the Carbon Challenge

Merging the Energy Saving Trust and the Carbon Trust is the wrong answer

 

Guest blog by Edward Hyams -  the Chairman of the Energy Saving Trust

 

In a recent article, Andrew Warren has again suggested the merger of the Carbon Trust and the Energy Saving Trust.  While this is a perfectly fair issue to raise the real question is how best to accelerate Action on CO2 towards an efficient low carbon society in both the business and the private sectors. Approached from that view point the answer is not necessarily a continuation of the status quo but nor is it a merger.

It is well known that I, like many others, argued against there being two Trusts at the time the Carbon Trust was formed.  However, the successful evolution of both Trusts in the meantime means the scope of both organisations’ activities now stretches well beyond that of encouraging insulation in buildings and promoting the use energy saving equipment.  Furthermore the marketing of information and advice to most businesses (and certainly to medium and large organisations) and to domestic customers is quite different.  Even if one organisation had been formed it would have had, from the outset, separate marketing and support arrangements for industry and for households.

In my experience there is little or no confusion about the separate roles of each body and none that I have found in any well run local authority:  no council tenant expects his home to be attended to in the local education department nor do any authorities that I know of manage their school buildings in their housing departments – and in many parts of the UK they are not even covered by the same tier of local government!

So what is the evolution I am talking about?

In the case of the Carbon Trust it has, for example, important Venture Capital and Private investment activities to stimulate and bring through new low carbon technologies and businesses. These are likely to have, over time, significant employment and technology benefits for UK plc. In furthering UK low carbon interests it also now has offices and activities overseas. The range of activities is significant but forms a coherent whole.

The Energy Saving Trust on the other hand is well down the path of providing a one stop local advice network for citizens to encourage and support saving energy and saving money spanning  waste, water and transport as well as energy saving and domestic renewables. This is very much a citizen centred approach and touches on everything from alleviating fuel poverty to long term lifestyle choices.

The word choice is an important one as all our research over the years tells us – and continues to tell us – that, unsurprisingly, people will not be told what not to use. We still come up against the negative legacy of early well intentioned campaigns such as ‘’switch off now’’ which gave the impression that energy efficiency means giving up something. In my view, other than cutting a significant part of all our energy bills it need not mean giving up on a 21^st century lifestyle. However most people need to be convinced that taking any specific action makes sense for them whilst saving them money. Only a small percentage of the population will take action principally in the interests of reducing climate change and very few will do anything if told what to do by ‘experts’. In 2008 we might even call this the ‘John Sergeant effect’! We should not be surprised or alarmed by these realities but we need to work with the facts as they are.

So increasingly, the Energy Saving Trust focuses on being on the side of the citizen providing advice and support on energy efficiency, transport, microgeneration (such as solar heating or heat pumps) and now on waste and water The Trust is operationally independent of both Government and the Energy Companies even though together they are our members and fund most of our activities. Effectively the Trust acts as a vital bridge between these two important actors in the energy space neither of whom, sadly, enjoy the confidence of citizens when it comes to advice on energy efficiency and climate change.
 

So what of the future?

Clearly we still have a long way to go on improving energy efficiency in the UK. So there is plenty of scope for people to enjoy the same levels of comfort and amenity while lowering their energy bills, transport costs and the effects of their household waste and  water usage; no doubt  regulation and progressive taxation can play their part but that does not diminish the need for the advice and support needed by everyone. New priorities will no doubt include an increasing focus on recycling of waste and on renewable heat - probably solar, heat pumps and biomass – which need to rapidly increase in market penetration if we are to stand a chance of meeting our 2020 CO2 targets.

The Energy Saving Trust as a citizen focussed body needs to play a pivotal role in developing the market and providing assurance on products and installers as we do not have time for false starts or the reputational setbacks from shoddy products or installations.

