Fracking & Fossil Fuels Update - October 2017

Fossil Fuel Day of Action
On 14 October 2017 people from all over the world took action to protect our climate from fossil fuels. From groups fighting giant oil companies in Africa, to communities already feeling the impact of rising sea levels, the whole of Friends of the Earth’s global community united for a day of action. Our message to the world: keep fossil fuels in the ground. It’s our best hope of stopping the most devastating consequences of climate change. You can see what happened around the world here.

In Sheffield, the day of action began at Weston Park Museum when Steve Goodacre and Liddy Goyder from Sheffield Friends of the Earth and June Bhooshi from Sheffield Against Fracking handed over three fossil fuel dinosaurs for safe keeping to Louisa Briggs of Sheffield Museums. The dinosaurs represented the 3 types of fossil fuels (oil, coal and gas) which must remain unused if we are to avoid dangerous climate change. Research shows that more than 80 per cent of the world’s known coal reserves, 30 per cent of known oil and 50 per cent of gas reserves are unburnable if we are to have a safe climate.

Louisa Briggs of Sheffield Museums receiving 3 dinosaurs from June Bhooshi.

After the handover of the dinosaurs, the group marched to Barker’s Pool to join other concerned residents for a mass rally with the theme of keeping fossil fuels in the ground, skipping fracking and moving to clean renewables.

The march from Weston Park Museum to the City Hall

David Burley of Frack Free South Yorkshire introduced  a number of speakers including Paul Blomfield MP for Sheffield Central and Shadow Brexit minister and Tina Louise Rothery a legendary anti-fracking campaigner from Frack Free Lancashire.

The full list of speakers were:

• MC - David Burley—Frack Free South Yorkshire
• Paul Blomfield MP - Sheffield Central MP and Shadow Brexit Minister
• James Eaden - President of Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Trade Union Council
• Dave Kesteven - Eckington Against Fracking
• Deborah Smith - South Yorkshire Fossil Free Divestment Group
• Richard Dyer - Friends of the Earth Fossil Free and Clean Air Campaigner
• Tina-Louise Rothery  -  Frack Free Lancashire campaigner

Anti-fossil fuel and anti-fracking campaigners outside the City hall

Paul Blomfield MP said “Energy policy should be focused on reducing carbon emissions. Now’s the time to be investing in renewable energy as the industry of the future, not falling back on fossil fuels that make it harder to hit our targets to reduce global warming.”

Tina Louise Rothery said, “This event is just one of so many like it that is happening across the world and I can think of no better place to echo the call to protect our precious communities from the harms of fossil fuels, than Sheffield. It is here that the sharp edge of a broken democracy can be so sorely felt with the the threat of fracking and the unwanted seismic testing that goes with it. It's been an excellent event with representatives from government, the anti-fracking campaigns, Unions and some dinosaurs... a family day with a purpose.”

Richard Souter, Sheffield Friends of the Earth campaigner and event organiser said, “Our government seems hell-bent on developing fracking on Sheffield’s doorstep. Fracking is not necessary, it will rip up our countryside, pollute our waters, increase air pollution and threaten wildlife habitats. Moreover, heavy traffic from the proposed fracking sites, carrying some of the worse pollutants, will be treated here in Sheffield at Ecclesfield.”

A short video below features the highlights from the rally. A video on our Facebook site has the full set of speakers.

Whilst the adults were listening to the serious messages from the speakers, the children enjoyed a number of activities from colouring in frack-osaurus dinosaurs to eating dinosaur cupcakes.

The rally ended with music from Sheffield Socialist Choir and Sheffield Samba Band whilst inflatable dinosaurs were deflated to signify the end of prehistoric fossil fuels.

The Star covered the rally in the printed edition on Monday 16 October 2017 and their on-line version has more photos and a video. A similar article appear in the Sheffield Telegraph.

