preparing produce for sale. Proceeds would be administered by Transition Lavenham and returned to the grower after deducting any direct costs of sale. Lavenham Parish Council has already offered to act on any demand for additional allotments in the area. Please let us know if you would like to be kept in touch with this development Local currency It is too early judge the viability of issuing a local trade currency. The basic argument for introducing such a scheme is to keep money circulating within the local economy. In other larger communities (Totnes, Devon and Lewis , Sussex ), it has had an initial positive response from local people and shops. It has also had a curiosity value to the local tourist trade. Further work needs to be done.
Wood as a fuel Under the heading of 'Wood burning heating' elsewhere in this Newsletter is a brief description of the wood options. Added to this is waste wood which usually has either a foreign body content (eg. nails in pallets) or is contaminated such as in the case of MDF. Again, the technology is available to deal with these contaminations, however, it is very costly. So the volume of these waste products would need to be at a scale to make any investment viable. Growing timber on a coppice rotation system, such as willow and ash (and perhaps eucalyptus) may not be viable to provide the sole source of energy. The acreage required may be too great, especially as more people opt to use wood as a fuel. As a constituent part of any solution, however, it may make a useful contribution. More work needs to be done in this area.
'Green' shopping bags
A large number of 'green' bags are already available and seen in our streets. A survey of shops is necessary before any recommendation can be made to take this forward.
Available technology
Renewable energy systems are fast becoming the preferred alternative to fossil fuelled systems due to their long-term savings, both financially and environmentally. Solar Power Solar panels fall into two broad categories. Those that produce; hot water only and electricity (photovoltaic panels). Importantly, solar panels do not rely on direct sunlight to work - as long as there is daylight, power will be generated. Heat Pumps
Heat pumps are electrically powered appliances consisting of a compressor and
matched heat exchangers designed to provide space heating through water systems, either radiators or underfloor
heating. The heat is extracted from the earth, water or air. Wood burning heating
Wood fuel is carbon neutral – when wood is burnt it emits the same amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as
absorbed during the life cycle of the growing plant. There are no toxic risks associated with its use, unlike other
fuel sources such as oil and gas. Combined Heat and Power Combined Heat and Power plants can be likened to small power stations. Powered by biomass, including wood products, a high degree of efficiency can be achieved by utilising the heat produced. For decades in Scandinavia , domestic waste has been burned in local CHP plants providing district heating and electricity. In the UK there has been opposition to incineration, mainly from fears of dioxin release and the large scale operations previously envisaged in this country. Localised and small scale plant units may be the way forward. It is likely, that as landfill sites fill up burning mixed waste will become more common. The technology to 'scrub' clean any dioxins from the exhaust fumes exists. Wind Power
Wind power is a popular source of energy as it is clean, abundant and fully renewable. Whilst in the
UK
it remains a largely untapped source (wind supplies between 1 and 2 per cent of our electrical needs), other
European countries already generate as much as 20 per cent of their electricity from wind farms. The key benefits of choosing a wind turbine are; low cost source of sustainable energy, potential reduction in energy bills, and a reduction in CO2 emissions.
Wind trial
Wind trial equipment will be placed around the village to measure wind speed and other factors to see if wind power is viable in this area. Feed back on this should be available by the
summer.
Around half of heat loss in a typical home is through the walls and loft making them the two biggest causes of heat loss in the home. It's definitely worth getting yours insulated, as it will save you both money and reduce your carbon footprint. Just insulating your cavity walls could save you around £160 a year on your fuel bills. The installation cost is around £250 (when subsidised under the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target), which means it would pay for itself in about two years. If your home was built before the 1920s, it probably has solid walls. Solid walls lose even more heat than cavity walls, but you can also insulate them either internally or externally. Solid wall insulation will save you around £500 a year. Loft insulation acts as a blanket, trapping rising heat from the house below. Without it, you could be losing as much as 15% of your heating costs through your roof. If you currently have no insulation and you install the recommended 270mm depth you could save around £205 a year on your heating bills. If you can feel cold air coming in around the windows in your home it means warm air is
escaping. In a typical home this heat loss accounts for 20% of the total heat lost. Insulating your hot water tank is one of the simplest and easiest ways to save energy and money.
Fitting a British Standard 'jacket' that's at least 75mm thick around your tank will cut heat loss by over
75% and save you around £40 per year. The jackets themselves cost about half that, meaning that you'll
reclaim your initial cost in around 6 months. The Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) came into effect in April 2008, obliging electricity and gas suppliers in Great Britain to help reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from homes and in particular: l improve energy efficiency, for example, loft and wall insulation l increase the amount of energy generated from renewable technologies such as wind turbines, solar panels and ground source heat pumps Most energy suppliers provide loft and cavity wall insulation for free to those aged over 70 or those in receipt of certain benefits. Call your local advice centre on 0800 512 012 to find out more. Babergh District Council also operate a grant scheme contact them on01473 826622.
Grant funding The Suffolk Foundation awarded us a grant to kick-start Transition Lavenham. It gives us sufficient funding to investigate the sort of things outlined above and covers the period up to the end of March 2010.
Future structure
Transition Lavenham is sponsored by the Lavenham Society. In the longer term it is envisaged that it will become an entity in its own right. Advice is currently being sought in this respect.
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