With the challenges around us in late 2008 I am also of the view that doing more should not necessarily need more and more public money, While the core funding is vital to address market failures this can and should be accompanied by many activities such as joint marketing with reputable services and products, fee-based quality assurance of more products as ‘’Energy Saving Recommended’’ and, in the future, installer approval. All of these can be part or wholly privately funded. The unique independent limited company status of the Energy Saving Trust will allow us to grow these income streams while retaining objectivity in interests of reducing people’s bills. We know how to continue to work very closely with government and at the same time retain the objective independence which we believe is so important.

Having argued once for there not being two Trusts I am now convinced of  the need for a focussed citizen centred approach as the best way of accelerating energy saving and resource efficiency in the domestic sector.

Still not convinced about the benefits of two?  Well one final thought. I have argued in effect that individuals by and large take action through enlightened self interest, and there is not much wrong with that approach. It means the advice and information we provide must be independent and trustworthy.

I also stressed the successful pioneering role that the Carbon Trust takes in developing and profiting from new technologies. Again, nothing wrong with that but should that be the same organisation which seeks to advise citizens which of those technologies to use in their homes? I think not.

Energy Saving Week - part 2!

Well, I am delighted to say that our Energy Saving Week (20 – 26 October) was perhaps our best yet…well certainly if the media coverage is anything to go by! Even more so, when you consider that we were up against what seemed to be the almost perpetual coverage of the US Election and the ‘Credit Crunch’!

Anyway, for those of you not in the know this year’s theme was the `Green / Life Balance', which drew on the fact that all of us are getting busier, working harder and having less time to do the things that we want to do, and therefore struggling to find time to fit being green into our daily lives. 

To support our theme we commissioned research in which two thousand people throughout the UK and 1,000 each across France, Spain, Sweden, and Germany took part in the most comprehensive survey ever undertaken into different European countries' attitudes towards finding time to be green. What the research showed is that people in the UK and across Europe want to be green, but often work and family responsibilities just keep getting in the way.

According to the research, while Brits' desire to save money is motivating them to take energy saving measures, pressure on their time is stopping them going further to save energy and find a 'green/life balance':

Some of the key highlights of the research were that:

• Half of Brits (50 per cent) quizzed, say that they would take more steps to cut their CO2 emissions if only they had more time.
• Brits are spending around 170 million hours each year waiting on hold on the telephone, and more than 210 million hours stuck in traffic!
• Six in 10 (62 per cent) UK residents spend more than 10 minutes a week standing in queues.
• Almost half (48 per cent) Brits waste more than 10 minutes a week waiting for the kettle to boil.

And in Europe:

Almost half (46 per cent) of Spaniards spend 10 minutes a week or more taking siestas.

• Twenty-one per cent of Frenchmen and women spend more than 10 minutes a week waiting for their food to arrive in a restaurant.
• Eight in 10 (80 per cent) Germans spend at least 10 minutes every week organising their desks.

Later in the week, we issued further research, focusing on the employee angle, which showed that a third of Brits say that their job is the main reason that they do not have time to be green. But 44 per cent of employees said they would be more motivated if their employer offered some kind of a green benefit, such as loans for energy efficient products, free visits from an 'energy doctor' to tell them what they can do to save energy at home, and access to green finance products, to encourage them to live a greener lifestyle.

The end result was an avalanche of media coverage – some of which I have highlighted below:

UK

Television

Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=92463

Press

Daily Mirror: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/10/20/1-in-3-share-baths-to-cut-energy-cost-115875-20820827/
The Metro
The Daily Sport(!)