The Star's article of the Rally

At the General meeting the group reflected that overall the event went well, with some disappointment that the numbers were not greater in Barkers Pool. A lot of people, particularly Richard, Shaun, Mosborough Against Fracking and SCA and other groups who all contributed to making the rally happen were thanked for their hard work. Sincere thanks were also given to Michael Mouat for the filming and Prime Tiger Event Services for the PA system which many people said was excellent.


Jessica Ernst
Richard reported on an anti-fracking lunch with Jessica Ernst who has been responsible for a long running legal campaign in Canada.


Mass Demo Coach Trip to Kirby Misperton KM8
Will you give one day of your busy life to be part of a mass peaceful demonstration at the gates of a Fracking Site?

Join “100 Protectors” a peaceful, mass demonstration, coach trip to KM8 Frack Site, Kirby Misperton, North Yorkshire.

One way to affect this dirty business is to slow it down and send its costs rocketing. One way to do this effectively is to have so many Protectors/Demonstrators that the police are in the minority. We need at least 100 people to do that. With enough people willing to go for one day: you’d only have to go once a year!

To be notified of the dates please send your email or phone number to Disgruntled@riseup.net The first trip is looking like one day week 13th-17th Nov.


5 November – Sherwood Forest
A walk with talks and singing in Sherwood Forest, about fracking and the history of land rights, by amazing performers Three Acres and A Cow. Sign up to the Facebook event here. Afterwards, there will be talks & discussions at the nearby South Forest Centre – book tickets for this here.

Burns Supper
A Burns supper is being organised to support anti-fracking campaign for 20 Jan 2018. watch this space for more details.


ACTIONS:

1. Shaun will ask Jo if we can advertise trips on the website.
2. Richard will circulate update from David Burley.

Rally – Keep fossil fuels in the ground, skip fracking, go to renewables

Rally – Keep fossil fuels in the ground, skip fracking, go to renewables

On 14 October people from all over the world will be taking action to protect our climate from fossil fuels. From groups fighting giant oil companies in Africa, to communities already feeling the impact of rising sea levels, the whole of Friends of the Earth’s global community will unite for a day of action. Our message to the world: keep fossil fuels in the ground. It’s our best hope of stopping the most devastating consequences of climate change.

Here in Sheffield we have organised a fun family friendly rally outside the City Hall with the theme of keeping fossil fuels in the ground, skipping fracking and moving to clean renewables.

Because oil, coal and gas are seen as dinosaur fuels we would like as many dinosaur props as possible - inflatable dinosaurs, children’s t-shirts, face masks and placards etc. After the rally there will be a mass deflation of the inflatable dinosaurs to signify the end of fossil fuels.


Order of rally:

10.30 - People start to assemble at Barkers Pool – City Hall.
11.00 - Rally starts.
11.45 - Rally ends with a mass deflation of the inflatable dinosaurs
11:45 - 12:30 – music from Sheffield Socialist Choir and Sheffield Samba Band

Speakers include:

• MC - David Burley—Frack Free South Yorkshire
• Paul Blomfield MP - Sheffield Central MP and Shadow Brexit Minister
• John Campbell - Deputy Convenor for Yorkshire and Humberside Unison
• Dave Kesteven - Eckington Against Fracking
• Deborah Smith - South Yorkshire Fossil Free Divestment Group
• Richard Dyer - Friends of the Earth Fossil Free and Clean Air Campaigner
• Tina-Louise Rothery  -  Frack Free Lancashire campaigner

We are planning for family/children friendly activities - colouring, models if possible. More details will be added as they are confirmed.

See https://www.facebook.com/events/420994184961818 for the Facebook event.

Friends of the Earth will be using the hashtags of #ProtectOurFutures and #NotHereNotAnywhere for the day of action on Saturday 14 October. Please take lots of pictures and post them on social media.

