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Rye on the road to new energy future

Rye windfarm and Dungeness nuclear power station in the distance. As well as low-carbon energy, Transition Rye wants community-owned energy sources (photo: Sandy Rodger).

Amid increasing concerns about climate change and energy supply, Rye has joined the growing number of towns seeking to find a path to environmentally-friendly energy provision. Sandy Rodger, chairman of the Transition Rye steering group, told Nick Terdre what is going on.

Transition Rye was established last year as part of the global Transition Network which exists to “inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities as they self-organise around the transition model, creating initiatives that rebuild resilience and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.”

Sandy Rodger succinctly sums up the four-fold transition which the movement aims to achieve: from high energy consumption to reduced consumption; from fossil fuel sources such as coal, oil and gas to renewable sources such as wind, solar and wood; from far-away sources to local sources; and from large utilities to locally-owned suppliers.

No small ambition, but as the effects of global warming become increasingly apparent and energy bills rise, thinking big is called for. However, Transition Rye is not trying to run before it can walk, and its first steps have been modest and manageable. The steering group leading the movement consists of just a dozen or so, and has no official status yet. Raising awareness, both of the issues and the group’s existence, is a necessary first task – the project is only going to get somewhere if it persuades local citizens of the importance of its work.

Recycle swap shops

Armed with an ideas board, Sandy and his colleagues took to attending events such as country fairs. They also started organising recycle swap shops to encourage reuse – the venture has proved very successful, according to Mike Pepler, who leads it.

Recycle swap shops are proving increasingly popular (photo: Mike Pepler).

The fourth recycle swap shop was held in early May at St Mary’s Centre in central Rye. It’s like a car boot sale under Freegle rules – people bring items they no longer need to see if someone else might have a use for them rather than consigning them to landfill. The events are attracting a growing number – on this occasion 330 people came through the doors of and 150 left with something – altogether 590 items were taken, including clothing, games, books, CDs and small items of furniture.

Everything is weighed to provide a measure of progress – the scales showed that of the total of 302 kg of stuff on offer, 83% was taken, another 5% passed on to charity shops, 7% went to the recycling centre and only 5% was consigned to landfill. Further swap shops have been arranged for July and October.

The goods are free but donations are encouraged, and these cover the cost of the event, Mike says.

The group also instituted green drinks – a monthly get-together in a local pub to chew the fat on relevant matters and where newcomers can be made welcome. “We don’t want to be too earnest and formidable,” says Sandy. “We want to enjoy ourselves and make people comfortable.”

Local food supplies

Sorting out the food sources (photo: Sandy Rodger).

This year the group has further broadened its activities, setting up working groups to prepare the ground for two further initiatives. “We’re getting into more serious work,” Sandy says. One of the working groups is looking at how to encourage greater use of local food supplies – there are clear energy savings to be made if food isn’t trucked in from far parts of the country or flown in from the other side of the world.

And Rye is well served by local sources – fish and seafood, farm produce (there is a weekly farmers’ market) and even wines and other drinks. Much of this is seasonal, so spreading knowledge of how to store local produce could be interesting, and so could ideas such as setting up a community orchard.

Energy group

The other working group is looking into the possibility of establishing a community interest company (CIC) through which more ambitious projects such as renewable energy schemes could be undertaken. The CIC has the provisional name of RX Energy – RX is of course the designation for fishing boats registered to Rye and Hastings ports.

Lewes, another Transition Town, already has such a company, Ovesco. “I can easily see a completely sustainable energy supply for Rye, based on natural resources,” says Mike Slavin, a steering group member who worked in the oil and gas supply industry. There is the potential for solar and wind energy, and also for biomass from the local woods which supplied the charcoal for the iron industry of the Weald from the 16th century onwards. Lesser known energy sources such as tidal heat abstraction, an established technology, may also be explored.

Installing solar panels may be the first step – a couple of suitable buildings have been identified. Such a project would require some serious money, but that could come from renewable energy and ethical funds, as well as individuals keen to invest in such projects. Some modest job creation would also be involved.

This won’t happen straight away – at least three years’ work will be required before the company can become a reality, in Mike’s view. But the energy group will make its presence felt sooner than that by offering energy advice. “We’re starting with the here-and-now,” Sandy says. “The first action will be getting good energy advice to people to help them make their homes warmer and the bills more affordable. We believe that if we help people and local businesses save money on their energy bills, we’ll also be building momentum towards the transition.”

Warmer Rye

Rye is full of lovely old buildings, but due to the limitations imposed by conservation rules, improving their energy efficiency can be problematic. Here inspiration is being drawn from the groundbreaking work done by the Bath Preservation Trust and the Centre for Sustainable Energy in producing the Warmer Bath guide for improving the energy efficiency of homes subject to conservation planning.

“In conjunction with our energy group the Rye Conservation Society is developing an equivalent guide for Rye, which hopefully will be linked to the Neighbourhood Plan,” Sandy says.

In connection with the Neighbourhood Plan for Rye, an interesting opportunity has arisen with Sandy being asked by the district council to write an account of the energy implications of the local plans, to be used as one of the accompanying materials made available to the public as part of the current consultation.

The move also helps the Transition Rye group in its aim of fostering close relations with the local political institutions. It already has a good base to work from, as several members have personal ties with Rother local councillors, and some are also members of Rye town council.

Growing support

In the year or so since it was formed, the Transition Rye group has attracted 100 or so supporters. The work is aided by a growing awareness of the importance of both the environment and energy supply, but among the population Sandy sees differing perceptions of what changes are needed and how to go about achieving them. Older folk are more interested in saving energy and reducing waste, while younger people are more focused on renewable energy, he says. The group is having to work harder to get penetration among younger people, so it uses Facebook as its main means of communication.

Sandy is keen to stress the collaborative nature of the Transition Rye initiative. “This is environmentalism aimed at getting things to happen – we’re not stopping things, we’re not setting ourselves up in opposition to anyone. Fundamentally our job is to collaborate with people to get things done,” he says.

Nor is this Rye going it alone, he points out. “If opportunities came up to collaborate with neighbouring areas, such as Hastings, we’d be very interested. That’s why we picked the RX name.”

Transition Rye website

Transition Network website

 

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Posted 14:37 Friday, May 31, 2013 In: The HOT Planet

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