Online

GMTV website: http://www.gm.tv/index.cfm?articleid=31193
GMTV website: http://www.gm.tv/index.cfm?articleid=31245
Virgin:http://latestnews.virginmedia.com/news/environment/2008/10/20/brits_snuggle_up_to_cut_energy_bills_1
Yahoo: http://uk.yahoo.com/?p=us
T3: http://www.t3.com/news/lg-steam-washing-machine-green-edition?=37025
Newconsumer:http://www.newconsumer.com/news/item/ooh_la_la_brits_find_new_ways_to_be_green/
Business green: http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2228611/miliband-calls-business-promote
Fairhome: http://www.fairhome.co.uk/2008/10/21/please-save-the-planet-shower-with-a-friend/

Blogs

Islandpulse.co.uk: http://www.islandpulse.co.uk/b2/top-tips-for-energy-saving-week/
Green Ladywell: http://greenladywell.blogspot.com/2008/10/confessions-of-green-councillor.html
IES: http://blog.iesve.com/index.php/2008/10/22/happy-energy-saving-week/
How to save Energy: http://howtosaveenergy.blogspot.com/2008/10/energy-saving-week.html
Sheep Drove: http://sheepdrove.wordpress.com/2008/10/20/energy-saving-week/
Davye: http://www.dayve.co.uk/blog/2008/10/oxfam-world-food-crisis-appeal-greener.html

National Press Associations

Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=atp26YaV9.qQ&refer=uk
PA News

Scotland

Press

Daily Record: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/news-feed/2008/10/20/double-bath-86908-20820809/
Scotsman: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/features/Try-putting-on-an-eco.4607613.jp
Mirror: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/10/20/1-in-3-share-baths-to-cut-energy-cost-115875-20820827/
Guide & Gazette: http://www.guideandgazette.co.uk/latest-scottish-news/Scots-would-share-bath-to.4607725.jp
Carrick Today: http://www.carricktoday.co.uk/latest-scottish-news/Scots-would-share-bath-to.4607725.jp

Online

BBC Scotland online: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/default.stm

Wales

Television

Wedi 3 – Elin Llyr appeared on Welsh magazine programme ‘Wedi 3’ Tuesday discussing energy saving gadgets and Energy Saving Week.

Radio

BBC Radio Cymru (‘Nia’ lifestyle programme) – Elin Llyr was live in the studio Monday morning discussing Energy Saving Week and ‘A’ Rated Appliances.

Press

Carmarthen Journal – A feature piece was published in Thursday’s edition of ‘Carmarthen Journal’ regarding how energy consumption has changed over the years.
Y Cymro – A feature was published in Friday’s edition of ‘Y Cymro’ regarding Glyn Wise’s support for Energy Saving Week and his top energy saving tips for students.

Northern Ireland

Television

UTV News (No. 1 Evening News Programme in NI) - Feature on sharing baths & saving energy 

Radio

BBC Radio Ulster - Interview with Noel Williams (Head of EST NI)
Citybeat - Interview with Noel Williams for evening news show

Press

Belfast Telegraph:  http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/environment/people-in-northern-ireland-more-likely-to-share-bath-to-save-cash-14008188.html?action=Email
Belfast Telegraph - People in Northern Ireland more likely to share bath to save cash
Belfast Telegraph – Lights and Gadgets Left Switched On Costs 5m
Belfast Telegraph - Save 5m a Year by Simple Flick of a Switch
Carrick Times - Going Green Can Save Money

The C(arbon) Factor

Now, without wishing to diminish my own credibility too much, I have to admit to watching the X Factor the other weekend. My excuse is that I was at a loose end whilst up at the Labour Party Conference, but I’ll leave it to you to decide whether you believe me or not!
 
Anyway the show, unsurprisingly, consisted of the usual put downs, atrocious singing, and a fair amount of crying, however, what interested me was how the judges arrived to the audition venues. Whilst I accept that part of the show’s appeal is to create glitz and glamour out of what is – in effect – a glorified talent / karaoke contest – I have to question whether helicopters and limos used by the judges to travel to the audition venues are really necessary. Surely by glamorising two methods of transport that represent a flagrant disregard towards the environment gives out entirely the wrong message to their millions of viewers. Now, whilst I’m not necessarily suggesting that the judges have to travel in a low-carbon car (although that would be nice), I think the producers could at least resist the glamour / slow mo shots of Simon, Danni, Louis and Cheryl each arriving separately in their helicopter / limo.  Surely that’s not too much to ask? Perhaps, dare I say, they could share! I think this week I’ll stick to attending and watching the Conservative Party Conference.

