Macclesfield Community Energy

08/07/2024

Labour has announced huge changes for onshore wind in England:

Rachel Reeves was in front of journalists and party colleagues in her first outing as Britain's Chancellor on Monday morning, where she outlined Labour's obj...

16/06/2023

Want to help stop climate change… but not sure where to start? : features 8 stories from a city where people are mobilizing to fuel a green future by turning into .

The Drawdown's Neighborhood video series features individuals across America who are implementing solutions to the climate crisis.

13/06/2023

Disappeared - but not gone!

The last few months have been a little busy, and Macclesfield Community Energy has had to take a backseat. During this time, we've been able to do a few bits and pieces, connecting with the wonderful folks at Greater Manchester Community Renewables, Congleton Hydro and more.

Back in 2012, with Green Deal funding, a report was commissioned specifically for Renewable and low-carbon energy opportunities in Macclesfield, which we were fortunate to get our hands on!

This extensive report investigates the potential for a DistrictHeating network linking buildings around Town Hall, a biomass supply chain and processing facility and an anaerobic digester to serve future homes and businesses in the South Macclesfield Development area.

We're looking at whether these schemes are still viable today, or if there are quicker wins to get to market. Most Community Energy groups start with Solar PV, which is quicker and cheaper to install than most other forms of renewable energy.

Watch this space as we renew our efforts!

20/03/2023

Heating is a major concern when it comes to well-being, health carbon emissions and rising fuel prices. So investigating solutions to keep people warm in winter is hugely interesting to Macclesfield community energy. Here's a project we've been reading about lately: The Heatshare Project

The Heatshare project involves refitting 36 retirement homes in Midlothian with a new, low-carbon smart mini district heating system. It's a hybrid system that uses Demand Side Response to draw cheap energy overnight into thermal storage and pairs it up with Solar PV and air source Heat Pumps to deliver cheaper heating to residents, along with a lower carbon footprint.

How else might we keep our families warm in Macc without costing the earth (literally and metaphorically!)?

The need for social landlords to move away from traditional gas boilers to drive down carbon emissions and help their residents, particularly the elderly, with heating costs is ever present. A UK case study from Sunamp.

09/03/2023

Great day at today at the Gaseous Domesticities workshop.

Critical to understand the emotions and rituals that affect our relationship with homes and heating.

Heating seems to me to be an absolutely vital role in the transition to renewables. People need to feel safe, warm and in control. They need to feel they can take care of their loved ones.

With a growing mistrust towards fossil fuel companies, community energy has a great opportunity to build momentum and remove the barriers for everyday people to take the power back into their own hands

16/01/2023

A big thank you to our new followers and those of you who are planning to attend our consultation event this Thursday!

06/01/2023

How ENERGY GARDEN LONDON uses Community Energy

Energy Garden London installs renewable energy projects in London railway stations and uses the revenue raised by those projects to pay back to investors, plant trackside gardens in London, run education programs in schools and has (to date) paid for horticulture training for 62 young people.

Energy Garden supports communities to deliver gardens and community energy projects in London. Come get involved!

05/01/2023

Why community energy? Can’t our government just sort it out?

We’ll turns out… even if they wanted to (and some have vested interests), they can’t. But community energy can.

Listen to this episode from The Conversation Weekly on Spotify. A new barrier to climate action is opening up in an obscure and secretive part of international trade law which fossil fuel investors are using to sue countries if policy decisions go against them. We speak to experts about the investor...

23/12/2022

https://carbon.coop/2022/06/community-led-energy-planning-toolkit-launched/

One of the wonderful things about starting a co-operative is that everyone is willing to share knowledge. Today we're checking out the Community-Led Energy Planning Toolkit from Carbon Co-op to set ourselves up right from the beginning.

How can we build energy transition capacity in all neighbourhoods? Check out our new toolkit developed with (CLES) Centre for Local Economic Strategies and URBED: http://energyfuturestoolkit.carbon.

21/12/2022

An inspiring watch from some of the trailblazers of Community Energy:

A film about the citizen-led community-energy movement in Europe and the visionaries lighting the way.Imagine upending the traditional energy system and givi...

20/12/2022

Community Energy projects are full of potential - what can we do here in Macclesfield to serve our community?

19/12/2022

We are a startup cooperative based in Macclesfield. Our mission is to establish a renewable community-owned energy supply, help protect those at risk of fuel poverty in our area, and support the wider community with the creation of a community fund. ​

Join us at our first Consultation Meeting to have your say: January 19 at Scoop and Scales!