The installation of a community water ReFILL station on the town centre Triangle in Bude, Cornwall, is being welcomed as the high water mark local action to tackle global environmental problems.

The water station was an idea that came from the local ReFILL movement, who have already had such an impact on minimising the use of non-recyclable and single-use plastics in our town through their cups and bottles.

The campaign began in Bude and has grown on a national scale: Michael Gove, the secretary of state for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has been seen out and about with his ReFILL cup.

Power as consumers

Deb Rosser, founder of ReFILL, said: “I launched ReFILL in 2014 with Neil Hembrow, from Keep Britain Tidy’s project. It was a really simple idea – just take a refillable, reuseable water bottle into café or a restaurant or such, and get pure Cornish tap water, for free.

“We began producing the ReFILL cups and bottles that have become so well-known in our town. And these have taken off – we have sold thousands, and all of the profits from these go straight back into our local community – into the charity Friends of Bude Sea Pool.

“This has definitely been a success, but it is important for us to keep encouraging locals and visitors to ReFILL bottles instead of buying disposable ones. And so, the next logical part of our campaign was to install a local water station for all to use, for free! Anyone in our town can access water at any time, free of charge, and without harming the environment.”

She added: “We created a crowdfunding campaign to raise the funds for the station, and it proved hugely popular – we managed to raise £3,905 in just 28 days, which has enabled us to purchase a state-of-the-art water station, which has three taps – one for refilling cups and bottles, one fountain for drinking on-the-go, and one to fill dog bowls, too.

“I hope everyone in our town can make full use of the water station. We have the power as consumers to help stop plastic going into landfill or ending up on our beaches! And, let’s remember, it’s not just about plastic, the production and transportation of bottled water costs ridiculous amounts of money and has a huge impact on carbon emissions. It’s all really unnecessary, especially since tap water is free.”

Healthy and hydrated

The water station is being installed voluntarily by local plumber Ali Gilbert. She said: “I’m so pleased to able to support this initiative organised by Deb at ReFILL. She has already done so much for her town, so I was glad to be able to help her with the pipework installation to get the station up and running.”

But to even get the plumbing done, there has been the requirement of a mini digger and a surprising amount of groundwork to secure a steady base for the water station, and luckily, local builder Jon Sleeman has also stepped in voluntarily, supplying the tools and people needed to organise this. Jon said: “Bude has a fantastic community, it’s so great that we can pull together with times like these to make our town an even more amazing place to live and visit.”

Bude-Stratton Town Council are paying for the water supply to the station, and are also covering ongoing maintenance. Mayor Bob Willingham said: “We think this is a fantastic idea, and that the Bude ReFILL team have done a great job taking it from concept to reality. We believe the town will make good use of the water station, and so we are glad to support the installation however we can.”

Avril Sainsbury, from 8ight Design – and also founder of the Bude Cleaner Seas Project – is also voluntarily designing a plaque to recognise the water station. She said: “Deb does so much for our town – she even recently won a Bude Heroes Award for her efforts to protect our environment – so I was really glad to help her with the plaque design for this water station. Everyone at Bude Cleaner Seas Project see this as a great initiative that will help protect our sea and beaches from nasty plastic.”

Alan Hyde, head of community relations at South West Water, said: “As a founding member of the Refill initiative in Cornwall, we are delighted to see the installation of a community water ReFILL station in Bude. The new station will help protect the marine environment from plastic pollution, and at the same time help keep people healthy and hydrated when out and about.”

The water station is going to be installed on The Triangle in Bude over the coming weeks, and there will be a grand unveiling on Saturday 16th February, at 10.30am in which all are welcome to attend.

This author

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist. This article is based on a press release from Bude-Stratton Town Council. 

Former Chancellor George Osborne’s 2015 decision to scrap the Zero Carbon Homes policy is costing occupants of new-build homes more than £200 per year on their energy bills, finds a new analysis from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU).

The £200 per year saving that would have resulted from the Zero Carbon Homes policy is nearly three times the amount sought by the Government’s recently-introduced energy price cap.