Making saving energy sexy

Some of you might not know that we have a network of Green Ambassadors - people who are committed to saving energy, and trying to influence others to do the same. We also speak to them regularly and really value their views which give us a first hand insight into the pressures and issues that people across the UK face in trying to live a low carbon lifestyle. Last week, one of our Green Ambassadors, Sue Sheehan, took part in a media opportunity, which involved Gordon Brown visiting her house to discuss energy saving. Sue kindly agreed to write a blog for us about the experience - and the need to make saving energy more aspirational.

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“We need to start treating energy as a precious resource and stop wasting it.” That was the gist of what Gordon Brown said to me when he came to my house last week, although that particular point went unreported.

 

The prime minister visited me and my family as an example of a household that had made improvements to its home to cut energy use. I told him how we had cut our household use by 40% by draught-proofing and adding secondary glazing, but also by taking care to keep heat in by doing simple things such as closing the curtains at dusk
My husband was well chuffed when Gordon said we were a ‘model’ for families who want to cut their fuel bills and reduce their carbon emissions.

 

The press were not quite so impressed however, with headlines such as “SLASH YOUR FUEL BILLS? JUST DRAW THE CURTAINS” from the Daily Star. But while many articles criticized this advice as ‘not enough’, particularly for low income families, they also carried easy to understand advice and graphics that underline the Energy Saving Trust messages on energy efficiency. Some success there then.

 

The fact that we are generally a ‘wasteful’ society when it comes to energy is not an easy message to deliver. Simple measures such as closing curtains are not particularly ‘sexy’ to talk about. But I am convinced that as a society we can halve our carbon emissions simply by cutting out waste – in all areas of our lives – not just household energy.

I personally prefer to focus on giving positive messages, good news stories, but if we want to engage the press perhaps we should focus on highlighting ‘waste crimes’ so that it become unacceptable to walk around the house in nothing but a tee-shirt in the middle of winter, or undertake excessive plane or car journeys, for example. These are not just personal choices. They are choices that affect the whole planet.

 

It’s all about ‘waste’ and now I know that senior politicians, including Gordon Brown, understand this as much as the likes of Energy Saving Trust Green Ambassadors and Philip Sellwood. But generally I don’t think we are talking about it enough. I am getting a conversation going in my own community through the Hyde Farm Climate Action Network (Hyde Farm CAN), without which I probably would not have been able to achieve as much as I have done in my own house. But I don’t see many other people out there working to make mundane activities such as ‘draughtproofing’ easier or more interesting, or linking them to the fact that they may actually help us save the planet and reduce or dependence on limited resources.

 

The day after the prime minister’s visit I attended a Big Green Challenge event. Organised by NESTA the Big Green Challenge rewards ‘innovative’ ideas from communities who are trying to activate communities to cut carbon. Although the standard of entries is high and the competition has highlighted that there are huge numbers of creative individuals finding ways to cut carbon, as far as I can see none of the ten groups selected for the final £1m prize have yet found a way of making energy efficiency ‘sexy’ or aspirational.

 

No sour grapes then that Hyde Farm CAN isn’t one of the ten finalists! But then I bet they haven’t had a visit from the Prime Minister!

Bringing climate change home

When I read the newspapers yesterday one particular headline in the Independent seemed especially poignant “Cracking up: the ice shelf as big as Northern Ireland”. Scientists have discovered the Wilkins ice shelf on the coast of Antarctica is in great danger of breaking away from the mainland; and it’s as big as Northern Ireland!

The peninsula is the fastest-warming region in the Antarctic and has seen some of the largest temperature rises on earth – 0.5C per decade. Ice shelves in Canada's far north have shrunk by as much as 90% since 1906, and six others have retreated in the past few years. This really does highlight the way in which climate change needs to be emphasized on a daily basis.