We'll have some "Don't Frack our Futures" props on the day which we'll circulate around. We are asking people to take selfies with the suggested posts:

Facebook: Today I'm asking Greg Clark MP to #ProtectOurFutures & our climate. Ask him to stop #fracking before it starts: http://bit.ly/2ypDxmm

Twitter: Today I'm asking @GregClarkMP to #ProtectOurFutures & our climate. Ask him to stop #fracking before it starts: http://bit.ly/2ypDxmm

Energy Storage - May 2017

Energy Storage

Shaun's article about storing renewable electricity was published in the Sheffield Telegraph on Thursday 13 April 2017. The full text of it is here:

Critics of renewable energy suggest we’ll struggle to power the country because there are times when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining. However, a recent report by Friends of the Earth suggests that the majority of our electricity supply could run on renewables with the right mix of energy storage and smart technologies. Not only is this good for the environment, but it will create employment opportunities for people living in South Yorkshire’s cities.

Water is similar to renewable electricity because it is also intermittent. There are days, and even weeks, when the umbrellas can be put away, but everyone remembers the torrential downpours. The intermittency challenge for water was solved by storing it at different scales from water butts to giant reservoirs, thus allowing the taps to be turned on regardless of the weather.

The water butt storage equivalent for a solar home is to install a battery pack similar to Tesla’s Powerwall. The surplus electricity is stored for use when the clouds pass over during the day and at night when the sun has set. The battery would soon be exhausted if there were a number of consecutive cloudy days, but they could be topped up when there is excess wind power. Clearly it won’t allow homes in this country to be completely self-sufficient so other solutions will need adding to the storage portfolio.

Continuing with the water analogy, there are a number of technologies which could be classed as small dams. These include compressed air, flywheels, pumped hydro and large batteries. Typically they can help the national grid at peak times, but on their own they won’t solve the intermittency issue.

The large scale storage options, equivalent to big reservoirs, include Power to Gas. The basic idea is to run electrolysers whenever there is an oversupply of renewable electricity. These devices split water into its component parts of hydrogen and oxygen.

The hydrogen can be used to fuel hydrogen vehicles, which in principle could be plugged into homes to act as a power station on wheels. Another option is to store the hydrogen in storage tanks which can be converted back to electricity using a fuel cell when required. In some cases it can even be injected directly into the gas network. Because hydrogen can be difficult to store, it is often easier to mix it with other gasses to produce a green gas.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a process which allows organic waste (for example, food, manure, sewage and grass) to rot down. The end result is a liquid fertiliser and a number of gasses including methane and carbon dioxide. The methane is normally cleaned up and burnt to generate electricity. However, it would probably be better to pump the methane into the national gas network where it can be used to generate electricity or to heat homes when there isn’t a lot of renewable energy.  The carbon dioxide extracted from the AD process can be mixed with the hydrogen to produce more methane. Again this could be pumped into the gas network for use at a later time.

As the gasses have come from waste plant sources rather than digging up fossil fuels, the process can be considered carbon neutral and isn’t a threat to the planet’s climate.

The first stage of the renewable journey has been to install and demonstrate that renewables work. The big challenge for the second leg of the journey is to ramp up the UK’s renewable capacity along with storage and smart technologies. This will allow us to keep the lights on regardless of the weather, fight climate change and create jobs.

Renewable Energy Campaign Update - March 2017

It was mentioned at a previous meeting that Sheffield Climate Alliance (SCA) have secured a space in the Sheffield Telegraph to write a "Big Challenge" article each week for a year. SCA invited Sheffield Friends of the Earth to contribute an article so Shaun agreed to write a piece on storage options for renewable energy. The article submitted is as follows:

Critics of renewable energy suggest we’ll struggle to power the country because there are times when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining. However, a recent report by Friends of the Earth suggests that the majority of our electricity supply could run on renewables with the right mix of energy storage and smart technologies. Not only is this good for the environment, but it will create employment opportunities for people living in South Yorkshire’s cities.

