Energy

Community involvement with solar farms: what it means for councillors, planners and community groups

Community involvement with solar farms: what it means for councillors, planners and community groups

Published on March 31, 2014 in Blog, Energy, Inspiring enterprises with 2 Comments

Image: the largest community-owned solar farm in the UK at Westmill Solar Coop near Oxford, where 5000 local people own £16 million of solar PV. Here’s a follow on from our recent blog Scaling up Community energy: a how to guide. Originally written by Will Cortell over at Brighton Energy Cooperative.   Many places across the country […]

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Scaling up Community Energy: a how-to Guide (UK)

Scaling up Community Energy: a how-to Guide (UK)

Published on March 20, 2014 in Blog, Energy, Inspiring enterprises with 0 Comments

Originally written by Will Cottrell over at Brighton Energy Cooperative. We’ve done well. Really well. The 40-odd energy coops that exist across the country have so far raised £18m quid for spanking new renewable installations. In 2013 131 new energy coops were registered, so we’re looking forward to seeing things grow hugely in 2014. Exciting times.   Reclaiming […]

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The “Icelandic revolution” through the eyes of a REconomist

The “Icelandic revolution” through the eyes of a REconomist

Published on January 13, 2014 in Blog, Energy, Finance, Mining and materials with 4 Comments

What is really going on Iceland? Have they been jailing bankers, creating unprecedented press freedoms and crowd sourcing their new constitution? Thanks to Gunnar Grimsson (Citizens Foundation and Your Priorities) for his fascinating interview. His insights are key and really give a balanced, behind the scenes, view of what is happening in Iceland since the 2008 economic crash. […]

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Is debt a dirty word?

Is debt a dirty word?

Published on December 13, 2013 in Blog, Energy, Finance with 2 Comments

Very interesting question posed in today’s guest blog from Alex Germanis of Pure Leapfrog….   In the subsequent fallout from the war on Wonga, has debt once again become the bad guy? There certainly are unpalatable consequences to bad debt, yet throughout human history we have used debt, whether in barter-based economies or today’s complex […]

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Carbon Leapfrog and support for community energy projects

Carbon Leapfrog and support for community energy projects

Published on May 20, 2013 in Blog, Energy with 1 Comment

We are at an interesting junction in the evolution of community energy in the UK. The path to creating ownership of energy generation at the local level has never been easy, but as we make our way through 2013, it seems that the government has finally awakened to the cause, and community energy groups are […]

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30 maps to help local change-makers and community organisers

30 maps to help local change-makers and community organisers

Published on May 1, 2013 in Blog, Energy, Food, Transport with 3 Comments

Mapping a community’s needs and resources is one of the first things that many community groups do, when beginning their journey into local change-making. See also this post from the Transition Network that positions community mapping within the context of lots of other “ingredients” needed for community change-making (The term ‘ingredients’ is the Transition term for […]

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The new economy in Brazil: Through the eyes of a REconomist

The new economy in Brazil: Through the eyes of a REconomist

Published on April 19, 2013 in Blog, Energy, Finance, Food, Manufacturing with 5 Comments

I was very excited to be returning to Sao Paulo, Brazil and exploring it from a REconomy perspective. I lived there for 7 years during the 90’s and I know that pretty much anything is possible within the Brazilian economy.   For example, do you think that what happened in Cyprus was extreme? That’s child’s play! […]

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Totnes Local Economic Blueprint – first reports now available

Totnes Local Economic Blueprint – first reports now available

Published on October 29, 2012 in Economic enablers, Energy, Food, Project news with 4 Comments

I’m delighted to say that the outputs of this project are ready for sharing. This post is about the work in Totnes, which started in 2011. It’s a combined effort of the national REconomy Project, along with Transition Town Totnes (TTT). Outputs from Herefordshire will follow shortly, and those from Brixton in London by mid […]

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REconomy Roadtrip – Transition Town Lewes, Sheepshare and L&OVE

REconomy Roadtrip – Transition Town Lewes, Sheepshare and L&OVE

Published on August 30, 2012 in Blog, Energy, Finance, Food with 8 Comments

A beautiful old high street on a hill, surrounded by green – the market town of Lewes makes me feel instantly at home. The town is buzzing with excitement as the Olympic torch is about to pass through. There’s about 16,000 residents, most of them on the street today. The largest employer here is the […]

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REconomy Roadtrip – Sustaining Dunbar, a sustainable model for others?

REconomy Roadtrip – Sustaining Dunbar, a sustainable model for others?

Published on August 6, 2012 in Blog, Energy, Food, Transport with 0 Comments

Dunbar is a small seaside town about 30 miles south east of Edinburgh. Having played a role in the historic wars of our island (once a safe haven for Mary Queen of Scots), it more recently was the birthplace of the ‘world’s first environmentalist’ John Muir before his move to America. It has around 8,000 […]

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