Community Energy Strategy: Opportunities for finance and investment

6^th February 2014

Last week’s Community Energy Strategy sets out, in part, to identify how to support investment funding for community energy. A series of grants and funding schemes from across different parts of government are highlighted.

Community + Community energy strategy + Energy policy

Community Energy Strategy: What are the implications for commercial developers?

5^th February 2014

DECC’s Community Energy Strategy is a glass half full for some, and half empty for others. Jonathan Porritt gave it a 4/10. Megan Darby of Utility Week was rather more impressed and summarised it in a very readable article entitled “DECC feels community spirit.”

Community + Community energy strategy + Energy

Community Energy Strategy: A ‘Second Way’ For The UK’s Energy Market

29^th January 2014

Publication of the first Community Energy Strategy is a welcome recognition that the UK’s energy consumers don’t have to be abandoned to the mercy of faceless multi-national conglomerates. The community energy model is well proven in many parts of Europe – and the USA come to that – but hitherto hopelessly under-exploited in the UK.

Community energy + Community energy strategy + Energy + Energy policy

Community Energy Strategy: A Step In The Right Direction?

28^th January 2014

It’s been a truism of community energy activism for many years that what communities have managed to achieve across the UK has been ‘in spite of’ the policies and regulations which shape our energy system rather than ‘because of’.

Community energy + Community energy strategy + Energy policy

Community Shop: The UK’s First Social Supermarket, Delivering Surplus Food For Social Good

27^th January 2014

If you haven’t been to Goldthorpe before, you may be unaware of its rich history. A former mining town within South Yorkshire with a proud heritage, it has fallen on hard times in recent years, and is now amongst the most deprived areas in the UK.

Community + Food + Food industry + Food poverty + Social supermarkets + Surplus food redistribution

Community Energy Strategy: Is This The Game Changer We Have Been Waiting For?

27^th January 2014

This strategy could not come soon enough. At a time of rapidly rising energy bills and growing concerns over the impact of energy infrastructure on our precious landscapes, community energy offers people a chance not only to take more control of their energy – where it comes from and what it costs – but also feel confident that the places they love have not been sacrificed to generate it.

Community + Community energy + Energy + Energy bills

Student Debt: Abandon All Hope?

23^rd January 2014

Much has been written over the last fifteen years, since University tuition fees were first introduced, about the rights and the wrongs of asking graduates to pay back society for their degrees.

Education + Higher education + Personal finance + University + University fees

Community Energy Strategy: The Roadblock to Scaling Community Energy

22^nd January 2014

Community Energy will remain the domain of wealthy areas where volunteers (often professionals and retired) muster up the enthusiasm, knowledge and community spirit to deploy and finance a low carbon technology, for the benefit of the community.

Community energy + Community finance + Energy + Social impact + Solar PV

Who Is Lonely And When?

17^th January 2014

Who is lonely and when? Loneliness (that unwelcome feeling that occurs when there is a mismatch between the number and quality of relationships we want and those we have) can be a serious issue for many older people.

Care + Loneliness + Support

Immigration Week: The Costs Of Bashing Immigration

6^th January 2014

Immigration has been a major political topic in the UK during 2013. Yet despite all the evidence which shows that immigration has a positive impact on the British economy and the lip service that politicians from all parties pay to the benefits of diversity in our society, most of the debate has been about how we can prevent people from coming here or how we can force people to return home.