Water is similar to renewable electricity because it is also intermittent. There are days, and even weeks, when the umbrellas can be put away, but everyone remembers the torrential downpours. The intermittency challenge for water was solved by storing it at different scales from water butts to giant reservoirs, thus allowing the taps to be turned on regardless of the weather.

The water butt storage equivalent for a solar home is to install a battery pack similar to Tesla’s Powerwall. The surplus electricity is stored for use when the clouds pass over during the day and at night when the sun has set. The battery would soon be exhausted if there were a number of consecutive cloudy days, but they could be topped up when there is excess wind power. Clearly it won’t allow homes in this country to be completely self-sufficient so other solutions will need adding to the storage portfolio.

Continuing with the water analogy, there are a number of technologies which could be classed as small dams. These include compressed air, flywheels, pumped hydro and large batteries. Typically they can help the national grid at peak times, but on their own they won’t solve the intermittency issue.

The large scale storage options, equivalent to big reservoirs, include Power to Gas. The basic idea is to run electrolysers whenever there is an oversupply of renewable electricity. These devices split water into its component parts of hydrogen and oxygen.

The hydrogen can be used to fuel hydrogen vehicles, which in principle could be plugged into homes to act as a power station on wheels. Another option is to store the hydrogen in storage tanks which can be converted back to electricity using a fuel cell when required. In some cases it can even be injected directly into the gas network. Because hydrogen can be difficult to store, it is often easier to mix it with other gasses to produce a green gas.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a process which allows organic waste (for example, food, manure, sewage and grass) to rot down. The end result is a liquid fertiliser and a number of gasses including methane and carbon dioxide. The methane is normally cleaned up and burnt to generate electricity. However, it would probably be better to pump the methane into the national gas network where it can be used to generate electricity or to heat homes when there isn’t a lot of renewable energy.  The carbon dioxide extracted from the AD process can be mixed with the hydrogen to produce more methane. Again this could be pumped into the gas network for use at a later time.

As the gasses have come from waste plant sources rather than digging up fossil fuels, the process can be considered carbon neutral and isn’t a threat to the planet’s climate.

The first stage of the renewable journey has been to install and demonstrate that renewables work. The big challenge for the second leg of the journey is to ramp up the UK’s renewable capacity along with storage and smart technologies. This will allow us to keep the lights on regardless of the weather, fight climate change and create jobs.

Solar & Climate - April 2016

Solar
Sheffield Renewables have some funding from the Urban Community Energy Fund to install solar PV on a local school. They have identified about 25 schools in Sheffield that are particularly suitable in terms of size of roof, orientation, lack of shading, etc.

If you have any links with a school in Sheffield that doesn't already have solar PV on the roof, please get in touch with julia@sheffieldrenewables.org.uk

Beatrice will email suggestions to Sheffield Renewables as we have a number of contacts with school governors. Beatrice also attended a meeting with Sheffield City Council who have a list of schools and links with the Board of Governors which might help.

Climate Alliance
Can anyone be our link with Sheffield Climate Alliance and attend their meetings as Richard can no longer do this and we would not like to lose the contacts?

Sheffield Renewables Meeting

We are a shareholder of Sheffield Renewables but Richard wasn't sure if he’d be able to attend as he was also planning to attend the Sheffield Climate Alliance meeting on the same day.

Run on Sun Update - November 2015

Richard, Shaun and Kate from Sheffield Friends of the Earth and Mike Knott, a director from AW Solar, met Louise Haigh MP in her constituency office to explain what we have been doing with the Run on Sun campaign and what the main obstacles are. The main one at the moment is the government's desire to destroy the feed-in-tariff for solar power which makes our campaign for solar schools impractical.

During our summer stalls we collected postcards from the public asking their MP to support solar schools and the Run on Sun campaign. We used this opportunity to hand the relevant postcards over to Louise.

