tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547998149596569672024-03-24T16:32:34.078-07:00Transition Cambridge MediaNicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.comBlogger103125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-59401273745068360242024-03-21T03:55:00.000-07:002024-03-21T03:55:00.065-07:00Why a water usage survey?Transition Cambridge is running a survey on how we use water, and what water saving measures we take. Why? Water shortage has been a concern for some time but seeing the film Pure Clean Water reminded me again of the acute need for us to reduce water demand. Lack of water has recently stymied government plans for growth but even with no extra homes or businesses we do not have enough water. Nicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-31728702410588954502023-12-17T04:39:00.000-08:002023-12-20T03:01:17.785-08:00A Christmas wish – community heating in Cambridge?District heating is a potential low carbon option for some homes, though it is hard to say at the moment which homes (if any) will have the opportunity. Compared to switching to a heat pump or getting an electric storage boiler, district heating can be a low hassle option - as villagers in Swaffham Prior have discovered and it seems likely that residents of Grantchester will also get the Nicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-46017914278338906172023-10-09T04:01:00.003-07:002023-10-09T04:01:40.142-07:00Transition Cambridge at 15 Transition Cambridge is now 15 years old. Here is an extract from our AGM, listing the various activities we have been doing over the past year. Energy GroupNicola presented for the Energy Group. Topics from the year included: Keeping cool; Any questions (retrofit/heating queries ); Working with contractors; Grid level storage EPCs (what do the ratings take into account?) Performance Nicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-85530819412535818642023-07-28T06:50:00.004-07:002023-07-28T06:50:42.906-07:00 Hydrogen for domestic heating is not going to happenExperts have been saying for years that hydrogen is not a sensible solution for home heating on any scale. However gas suppliers and gas suppliers are very keen to convince us of the opposite. This has been going on for a long time and the government has been sitting on the fence. The Heat and Buildings Strategy published in 2021 delayed the decision until at least 2026 – after trials at village Nicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-42203118162751349212023-04-12T02:12:00.006-07:002023-04-12T02:12:57.879-07:00Culture and Sustainability - Why is change so hard – yet sometimes so easy? The climate emergency requires us all to make substantial changes in our lives – and sometimes they are easy but sometimes they are hard. A lot of this is to do with aspects of our culture influencing how and why we do things. We each belong to several cultures at different levels – our friends, our family culture, our workplace, where we live, the way we are supported and constrainedNicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-69082843189703342432023-02-17T03:35:00.001-08:002023-02-17T03:35:17.280-08:00 Climate justice – personal actionsThere are huge differences between carbon footprints of people in different countries. Here in the UK we are worse than average but by no means the worst. However there are also huge differences between people within the UK, even in Cambridge. What are each of us doing and how does this vary by income?How income and wealth affects what we can doSometimes when I am on an outreach stall I use an Nicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-35324582748332015632022-12-31T04:20:00.002-08:002022-12-31T04:21:15.048-08:00Good and bad tipping pointsIt has been a difficult year. Just when we thought we were past the worst with Covid, we get the war in Ukraine with devastating impacts on the supply of fuel, grain and other food goods. Climate change does not let up. Last year looks to be the warmest on record for the UK and in July the record for highest temperature in the UK was topped by an alarming 1.6°C [1]. We also had drought with Nicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-9042320409194405792022-12-18T11:47:00.000-08:002022-12-18T11:47:12.114-08:00How is a reindeer's nose like a condensing boiler?I am sure it has not escaped your notice that the weather recently has been unusually cold for the time of year. How have you been keeping warm? In our house we have turned down the heating a bit, because with the energy shortage due to the war in Ukraine it is very important to reduce our energy consumption as much as possible, to keep the prices down. (Even with the price guarantee, we will payNicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-23561108225606444542022-11-26T05:13:00.003-08:002022-11-26T05:13:52.592-08:00Working with contractors - pooled experiencesAre you considering getting builders in for any retrofit work? Or installing low carbon heating? How do you find a contractor to do the work (or part of the work if you want to do it DIY?) Do you need a project manager? This question comes up time and time again and there are no definitive answers. However, the energy group had a discussion about this at their last meeting and we now have an Nicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-44439559781994242592022-10-14T03:37:00.001-07:002022-10-14T03:37:05.670-07:00Your energy saving tipsThe energy saving survey is concluded now - thanks to all of you who filled it in and especially to those of you who gave us your tips. But first a reminder/plea from me - please do not just breathe a sigh of relief at the energy price cap and carry on as normal - the cap is supported by a subsidy and it still costs us money, albeit via taxes or reduced services. Fundamentally, the problem Nicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-32491120992040697192022-09-24T06:43:00.001-07:002022-09-24T06:43:52.813-07:00Most renewable electricity tariffs are pointlessDo you get your electricity with a “100% renewable” electricity contract? Most of these contracts do nothing to promote renewable electricity and some of them make use of power with higher emissions than average on the grid. A few retailers genuinely supply renewable power. You may need to pay a bit more, (or maybe these days, a bit less, since they do not use gas)!The energy group learned about Nicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-29664263874476302972022-09-08T01:36:00.002-07:002022-09-08T01:46:26.187-07:00Energy Saving SurveyHere are some interim results from our survey on energy saving at home. If you haven't filled it in yet it is not too late; we will update this page as we go. Many of us are already keen energy savers anyway to reduce carbon but it is more important than ever now even if you can afford not to. The price increases on both gas and electricity are due to a global shortage of gas that does Nicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-35603199394434288592022-07-09T04:05:00.003-07:002022-07-09T04:05:32.945-07:00 What is holding up our retrofit plans? – and adviceEvery house is different, but it is still useful to share problems