Zerocarbonista

About this blog

Filed under: Misc — dale April 1, 2008 @ 9:52 am

This blog is about answers to the big questions – how will we keep the lights on, what kind of cars will we drive (will we drive?) and how will we feed ourselves – in a post oil world, and a world where we can’t afford to keep burning things and throwing things away. Energy, Transport and Food are the three big issues.

It’s about ideas and policies, innovation and change, engineering our way out of this mess we’re in – it’s about the next Industrial Revolution and the journey to a low impact lifestyle, Zero carbon living if you like.

It’s a place to comment on the news, to share ideas, get feedback – all that kind of stuff. I hope it will become a forum where these things that need to be talked about, get talked about and through that get acted on.

19 Comments »

  1. After one visit to the Ecotricity website I decided to become a customer. I feel empowered that I can choose a company that is green at heart. It is direct action. In this vein, I have an idea for your ideas box: How about making it possible for people to invest in a share of a wind turbine? What better way of giving something back to the planet than leaving a share of a turbine in your will?

    Comment by Roger Sheldon — April 23, 2008 @ 6:55 pm

  2. Is there any hydrogen manufactured on a UK Ecotricity wind power site..or any plans to do this…

    Comment by Gerry321 — April 25, 2008 @ 10:55 am

  3. @Roger Sheldon – Glad to have you with us Roger, appreciate your support. Giving people the chance to own a piece of a windmill is a good idea. Not as easy as it sounds, but far from impossible. Something we hope to get to before long – it’s on our list. Cheers.

    @Gerry 321 – No Hydrogen projects yet but we’re in discussion with a couple of pilot schemes to see if we can help them with their wind energy. Personally I’m not sure that Hydrogen should have a big role to play as an energy source, but I’m for exploring all avenues – the solution we’re ultimately looking for will be like a jigsaw puzzle, where even small parts are important.

    Comment by dale — May 2, 2008 @ 8:13 am

  4. Dale - why do Ecotricity NOT make more of an effort to engage in education at your turbine sites ? One of the things that always amazes me is what little people actually know about turbines and how many myths there are out there, myths that are often ‘picked - up’ on because there is nobody dispelling them !! They see turbines as something in the distance and very rarely get ‘up close and personal’ with the turbines. When they do get close enough and are provided with a little more info (just a few key stats) they often change their minds about turbines completely and turn from potentially ‘anti’ to ‘pro’. I work at the GreenPark turbine and facilitate educational visits to the visitors centre and i feel that given just an average hours worth of education most people are happy to (using a BWEA phrase) ‘embrace wind’. Do Ecotricity have any plans to help facilitate such education in future ? CHEERS - Ian Gough

    Comment by Ian — May 2, 2008 @ 5:25 pm

  5. @ Ian
    Hi Ian, I think we probably do make rather more of an effort than you know. For example we’ve been running the Ecotech Centre in Norfolk for the last year, having saved it from bankruptcy and a large part of the work being done there is the hosting of school visits. We built a turbine in the backyard there and added to it a viewing platform so that people can climb the turbine and see things from the very top. It’s a massive enhancement to the visit to be able to get this close. That people like turbines better once they’ve seen one is a truth we’re more than familiar with – it’s why we build turbines where people live and where they can see them, and it’s why we built the turbine at Green Park – enabling the school visits that you do. We’re currently working on some key stage information packs and trialling other works through the Ecotech centre before we roll out nationally. Hope that helps.

    Comment by dale — May 6, 2008 @ 8:48 am

  6. I like what you and your company is doing. I like the ideas behind it, and the drive is not for profits. Take care of your country first. Then please, please, please come over to the U.S., set up shop in the Midwest, (Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, preferably Nebraska though.) where there is basically a constant wind tunnel, and get us off the expensive grids powered by gas and coal, hundreds of miles away.

    There is plenty of farmland around where I am, and since the farmers and the rest of Nebraska got screwed over in the corn/ethanol plant and fuel deal, I am sure the kickbacks you and your company offer would be welcome with open arms after some education about wind.