This news comes nearly three years after an ice shelf bigger than Manhattan broke off an island in the Canadian Arctic in August 2005, underlining the fact that climate change should be more of a potent issue in society today (Click here to read the story) What needs to be stressed though is that the sheer enormity of an event such as a melting ice shelf means many people can’t associate using energy in their homes, or the way they travel as being a significant part of the problem.

I want to emphasize just how important it is everyone understands that simple changes to our behaviour can make a big difference. For example, just boiling enough water needed to make a cup of tea, not leaving a mobile phone charger plugged in or turning appliances off of standby will all help to reduce the amount of energy wasted.

If everyone took these simple actions then the amount of energy saved collectively would be substantial – and we’d be helping to prevent calamitous occurrences, like the Wilkins ice shelf breaking away, whilst at the same time saving energy, saving money and ensuring a healthy future for the planet.

Click here to see how you can take action and save energy.

Going green...

Well, a few weeks back I promised to keep you updated on who had won the inaugural Sky ‘Green Shoots’ short film competition – and true to my word, I now have the results.

As you may remember the competition involved a nationwide search to find the best short film to inspire people across the UK to take action to tackle climate change by making small changes in their everyday lives.  Entries were submitted to Sky’s user generated content website, Sky Cast and then a panel of judges (including myself!) voted on the best short film.

So, who won?

Well, we decided that Tony Moon’s film ‘Going Green’ was the stand out entry. The film is a story based around ‘young’ George who is left home alone and decides to surprise his parents by making changes around the home to lead their family in the fight against global warming. I fully support Sophie Turner-Laing, Sky’s Managing Director of Entertainment when she said of the film that it “…tackled a serious issue in a light hearted and entertaining way. It’s great that he was able to combine his passion for film with an issue close to his heart.” Tony’s film will be shown during the ‘The Close Up’ show, on Sky Premier, at 5:30pm, Tuesday 26. February – and at other times throughout this week. You can view Tony’s film below.

The runners up were Robert Ford with ‘Small Changes’ and Przemek Sobkowicz with ‘It May Help’. Please click on the relevant title to view their respective films.

Using this type of viral media is an exciting and engaging way of communicating energy saving messages to people. Provided the content is compelling enough – as is the case with the three films mentioned above – then in a blink of an eye, it is quite feasible for a film to quickly circulate by email around, not only the UK, but perhaps the World. Indeed, I think this post rather proves my point seeing as I’ve provided links to the two runners up films and embedded the winning entry below! I, for one, will certainly be interested to see how many ‘hits’ all three of these films receive over the coming months.

From Green Shoots Mighty Acorns Grow!

Well, you get the idea anyway! Today, I got the chance to partake in the rather pleasant duty of judging Sky's 'Green Shoots' competition. I was involved along with other much better qualified people in the form of Winnie De’Ath - Director of Communications at WWF, Elliot Grove - the Founder of Raindance Film Festival and David Croft - the Head of TV Directing at the National Film School.  For those of you who are not aware of it ( where have you been?), this is a competition to encourage ordinary citizens to put together short 60 second videos with the aim of keeping the public motivated on the issue of climate change by delivering a creative call to action in an engaging way.

The competition closed recently and there have been 25,000 (yes - 25,000 hits!) on the website on Sky Casts platform. This in itself is a credible achievement in terms of engaging citizens on climate change and inspiring them with new ideas, but as importantly was the quality of the short listed clips. These - from a personal perspective - ranged from the really rather excellent to the somewhat bizarre, but hey what do I know? I run a company, I would not claim to be Alan Yentob!

Anyway I digress. We waded our way through 18 short listed clips and a winner and two runners up were duly chosen and no, I am not telling you who they are.  Suffice to say that they will be probably be shown during the week of the 23 February on Sky Movies Premier Close Up.  It was an interesting experience; not quite as arduous as choosing the Booker prize winner (should that be the Man Booker prize winner now?), but each of us had our own views. My thanks also go to Sky for hosting the whole affair and for Solitaire Townsend from Futerra for refereeing in the clinches.  We more or less arrived at an agreed verdict in the end; anyway have a look to see what you think.