and tips around retrofit – often similar problems keep cropping up. I asked the energy group members what is holding up their plans and we discussed some ways forward. There are common themes. At bottom, we see inconsistency in planning rules and inconsistency in advice from installers. Plus a chronic lack of installers. All this Nicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-66997733955155924052022-04-27T04:55:00.002-07:002022-04-28T23:14:22.032-07:00Demand and supply of natural gasThis is a quick post based around three charts describing our natural gas supply and demand. As households we are responsible for gas use both directly in our homes and via the electricity supply. Given the constraints on non-Russian supply at the moment, and the increase in prices for both gas and electricity, restraint is called for all round.This chart is from Energy Trends showing demand for Nicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-57781723126877241432022-04-10T13:04:00.001-07:002022-04-10T13:04:18.690-07:00Easy ways to keep warm with less energyWith an expected 54% increase in energy bills from 1st April 2022, what can individuals do to minimise the impact of these cost pressures? Cutting our use of gas and electricity at home improves UK energy security and helps to keep prices low for everyone. Following an insightful talk from Karen Igho of PECT about fuel poverty and the services PECT provides, the Cambridge Transition energy Nicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-19987392904199167832022-01-31T10:43:00.002-08:002022-03-01T05:34:36.964-08:00Using a battery to save carbon emissionsThis post was updated on 1st March with more recent data.The Transition Cambridge Energy Group is a great place to kick around ideas and share experiences. One topic that keeps coming up again and again is batteries – are they worthwhile? One of our members, Ian, has taken the plunge and would like to share his reasoning and experience with you. Ian likes to be an early adopter of low carbonNicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-23679814640069616642021-11-08T01:53:00.006-08:002021-11-08T09:53:53.913-08:00Marching for COP26Saturday was the COP26 Coalition Global Day of Action and Transition Cambridge was one of many groups taking part - alongside Carbon Neutral Cambridge, Cambridge Carbon Footprint, Cambridge Sustainable Food, CamCycle and loads of others. Here are some pictures. We assembled on Kings Parade in front of Great St. Mary's Church. You can see our banner, and the orange box is a CamCycle trailer.Nicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-53774166904919209202021-10-03T10:35:00.000-07:002021-10-03T10:35:38.024-07:00What are we doing for climate change - results In the last newsletter we asked you to fill in a poll in what we are doing for climate change. We asked you to tell us what actions you have taken that make you feel you are making a difference. (You can see the poll here.) It is so easy these days to despair of ever solving the climate crisis and what we do individually can seem very small - but when there are enough of us taking action itNicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-16800916228974800942021-09-26T06:40:00.002-07:002021-09-26T06:40:27.840-07:00What are we doing for climate change - interim resultsLast week we started a poll in what we are doing for climate change - here are some interim results. We asked you to tell us what actions you have taken that make you feel you are making a difference. We are impressed by the results - you can judge for yourself. The poll has only been out for a week (and it was in the newsletter only 5 days ago) so this is early days yet. If you haven't filled itNicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-57857675003477142852021-07-15T07:46:00.001-07:002021-07-15T07:46:33.856-07:00Saturday in the market square - low carbon heatingLast Saturday I joined Cambridge Carbon Footprint on their stall in the Cambridge market square. Fortunately the weather was kind - not too hot and no rain to speak of. This was the second of CCF's four themed Saturdays covering shopping, energy, transport and food. I was using our new Low Carbon Heating Options materials (advice page here). I also used an updated 'What are we doing for Climate Nicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-45688329305998117712021-03-21T12:48:00.003-07:002021-03-22T00:18:55.912-07:00Facts about our water for World Water DayMonday 22nd March is World Water Day. To mark this, here are some quick facts about our water supply: where it comes from, how much energy it takes to bring it to us, how long will it take for our water supply to be zero emissions, how healthy are our local streams and rivers.It takes energy to supply waterThe water industry is very efficient and mainly uses electricity. On average weNicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-63790517964742456702021-02-28T03:51:00.003-08:002021-02-28T03:51:55.429-08:00Low Carbon ComputingDo we need to worry about the carbon emissions from all these extra online conferencing we are doing these days? What is the best way to reduce our emissions from use of ICT? The energy group discussed these issues this week. Gareth did most of the research - he works with computers in his job and knows an awful lot about it. Also, Gareth and Nicola both did some tests on home equipment to see Nicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-77011121729852660282020-03-04T10:01:00.001-08:002020-03-05T01:40:48.705-08:00Sustainable Travel Tips and LinksThis is a guest post by Mat and Blanca, the team who ran the Transition Café How Can We Have Sustainable Holidays And Travel? on 19th February. In our brainstorming session we came up with a whole range of travel ideas - from day trips around Cambridge to holidays across Europe - and lots of tips for things like where to get tickets, accommodation, and vegetarian or vegan food. So we thought it Nicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-22901997731083990832020-01-07T03:26:00.002-08:002020-01-07T06:49:01.222-08:00A new Chair for Transition Cambridge - Jacky Sutton-Adam
At our Annual General Meeting last
October, I announced that 2019-20 would be my last year as Chair of
Transition Cambridge. The Chairperson's role in Transition Cambridge
is emphatically not a position at the top of a pile, TC is
non-hierarchical in structure, it's more accurate to experience and view the role
as a position surrounded and supported by a large, loose network of
like-minded Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654799814959656967.post-33149090815401842742019-12-12T03:40:00.000-08:002019-12-16T03:01:35.093-08:00Building on CleanWheels SuccessOur apologies - we have had to delay the Transition Cafe event - this will now be 17th June 2020.
Two years ago Transition Cambridge began a project to put electric cars in the hands of car club members. Our first milestone is in the bag. In July this year the City and County Councils awarded a contract to Enterprise Car Club who put 30 hybrid-electric cars on the streets with ambition to changeNicolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09162244617407392907noreply@blogger.com0