We also mentioned that 27,000 solar jobs are at risk nationally, with 2,584 set to go in the Yorkshire and Humber area. Mike commented he feels that these figures are not realistic and the actual job losses will be much higher - maybe double this.

Before leaving, we created a photo stunt with Kate dressed in the giant sun costume supported by Richard in his bright yellow t-shirt. Next to them was Louise Haigh and Mike Knott from AW Solar who kindly supplied the solar panel for the picture.

After taking the photos Shaun sent out a press release to the Sheffield Star and other local media organisations. The article was finally published on 19 November. See the article here:
http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/cuts-threaten-city-solar-plans-1-7574835

Louise Haigh also put the pictures and information about her campaign on her website and Facebook page:
http://www.louisehaigh.org.uk/solar_power
https://www.facebook.com/LouiseHaighMP/posts/435323406678635

The one school we did have in the pipeline for having solar panels fitted to their roof now seems to be stuck in the council machinery, but we are trying to contact members of the council to see if we can urge it or push it through. We will keep trying!

Run on Sun Update - October 2015

Beatrice has emailed Louise Haigh MP to arrange a handover of all the postcards we collected during the summer asking for solar panels to be fitted to school roofs. We plan to invite some solar companies to the hand over so we can also focus on the planned cut to the feed-in-tariff which will result in 20,000 jobs losses in the solar industry.

We'd like to contact other MPs, for example, Clive Betts and Harry Hapham, as people from their constituency have also signed postcards.

Sheffield Friends of the Earth and Sheffield Renewables have been helping a local school to plan a solar installation. The school is still keen to go ahead and has received governor support. The forms have now gone in.

Shaun is also pushing the Run on Sun campaign to save solar jobs on Facebook.

Run on Sun Campaign Update - September 2015

The Government's proposal to reduce the solar feed-in-tariff by 87% means our campaign to put solar panels on schools is on now on hold. We believe it isn't fair to waste the schools’ time if solar panels will be financially unviable. Therefore, all meetings with schools are to be postponed until after the government consultation and review.

One school, however, is still interested in going ahead with a 20kw system if Sheffield Renewables are able to finance it. Julie from Sheffield Renewables has to get the go-ahead before the feed-in-tariff changes.

Friends of the Earth estimate that around 20,000 jobs are at risk because of the steep reductions in the feed-in-tariff.

The sub-group needs more support as there is only Richard and Julie from Sheffield Renewables at the moment. Maddie, Kate and Richard to organise another meeting for this sub group.

If you haven't already signed the petition then you can do so here: https://www.foe.co.uk/act/help-fergal-saveoursolar

Run on Sun Update - August 2015

Cllr Mike Drabble wants to meet us on Thursday 20th August at the Town Hall to discuss the Run on Sun campaign. We are also meeting with Cllr Terry Fox on Wednesday 19th August in the Town Hall. This meeting was supposed to be just Beatrice and Cllr Fox but thanks to Cllr Drabble’s intervention more people can be there.

The Run on Sun postcards that were signed on the recent stalls have all been replied to.

We would like a map to put on the stalls so that people can note where they have seen solar panels on roofs.

Richard is to send information to some Primary Schools regarding the Run on Sun campaign.

The further demise of the Green Deal is posing difficulties in that we are not sure how it will affect the campaign. The main sticking point is the difference between domestic and non-domestic usage and how much Feed in Tariff will be accepted. The belief is that the Green Deal is dead and that domestic users will no longer benefit from the FiT but the lack of information is creating much uncertainty; we will however, go ahead with the campaign.

Sun on Sun Update - July 2015

Our Sun On Sun press release was featured in the Sheffield Star on Friday 26 June 2015.

Richard has been to a meeting with Sheffield Renewables, which has the same aims as FoE, but they have more technical know-how. For example, they are able to calculate the potential solar energy output of any roof, using Google Earth.

Richard has been in touch with one school, which is interested, and was given information about other schools.

