Danger And Uncertainty Or Creative Energy?
Considering tomorrow today
Danger and uncertainty or creative energy?
In a speech in Cape Town in June 1966, Robert F Kennedy said: ‘There is a Chinese curse which says ‘May he live in interesting times.’ Like it or not we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also more open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history.’
We are again living in interesting times:-
- The consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is pushing up the cost of living throughout most of the Globe
- The supply of energy, particularly to highly industrialised Europe, has been shown to be insecure and there is a real chance that this winter may bring power cuts and restrictions
- The Covid pandemic has left “Governments” internationally with fewer resources to provide public services or support its most vulnerable population groups, and one suspects that SARS-CoV-2 isn’t done with us yet!
- In the UK inflation is at its highest level since the 1970s and forecast to rise. Coupled with other factors we face an Economic scenario that has no precedent with no tried and tested roadmap to improvement
- The “Climate” has thrown up some extreme weather events as if Gaia (Earth Goddess) is reminding us we must act to protect her.
Potentially depressing isn’t it? But please read on as we can together, hopefully take steps along the “creative energy” path to a climate friendly and more mutually prosperous future.
In recent decades in Britain natural gas has been at the heart of both energy generation and domestic heating. With growing awareness of the need to develop more renewable energy sources policy interventions appeared, e.g. the purchase of solar panels for provision of household electricity was made viable but as the policies began to achieve their effect, interventions were withdrawn and investment in solar at the domestic level had a much longer term payback. Currently however quite suddenly the sums have changed again and interest in alternative energy is once again picking up.
- However several elements of the process create barriers to decision making:-
- Technical detail of equipment is unfamiliar to many
- Schemes are set up differently so it’s hard to compare
- Some householders have not been made properly aware of the impact of such installations on resale of the house
- The market is now growing quickly and there isn’t a big cohort of reputationally reliable providers
- Some apocryphal horror stories abound and pitfalls can be hard to see.
The same could be said for the installation of heat pumps to replace gas central heating
The community could actively help each other with some of these issues particularly through sharing their own experiences. Without getting into the legal minefield of making commercial recommendations or technical specifications those who have already installed alternative energy systems could share stories of what went well and what disappointed them, what they would have done differently, and report on whether they actually got the amount of electricity they were promised etc. The information would be invaluable to those making difficult decisions. Even buddying up with someone else who is also considering an installation to talk things through could be helpful.
The Forum is exploring how it can facilitate this process. If you have experienced the purchase and installation of a solar panel scheme or a heat pump that you are willing to share in conversation or as an anonymised written case study, we would like to hear from you. Please e-mail gwenfo.forum@ gmail.com; your e-mail address will go no further without your permission. You may be able to help someone else get on the road to a more climate friendly future. We look forward to hearing about your experiences good or not so good.
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We will be at the Village Show on 10th September, please do come and see us. There will be a stand with information, competitions, art activities for children and an opportunity to tell us what you think about Wenvoe and its future.
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Some further information and updates, blog site https://wenvoeforum.wordpress.com/
Any Wenvoe community member is welcome to join the Forum meetings, via Zoom, which are normally held 19.00 on the second Thursday of each month. E-mail gwenfo.forum@gmail.com if you wish to join.