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Here are some links to some great stuff people are doing. If you find something that you think we should add here, drop us a line and let us know. Alternative Energy - Paul & Deb
This website is the story of two ordinary people, with modest incomes, who live in an ordinary Victorian semi and are working towards achieving energy self-sufficiency. There's a number of well-researched accounts of the options they consider and their first hand experiences along the way - looking at everything from energy paybacks, to how best to sell their surplus energy back to the grid. Well worth a visit.
http://www.alternative-energy.co.uk Ban the Bulb
BTB is a great campaign being run by Oxford-based ecologist and journalist Matt Prescott. The campaign is aiming to increase the use of energy saving light bulbs, and to tax and phase-out their wasteful ancestors, the incandescent light bulbs. It seems he's been making some good progress too, with the people in Whitehall starting to make the right noises about a bulb tax.
http://www.banthebulb.org BBC Energy & Climate Change Calculator
This is good - it's your chance to balance environmental concerns with the costs of keeping the lights on in the year 2020. Change the relative proportions of energy generated from fossil fuel, nuclear and renewables to forcast the effects.
BBC Energy & Climate Change Calculator Ben Jandrell's DIY Wind Turbines
Check out www.gotwind.org for some great DIY guides on making super-budget wind turbines from everyday scrap materials and parts from ebay. This really is great stuff.
http://www.gotwind.org Boots on the roof - wind and solar training in the USA Boots on the Roof provide and wind and solar energy training in the USA, with the mission of training the next wave of Renewable Energy Contractors, Engineers, Architects, Sales Professionals and Business Entrepreneurs. http://www.bootsontheroof.com/ The Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT)
If you ever find yourself in North Wales, make sure you visit the Centre for Alternative Technology at Machynlleth. Founded in 1973 in a disused quarry, it has become a mecca for alternative energy and alternative living, and you can see many of the technologies in demonstration across their visitor centre.
http://www.cat.org.uk Cavity Wall Insulation
Cavity Wall Insulation – Cavity wall insulation to your home, free cavity wall insulation and cavity wall insulation grants. They offer cavity insulation services to help save your energy all over the UK.
http://www.homeenergysaver.co.uk/insulation/cavityinsulation.htm
Climate Care
Feel guilty about your air travel habit? You should do - air travel is responsible for releasing immense amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. But if you've got to take that flight, you can offset your emissions by paying into a fund which will be used to save an equivalent amount of CO2 elsewhere. Oxford based Climate Care are one such organisation offering this service, and they do it very well.
http://www.climatecare.org George Monbiot Turning up the Heat
David Cameron, Lord Brown of BP, Richard Branson and Chris Martin of Coldplay - George Monbiot is watching you! Check out Turn Up The Heat for the inside track on what these self-proclaimed greenies are really up to, and what George thinks of them.
http://www.turnuptheheat.org Global Feed in Tariffs Global Feed in Tariffs was officially launched on the 1st April 2010 (to coincide with the advent of the UK Feed in Tariff / Clean Energy Cashback scheme). The website aims to simplify the understanding and provide information on Feed in Tariff policies worldwide, a scheme which has helped and will continue to help promoting Renewable Energy technologies globally. http://www.globalfeedintariffs.com/ Green Generation 4 U GreenGeneration4U is an independent firm of qualified low carbon consulting engineers based in the Isle of Man, giving impartial advice to clients over a range of green technologies employed in the production of low or zero carbon electrical and thermal energy. http://www.greengeneration4u.com/ MorePower
The guys at MoreAssociates have come up with this pioneering energy-monitoring 'platform', designed for communicating energy use to people in a visual, easy-to-understand kind of way. The systems are custom-made, and are mainly aimed at offices rather than homes. Great stuff.
http://www.moreassociates.com/energy/ Practical Action (formerly ITDG)
This excellent charity focuses on using appropriate technology to fight poverty in the developing world. Using low cost cooking stoves, micro-hydro plants and small scale wind generators, Practical Action works with communities across the world to bring about positive, lasting change. They were founded in 1966 by the radical economist Dr E F Schumacher.
http://www.practicalaction.org Renewable Energy Focus Renewable energy focus is an online source of news, features, events and jobs related to renewable energy. http://www.renewableenergyfocus.com/ sust-it Our friends over at sust-it.net have built a fantastic website that helps you find the most efficient home appliance. So if you need a new washing machine and want to buy the highest 'A' rated one out there, this is the website for you. Lots of other good independent advice too.
http://www.sust-it.net/ the Watt Energy discussion for an efficient world - blogging site about energy efficiency. http://thewatt.com/ TreeHugger
The Treehugger website is, in their own words, hip, not hippy. It's also the largest green lifestyle blog on the net. More like an online magazine actually, with tons of articles about living green, including some good stuff about renewables. They also have a free daily & weekly email service. Go have a look!
http://www.treehugger.com UK Climate Impacts Programme
Set up in 1997 and based at the University of Oxford, the UKCIP provides scenarios that show how our climate might change and co-ordinates research on dealing with our future climate.
http://www.ukcip.org.uk Walt Patterson on Energy
Read what this man has to say on nuclear and sustainable energy futures. He's a trained nuclear physicist who for 35 years has been teaching, writing and troublemaking around energy issues and in particular the foolishness of the nuclear adventure. Unfortunately, what he's been saying about nuclear all this time is again very pertinent today.
http://www.waltpatterson.org Wind Turbines.net Www.windturbines.net is the first social network for the wind turbine community where the public and wind industry professionals can come together to get advice, share ideas and network for career advancement. http://www.windturbines.net/
Directories of green goods and services:Ethical Duck A directory of ethical products and services, listing a large number of green and eco-friendly websites. http://www.ethicalduck.co.uk Guide me Green Directory
Guidemegreen is a growing directory of green and ethical companies and products, set up by young entrepreneur David Oglaza, aimed at promoting green purchasing. They also donate 5% of their turnover to charitable causes.
http://www.guidemegreen.com The Green Providers Directory
This is another new directory of green and ethical businesses and products, with a growing number of companies and organisations affiliating.
http://www.search-for-me.co.uk
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