COUNTING THE CARBS
Press release by Jane Kinsley sent out in mid june 2006.
Research to measure the footprint of a village aiming to become the UK’s first carbon neutral community is underway. Five students from the University of Chester have begun collating information to identify the amount of CO² given off by Ashton Hayes as part of a five-year monitoring programme.
The findings of the report will be used to help residents improve their energy efficiency and cancel out their carbon emissions by making informed choices and adopting lifestyles that have little or no impact on the environment.
Located some five miles East of Chester, Ashton Hayes’s carbon neutral programme was launched on the 27th January by Garry Charnock with the support of the Parish Council. Charnock conceived the idea late last year and since then the campaign has attracted significant media interest and a number of businesses in the region have been keen to get involved, donating services, specialist skills and energy saving equipment. There has also been interest from around the globe - Ashton Hayes is twinning with the township of Castlemaine, near Melbourne, which is aiming to be Australia’s first carbon neutral community - following in Ashton Hayes’ footsteps. The Australian city of Ballarat and its university, near Castlemaine have also linked on a carbon neutral basis with Chester and its university. The idea is to develop and share ideas that other communities can use.
The village survey has been developed with support from the Energy Saving Trust, East Anglia University Cred team and experts from the University of Chester. It focuses not only in energy considerations in the home, but also on lifestyle questions such as the choice of vehicle and holiday destinations. With around 160 houses having been surveyed to date, the research team is almost two thirds of the way through its study. Already, feedback from residents has been overwhelming, but the students are been keen to point out that to gain a true reflection of the village’s carbon footprint, everyone has to take part.
“This is a critical point in the carbon neutral programme. We need to know where we’re starting from in order to know what we have to do to achieve our aim. The results we get from the university research will identify how much energy we are using as a collective society and from there we can implement changes to improve our energy and environmental performance. This isn’t something that can be done on an individual basis - everyone in the village has to pull together in order for it to work, but the commitment that has been shown by the residents since the launch of the project has been incredible, so I’m confident we’ll do it” says Charnock.
The survey identifies four key areas (home, energy use, travel and transport and a general section), measuring each household’s energy consumption. Once complete, the information will be fed into a database, which will give an overall picture of how much energy the whole village uses. Preliminary results of the survey were given at a Renewables Fair on the 25th May at the local primary school, which attracted many visitors from the community.
Jennifer Snelson, a second year student at the University who is a member of the survey team, says: “The aim of the project is to reach a state of equilibrium between carbon sinks and sources within the village by increasing sinks - for example the number of trees and decreasing sources through the use of appliances such as low energy light bulbs, solar panels etc. As more information becomes available, we will be able to draw comparisons with other communities to gain a more holistic view and as the years progress, we will be able to track emission reduction and sink increase within the village, hopefully seeing Ashton Hayes become carbon neutral.
“Clearly, this is a really exciting project for us and the co operation we have received from the residents has been very encouraging. It’s a first in the UK which will provide the benchmark from which other areas will follow and I’ve no doubt the progress of the project will be closely watched by other communities and councils.”
Although establishing the carbon baseline will provide the foundation for the project, there are several other initiatives that are taking place in tandem. Dialogue with manufacturers and suppliers of alternative energy sources has been entered in to with the first wind turbine being installed at the school this summer, depending on the outcome of a planning application by the County Council. It has also been calculated that around 16,000 trees are required to offset the village’s carbon emissions, so the students are carrying out biodiversity research of the area in and around the village to identify the types of trees that can be planted which will complement the existing vegetation and not upset the eco system. The trees will eventually be coppiced to provide fuel for wood burning stoves.
www.goingcarbonneutral.co.uk