The next regular meeting will be on Thursday 11th April 2024 at:
Thus. 11.04.24 at 19:30 and every 8 weeks
Thus. 09.05.24 at 16:30 and every 8 weeks
Here are some notes from our March meeting. Nice to see people who’ve not been for a while. If you’d like more information on any of the topics, please contact or comment on the post below.
- Mixed messages from government following some major announcements!
In Feb 2024, the government announced it will withdraw from the TCP agreement on energy trading. This is great news as it stops energy companies from suing governments if they passed laws affecting investments in their energy projects. It was widely hailed as a move to enable Net-Zero policies, in reality it was probably just a reflection of what was becoming a costly liability to EU countries. In July 2023 the EU had already made that decision leaving the UK little choice.
Ministerial announcement on not exceeding planning regulation in Local Plans could have an impact on Teignbridge’s pending LP inspection. Although it may be argued that the recent court cases in Oxfordshire and the wider case against the government on the lack of clear plans for achieving Net-Zero could be used to thwart this announcement.
We also talked about the second consultation on the Review of the Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA). Misleadingly, this was reported as the government building new gas-fired power stations, in reality it has some positive proposals on supporting renewables and “transitioning away from the unabated deployment of gas-based systems…”. See the Regen response so far.
- Is my gas boiler inefficient?
This question can be applied to many things, boilers, cars, windows, etc. We discussed what terms like “efficiency” actually mean and how cost relates to energy and to ghg emissions. The question we need to be clear about, before deciding on a solution, is “what is the problem?”. Is it really an inefficient boiler, are gas prices becoming unaffordable or am I consuming more because I’ve changed some setting/behaviour?
Many of our routine services (e.g. utilities) do not register in our daily lives, nor should they. That is until we notice an increase in our bills or hear something about them. For those who can afford to pay the increased prices, no further though is given to the subject, or we may talk about how utility prices should be kept down so everyone can afford to heat and light their homes.
We also tend to pick a solution we’ve heard about, one which is affordable, easy to do and appealing. Often this is a random process with the judgement on efficacy based on what we’d like to tell others. Sometimes this makes us feel good, sometimes not so good.
So the question is, how much extra effort am I prepared to put in to find an effective solution that I will be happy with in the long term? Do I want to learn enough to spot a ‘sales pitch’ or ‘greenwash’? I’m sure most of us want to, but struggle to find the time or interest. Understandably not everyone can, so here are some pointers to where to get someone independent help with household energy use:
- Follow some of the advice on actions, ideally after assessing your energy/ghg emissions using the Carbon Footprint Tracker (CFT). There is a link in the ‘results’ tab under ‘list of actions’ in the ‘help’ panel where you can search specific areas.
- a self-help programme (Energy Assessment Pack, E-Pack) available to TECs members with ongoing support. This is aimed at anyone who wants to learn how to make more informed decision on actions they can take. It includes measurements and modelling which are becoming more widely available such as the CSE scheme Jules mentioned.
- Energy Saving Devon is aimed at those who do not want, or cannot, be involved and would rather be told what to do. There is an interactive tool to “create home upgrade plan” under Resources.
- Hiring a Domestic Energy Assessor and/or architect/heat engineer. Best to get recommendations from someone whose done what you are looking for. There are emerging standards/schemes to control quality (e.g. PAS2035), but these are not yet widely used.
- Does self-build result in lower carbon emissions?
Here is a report summary from the self-build trade body, some interesting insights.
- An irresistible opportunity to mitigate climate change and save money?
How does this offer from Ripple Energy stand up against its claims? Look at the short introduction video, is it an offer you cannot refuse?
The key to successful advertising is to tell people they’re getting what they want. Advertising standards are intended to stop mis-selling, but how effective are these? Advertising codes, published by government even has a relatively new section on ‘environmental claims’ as well as the well established ‘misleading advertising’ codes. It’s not clear whether this is a rigorously implemented as intended or if there is a threshold for number of complaints which isn’t being reached.
- Standards for emissions from our built environment.
I mentioned the RICS latest version of their whole life carbon assessment for the built environment. Worth reading some of the introduction sections, ‘1.1.background’ has a useful general perspective.
- YouTube video on Retrofit.
There is a lot of material on the internet covering retrofit. As well as the signposting at the end of our energy webpage, this publicly available AECB video was shared by Paul B. It does go into some detail and is ~40 mins long, but worth a look if you want to understand the reasons for and key information on Retrofit.
- What is ACT planning for this year’s national elections.
This question was raised at the meeting. Coincidentally the ACT steering group discussed this very topic; whether we should run hustings again this year. After some discussion, it was agreed to draft questions which can be sent to prospective candidates in Teignbridge’s two constituencies. We would then share the responses.
So we’ll put some time aside at our next Energy group meeting to discuss and formulate questions. Give this some thought and either come to the next meeting or send me your questions. Here is an example to get you going:
“Do you believe the UK should lead the world by example in setting and achieving Carbon Budgets that keep our contribution to within the 1.5C climate tipping point? If so, what priority topics will you set ahead of this?”
Written by Fuad
Energy group coordinator
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