    Sorry, I don’t mean to sound like a desperate nut job, but I am sick of paying high prices for things that I shouldn’t have to, because that is the way it has been for the last 100 years or more, and I don’t have the resources to do but small green innovations very locally.

    Thanks, and I have your blog bookmarked.

    Comment by Darkshine — May 29, 2008 @ 7:34 am

  7. @ Darkshine – Hi Darkshine, thanks for your post and support. We’d like to set up in the US someday not too far away, there’s much that could be done there and we think there’s something we could bring to the party. So maybe coming to a state near you one day soon. Cheers.

    Comment by dale — June 10, 2008 @ 10:53 am

  8. Well - that was interesting…

    I hope the blog is now working again for you all (and that it stays that way!).

    There may be teething problems - do let me know if you spot anything and I will do my best to put it right.

    Please carry on as normal… apart from the hacker :)

    Comment by paul — July 17, 2008 @ 6:54 pm

  9. Hi, great website, blog and all praise to what Ecotricity is doing to get us off the Oil Addiction.

    In my locality there is a company which is trailing tidal wave electricity generation. I didn’t approach them yet but our group- Transition Town Westcliff - would like to work with them closer in the future.

    http://www.tridentenergy.co.uk/sea_trials/

    What I wanted to know is Ecotricity going to invest in this kind of ventures if the cost of generating electricity from tidal wave matches the one from wind farms?

    And asking you as the expert on renewables does tidal wave have future?

    Comment by Kamil Pachalko — July 18, 2008 @ 4:52 pm

  10. Hi Kamil, yes definitely we’ll be looking to get involved in tide and wave power as it approaches a commercial state - it’s early R&D right now. In our opinion Wave and Tidal power have a lot of potential, certainly the UK has plenty of both - the key though will be achieving a competitive cost per unit, and this requires efficient reliable machines. This will take time. Cheers.

    Comment by dale — July 22, 2008 @ 8:09 am

  11. I have today emailed everyone in my address book with the link to your webpage. If all your users could be asked to do the same it will help to spreead the word about - wind.

    Keep up the good work!

    Comment by Pat — July 28, 2008 @ 12:20 pm

  12. @ Pat - Thanks very much for your support Pat.

    Comment by dale — July 29, 2008 @ 8:19 am

  13. I just like wind:) and I love kites

    http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=2016

    Comment by Kamil Pachalko — August 6, 2008 @ 9:19 am

  14. Like some of your other commentators, I’d be very interested in investing in an ecotricity wind turbine, as I live in central London, with neither the wind speed available in my area nor option to capture solar energy. Is ecotricity up for this kind of project?

    Comment by Philip Pearson — August 22, 2008 @ 4:34 pm

  15. Hi Dale,
    Just watched a clip of your car build on treehugger. I wish you the very best of luck and I am excited to see the continuation of the project.

    this blog is already put in to my reader and I will follow it from today :).

    Me myself is trying something similar but on a very different scale and with a lot less means (so far 0). Please check it out if you have the time, http://www.tellgren.com. Currently trying to set up collaboration with some guys in the USA who have gotten farther than me. I just love the internet ;)

    Cheers!

    Comment by Peter Tellgren — September 18, 2008 @ 2:02 pm

  16. Hi Peter, Looks cool, I wish you good luck with it too. Always wanted to build a go kart when I was a kid.

    Cheers.

    Comment by dale — September 19, 2008 @ 10:58 am

  17. Hi I was wondering if the “Recent Comments” list on the RHS could be a bit longer, or that there is a separate page with a longer list. The recent posts get scrolled off the end really quickly (less than 24 hours) now.

    Comment by Jeffrey Lam — November 21, 2008 @ 11:53 am

  18. Hi Jeffrey

    I have just doubled the number of recent comments - I hope that helps…

    Also - an FYI - we are working on a new theme design which will hopefully make the blog more user friendly, and look prettier too.

    Thanks for the heads-up
    Paul

    Comment by paul — November 21, 2008 @ 12:01 pm

  19. Paul,
    brilliant! Thanks very much! Now I feel less guilty about posting this comment and scrolling the list on again!
    Jeff

    Comment by Jeffrey Lam — November 21, 2008 @ 12:11 pm

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