A meeting has been arranged with Councillor Terry Fox on 19 August from 4 pm to 5 pm. Only one person will be able to attend, apparently because space is limited. That person will be Beatrice, who will need to be briefed before the meeting. There will be a pre-meeting on 30 July before Beatrice's meeting with Cllr Terry Fox.

We have a case study on Hunters Bar school. Shaun will put the existing version of the case study on the website. It can be revised, if need be, when Kiran reports back. It was also suggested that the case study is expanded to give more information, such as a step-by-step guide (including administrative and technical matters) on how to get a solar panel on a roof.

Marks & Spencer's are offering £400,000 for community groups who are interested in renewable projects. Sheffield Renewables have put in a bid for this scheme. however, the deadline is July 29. See our Facebook posts for more details.

The Run on Sun subgroup are meeting on July 21 in the Students' Union at Sheffield University.

New schools are being built in Sheffield, which could be an opportunity for Run on Sun.

Run on Sun Campaign Update - June 2015

Run on Sun Day of Action
It was the Run on Sun Day of Action at Heeley Festival on Saturday 20th June. We invited Nick Clegg and other MPs such as Louise Haigh. Nick didn't responded to us and Louise was out of the country but supports our campaign. She has given us a supportive quote for one of our press releases.

John, Kiran and Kate took it in turns to dress up in the giant sun which was great for attracting attention. At one point we had people queuing up at the stall to sign postcards calling for a solar powered schools action plan. Basically we want the government to make it easier for schools to install solar panels. At the end of the day we had near 150 signed post cards which we think is a record for a summer stall.

The eco-model also boosted the popularity of the stall for both children and adults.

Richard, John and Hayley at the Heeley Festival

Hunter's Bar School Case Study
Victoria Penman from Hunter's Bar Parent & Teachers Association has done a lot of work to get solar panels installed on the school’s roof. She has issued a press release and photos which we can use as a case study. She is willing to talk to people from other schools and PTAs to support and promote this campaign.

 Richard has contacted a number of schools to show them the benefits of the solar power.

Children from Hunter's Bar Infant school with their solar panels

Council
We have contacted Julie Dore, the leader of the council to meet up with her regarding this campaign so that schools might get some funding from our council like Bradford council. She has passed on the details to other members of the council so that we can meet with them. We have not heard anything yet.

Working with others
We are working with Sheffield Renewables and 10:10 for this campaign. Sheffield Renewables gave a talk at the Run on Sun training day in Sheffield hosted by National FoE, which Richard and Kiran attended. The idea to come from this is that the government should make it easier to allow schools to set up solar on their roofs and to have a One Stop Shop to help with this process. All new school should have renewables fitted as standard, a feed in tariff that works properly and a further 6 million solar roofs to be fitted.

Solar Stalls
For our stalls we are thinking about having a giant map of Sheffield with stars for children to mark where they have seen solar panels. Also, we can get a map of UK to show where the highest proportion of renewables are located. Apparently Sheffield comes pretty high but we are intrigued to find out which are the best places in Sheffield.

Next Sub Group Meeting
There is to be a meeting with Sheffield Renewables and the Run on Sun subgroup on 29th June at 5:30 at the Sheffield University Students’ Union.

Campaign Updates - May 2015

Food Campaign
The general consensus was that a food campaign was a great win win campaign and a sub group was formed. It seemed a very positive campaign which we could embrace whole heartedly.

Run on Sun
No update was given at the meeting due to no one from the sub group being at the meeting.

There is a training day for the Run on Sun campaign on 30th May at Sheffield Hallam University, John and Hayley will attend if needed.

Fracking
No update was given due to people involved with the campaign not being at the meeting.

Smithy Wood
There is no update at present, but a report about the village green status should be out in a couple of months.

Run on Sun Update April 2015

Kiran, Richard and Beatrice composed and sent a letter to Julie Dore asking about funding for schools to purchase solar panels.