We will be posting the links once the winners are announced.

Pushers...

"A real drain in wet weather"

EVEN THE DRAINS DON'T WORK! I've been musing this week, as I've made my way across to and from various meetings in London what it is that draws a similarity between free newspapers - you know the ones I mean, the Metro, London Lite etc and the Capital's Victorian sewer system! It may seem a tenuous connection, but trust me what they both have in common is that they are now completely unsustainable. It really gets to me when I am walking from my office to Waterloo where I am practically ambushed by the aggressive free paper distributors. (I can only assume they switched professions from their original roles as charity fund-raisers.) But there they lie in wait thrusting an unwanted newspaper of dubious quality into my face, mumbling something half-understood. I ignore them studiously, hands in pocket, head down only to discover at least thirty or forty copies of said newspaper discarded on the ground between Parliament Square and Waterloo. How have we got to this situation where we are sanctioning the giving away of tens of thousands of newspapers everyday - most of which don't even get read - whilst at the same time expressing horror at supermarkets using plastic bags. Where's the logic in that?

Which brings me to drains. As it has been raining nearly all week, in my attempt to avoid being forced to accept free newspapers I have been dodging back and forth across pavements up and down, to and fro across the Capital and invariably by the time I've got home my feet, shoes, trousers are absolutely soaking. I have actually discovered this week that the rain doesn't make you wet from the head down, but from the feet up. A combination of inconsiderate drivers combined with drains built for another age long before climate change mean that to walk on London's fabled pavements is not to risk missing the gold, but missing your footing and ending up with wet feet, whilst clutching an unwanted newspaper.

Well, I am off to have a few days off next week, but you will be delighted to know that despite the weather it doesn't take any aeroplane flights to go from here to the Sussex coast where hopefully I'll be spending a peaceful few days taking in the beautiful sights. In the meanwhile, one or two people may be popping up to do some guest posts in my absence.

Tackling climate change - the toughest mission yet for Jack Bauer?

Reassessing the threat - is climate change now

public enemy no. 1 for Jack Bauer?

Well we know we’ve made it now don’t we?! I saw on TV and  in the press yesterday that 24 - the very popular Fox programme featuring maverick agent Jack Bauer - is to take on the challenge of climate change. I am not sure whether to be encouraged by this development or worried about its potential to further trivialise the issue. I can see that the Murdoch empire and the producers of 24 may be well intentioned, but I can’t help but feel it could lead to people thinking that climate change is as fictional as the programme itself. On the other hand, part of me thinks that anything that gets this hugely important agenda item into the public domain is worthwhile. I would be interested to hear people’s views as Fox have made it clear that they are going to make this a major part of their autumn programme. Hey what next? Dot Cotton and global warming!

Combating the onset of 'green fatigue'

I did a whole series of interesting interviews yesterday for the BBC, Reuters and others around a really hot topic that will be aired on Wednesday of this week (watch this space).  It is really heartening to see how much coverage these sorts of stories (sorry to tease you again) are actually getting from the main stream media.  My big concern is that we might start to see “green fatigue” set in as people get fed up of  the big picture 'doom and gloom' stories.

I was particularly interested to see articles in the weekend press, in The Telegraph, The Mail and The Express starting to resurface the debate around climate change, undermining the statistics and the technologies - wind particularly. This drip drip process of using suggestive stories implying climate change is not really a problem, or that technologies like solar, wind won’t really work or even that the whole thing is a means for the Government to raise additional taxes by stealth is pretty harmful. The question is how can we combat this without starting to get equally shouty? This is the real communication challenge of our time. We need to rise to it. I am hoping Wednesday will help address this in a small, but interesting way.