Since 2015, owners of new-build homes in England have collectively paid more than £120 million in additional energy costs – a figure that will rise to more than £2 billion by 2020 as more and more new dwellings are occupied.

Wasted

The Zero Carbon Homes policy was due to come into effect in 2016 after nine years of discussions with housebuilders and other stakeholders, but Treasury cancelled it six months before implementation. A poll of MPs conducted last year for ECIU by YouGov showed that more than half (55 percent) support re-introduction of Zero Carbon Homes, with only 18 percent opposed.

Dr Jonathan Marshall, ECIU Head of Analysis, said: “Successive governments have struggled to devise effective domestic energy efficiency policies, meaning carbon emissions from homes are rising, but Zero Carbon Homes could have made a real difference.

“As well as future-proofing new homes, the policy would have saved families money, reduced Britain’s vulnerability to energy supply shocks, and cut carbon emissions.

“Tackling new build homes is one of the easiest ways of improving the UK’s leaky housing stock, and reintroducing this policy could also deliver a boost to firms involved in insulation and low-carbon heating.”

The UK does not currently have an extensive domestic energy efficiency scheme, meaning that carbon emissions from UK homes have risen over the past two years. Although decarbonising heat is challenging, government advisors such as the Committee on Climate Change consider that reducing the amount of energy wasted from buildings is essential, as the UK has some of the most inefficient homes in Europe.

Low standards

Heating is responsible for around 40 percent of national energy consumption, and around 25% of emissions. Of this, homes are responsible for more than half (57 percent), with 80 percent of British homes currently heated by natural gas. Heating also represents the largest component of domestic energy bills and is therefore directly linked to fuel poverty concerns.

Paula Higgins, chief executive of the Homeowners Alliance said: “One of the most regular concerns that people raise with us is energy bills. Britain’s leaky homes mean that people can struggle to manage their bills while keeping their homes comfortable and warm.

“For the less well off, this can have a real impact, with the threat of fuel poverty and very real health risks.

“One of our long-running campaigns is for better new-build homes; low standards, thin walls and inadequate heating are problems that we see time and again. Homes should be built to the highest standards to be fit for this and future generations; Government and industry need to recognise that it’s in everyone’s interest to get this right.”

This Article

This article is based on a press release from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit.

Fossil fuel giant Royal Dutch Shell is facing legal action from environmental and human rights organisations if it fails to align its growth plans with global climate goals aimed at averting catastrophic global warming.

The seven organisations will hand over a court summons on 5 April if Shell fails to change its business model to align with the Paris Agreement and set out a plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 – in what would be the first case of its kind.

ActionAid Netherlands, Greenpeace Netherlands, Fossielvrij NL, part of the 350 network, Both ENDS, Wadden Sea Forum and Youth Environment Active (JMA) are joining Friends of the Earth Netherlands in delivering these demands to the company.

Destructive

Shell is the largest polluter based in the Netherlands and one of just 100 fossil fuel producers responsible for 71% of all harmful industrial greenhouse gas emissions since 1988.

The groups say in a letter to the company they will handover a court summons if Shell fails to meet their requests. More than 13,000 Dutch citizens have signed up to become co-claimants in the potential legal case. Hundreds of co-claimants will join the seven organisations as they hand over the court summons at Shell’s headquarters in The Hague on 5 April.

Shell spends billions on oil and gas exploration each year, with current plans to invest just 5% ($1-2 billion) of its budget in sustainable energy and 95 percent ($25-30 billion) in exploiting fossil fuels. Shell’s destructive plans are simply incompatible with the goal to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C of warming set out by the Paris Agreement.

Maria van der Heide, head of policy and campaigns at global justice organisation ActionAid Netherlands, says: “From severe droughts in Africa to extreme flooding in Asia, millions of people we work with are seeing their lives and livelihoods torn apart by climate change. Shell’s refusal to kick its fossil fuel addiction, is sentencing them and many more to further devastation. We’re joining this case because we want to ensure that Shell finally puts humanity’s future above its bottom line.”

