Just because we can’t stop the rain, that doesn’t mean we can’t stop homes and businesses from flooding. The real problem is not the rain, but where the water goes after it comes out of the sky. With SEPA publishing new guidance on natural flood management measures "for local authorities and landowners", now is the time for communities to engage so that protection measures are put in place which can help prevent flooding in the future, and deliver wider environmental benefits.
Minutes after landing in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, we were off; our aim was to bring all of our planning and design of the Urjaa Samadhan system into implementation within a two week period. Myself and Anna, representing Scene, knew it was going to be an extremely busy trip from the get go, nonetheless, the trip was extremely fruitful. We are now confident in our project’s prospects for helping efficient after-sales repair of off-grid solar in India.
Scene associate, Alex Schlicke, discusses a recent site visit to a geothermal district heating scheme in Shettleston, Glasgow. Concieved in 1997, now supplying 17 residences with low cost, low carbon heating, Glenalmond Street represents one of the earliest attempts at harnessing minewater for heat.
The last four months has seen wave after wave of policy attack against the renewable energy industry. At the end of October industry bodies were hastily gathering evidence in support of keeping the feed-in tariff (FiT), and just days later the treasury announced that tax relief incentives will no longer apply to energy projects. For this reason renewables enthusiasts cannot be blamed for looking for something to raise their spirits.
The sun appeared to break through the gloom for a moment a few weeks ago when the Scottish Government announced that it has reached its 500MW target for ‘community and locally owned energy’, five years ahead of schedule. The announcement was lapped up by press and practitioners alike, who claimed ‘Scotland smashes community energy target’.
An innovative way to energy transition? Some thoughts on local authorities’ involvement in ESCos
Conducting research into Community led Energy Service Companies (ESCos), Scene intern - Yu Song - provides some thoughts on the ESCo model and role of Local Authorities in their development.
A look back at Scene's latest trip to Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Through meetings and conferences, Scene and the University of Edinburgh launch the first iteration of the Urjaa Samadhan platform gaining interest, feedback and potential partners for the future.
Community energy in the UK is a fledgling sector that has grown over the last decade from representing a negligible proportion of the total renewable energy sector in 2005 (<0.01%) to just under 0.4% in 2015. It appears we are at a cross-roads now: was this a brief window of opportunity for the lucky few, or are there prospects for a far-reaching civic energy scenario?
What happens in the initial stages of renewable energy penetration in developing regions of the world will set the stage for good practice in community ownership and engagement. In Mexico, it is now time to engage a variety of stakeholders including communities, academics, private developers, government and NGO’s to design policy frameworks that can effectively demonstrate benefit sharing with local communities. There is currently the political momentum to rally behind supportive policies for community energy projects, presenting a unique opportunity to bolster initiatives around systemic poverty alleviation through generating local productive activity and economic diversification.
For social enterprises to be seen as legitimate actors in the energy sector and justify policy reform, there is an urgent need for evidence of both the costs and benefits of local ownership models relative to conventional models.
In a study commissioned by the Climatexchange, Scotlands centre for expertise on climate change, we explored the comparative costs of commercial and community-owned renewable energy projects over time.
The idea of a community feed-in tariff has been much debated in the UK over the past few years. Internationally, some very supportive authorities have initiated 'COMFiTs' (Nova Scotia, Canada is a world-leading example), so could it be possible here in Britain where community energy has become an important element of the renewable energy sector?
The idea of extending the capacity range allowed within the FiT for community projects, from 5MW to 10MW, was presented in DECC's Community Energy Strategy in January 2014. after consulting on this idea, it was eventually not translated into policy.