Sun on Sun materials have been promoted on our stalls and Kiran and Richard went to the Yorkshire gathering to learn more about the campaign and future steps.

The last meeting was at the University of Sheffield's Students' Union reception on the 27th April.

Sheffield Renewables AGM

Sheffield Renewables have one school already up and running on solar power with one more in the pipeline. They also have a project lined up with South Yorkshire Police, but a project with South Yorkshire Housing Association had to be scrapped as the grid couldn't accept the power. There is a new investment deal is imminent so more solar power can be provided.

Hayley will invite Sheffield Renewables to future meeting for update

Run On Sun Sub Group Report - March 2015

The Run on Sun campaign sub group met up with people from Ecclesall Infant School to see if it could be viable to put solar panel on their school. Lots of information was left with the school for them too look at. They will get back in touch with us soon.

The Run on Sun group also talked to people at Hunters Bar School as they already have solar panels on their roof which was completed in conjunction with a 10:10 project. We think this could be used as a case study for other local schools who are worried about the process.

At the Yorkshire Gathering in Leeds there were more examples of case studies that we could use. Saltaire School in Bradford got a loan from the council and as it has proved so successful they are willing to put up £1,000,000 to fund more schools. Kiran will send all the information round so that we can all be kept up to date on the campaign. We are also looking into ways of contacting Sheffield City Council to see if they will also fund schools projects like Bradford. Beatrice will look into this.

We have both packs now: the local groups pack and the education pack so we are all ready to hand out information on stalls. We have had people sign the post cards but we need the post box for them to ‘post’. John will look into this. The ones that we have already got will get an email from us inviting them to our meetings.

Sheffield Renewables - AGM

Sheffield Renewables is holding their AGM on Thursday 19th March 7-9pm. John and Hayley will be going to this to represent Sheffield Friends of the Earth. See http://www.sheffieldrenewables.org.uk/

Run on Sun Sub Group - February 2015

Kiran and Richard met and will circulate an action plan soon.

Richard has got the Sun on Sun leaflets but they are not for the local groups - more public focused. We suggested leaving it for a couple of days and email FoE again for the right pack. In the meantime we do have some things to give out if needed.

We now have a response from Nick Clegg which is positive about the campaign (this makes the total of 4 MPs supporting our campaign). Kiran has arranged a meeting with a governor from Ecclesall Junior School.

Our next steps are to draft and send a letter to school governors (Kiran and Richard). We will contact Hunters Bar Infants School (10:10 linked school with solar panels) and the council  to arrange a meeting  to discuss if they will offer interest free loans like Bradford Council for Saltaire Primary School (John from Baildon FoE has more details)

See http://www.sheffieldrenewables.org.uk/ for links to schools Sheffield Renewables are working with.

Richard has produced a Solar Panel Haiku

Rays falling on me

Create sparks on the inside.

POWER to your life!

Renewable Energy Storage Solutions

Shaun gave a very informative description of what would be needed to help with the storage solutions for renewable energy. This is a very complex area and the start of a excellent piece of work. It looks at using renewable energy to generate hydrogen and using biogas for storage. It was suggested that when Shaun has completed the document that he forwarded it to national FoE.

Run on Sun

We have had three replies from Sheffield MPs which have all been positive. They will be writing to schools in their constituency informing them of the campaign. They also made suggestions as to how the schools could afford the solar panels; they could get a private loan and pay back through the Feed In Tariff, they could get a local ethical solar panel installer to install it and pay back through the FiT. There was a suggestion that the council could offer a loan and have it repaid through the FiT and Green Deal. An MP is to write to the council to make this suggestion and also to Tristam Hunt and Ed Balls to raise awareness of what we are doing. There is to be a sub group to organise this campaign comprising of Richard, John, Hayley and Kiran. We need to order stickers, badges, and a big fluffy costume; Richard is to do this. Also, Kiran will sort out a sign up for the campaign.

Run on Sun costumes