Joris Thijssen, director of Greenpeace Netherlands, said: “For decades, Shell has chosen to make big profits at the expense of the climate. Shell is deliberately obstructing the energy revolution that is so badly needed to prevent catastrophic climate change. We need to make sure that Shell takes responsibility for its actions and changes its destructive business model.”

Biggest threat

Danielle Hirsch, director of environmental group Both ENDS, said: “For Both ENDS it’s a logical step to become a co-plaintiff, because companies like Shell keep the world dependent on fossil fuels. In the meantime, millions of people in world are suffering from the extraction and use of fossil fuels. The fossil fuel industry – and Shell in particular – is not taking their responsibility.”

Liset Meddens, director of Fossielvrij Netherlands, which is part of the 350 network, said: “This court case offers a historic opportunity to break the power of climate damaging companies such as Shell, and to stop their damaging activities. It is unacceptable that multinationals like Shell are still slowing down the transition from fossils to renewable, sustainable energy. We are very proud of the fact that we are taking Shell to court together with 13,000 Dutch citizens and Friends of the Earth Netherlands.”

Sibel Kurt, chair of the youth organisation Jongeren Milieu Actief, said: “In a time where the strongest shoulders should bear the heaviest burden, Shell continues to act in way that negatively impacts our planet and our future. It is time we stand up together, raise our voice and make sure that Shell’s activities are supporting a sustainable future.”

Lutz Jacobi, director Wadden Sea Forum, says: “Climate change is the biggest threat for the Wadden Sea, the Netherland’s only World Heritage Site. Shell is one of the 100 fossil fuel producers who together are responsible for 71% of the emission of greenhouse gases worldwide. Shell can really make a difference for the climate, and also for the Wadden Sea. It is only by working together we can make sure to stop climate change. That’s why we are joining the law suit.”

This article

This article is based on a press release from Friends of the Earth, Netherlands. 

Sweden’s shipping sector is preparing to end the use of fossil fuels domestically by 2045, in line with national climate goals.

The Swedish Shipowners’ Association is developing a roadmap to net zero greenhouse gas emissions in partnership with Fossil-free Sweden, a government initiative. It follows similar plans for nine industries, to implement a law passed in 2017.

With the right incentives, the shipping industry can radically improve efficiency and switch to low carbon biofuels or electricity, leaders of the two organisations wrote in an opinion article for financial newspaper Dagens Industri.

Ambitious players

A national target to cut emissions from domestic transport 70% by 2030, on the way to net zero in 2045, is “challenging but not impossible”, wrote Rikard Engström and Svante Axelsson.

Developing and installing low carbon equipment costs more: an extra 5 billion Swedish kroner ($500 million) on the estimated SEK 25 billion value of 50 vessels on order by Swedish companies, according to the industry group. They called on government to fund innovation and tweak the tax system to favour low carbon technology and practices.

It is worth it to gain a competitive advantage, the article argued, and “show the way” for international shipping. Last year countries at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) agreed to halve the sector’s global carbon footprint by mid-century.

Scandinavian shippers are among the more ambitious players in the industry.

Global industry

Norway launched the first all-electric ferry in 2015, tapping into the country’s bountiful hydropower resources.

Danish giant Maersk made waves in December by declaring its intention to go carbon neutral by 2050. Due to the long lifespan of vessels, that means making zero-carbon ships commercially viable by 2030, the company explained.

Efficiency improvements alone will not be enough, said chief operating officer Søren Toft at the time: “The only possible way to achieve the so-much-needed decarbonisation in our industry is by fully transforming to new carbon neutral fuels and supply chains.”

Other elements of the global industry are less ready to embrace the challenge. Major commodities exporters like Brazil and Saudi Arabia have resisted specific carbon-cutting measures at the IMO, citing concerns about the impact on trade and development.

This Article

This Article first appeared on Climate Home News.

Dale Vince and Guy Singh-Watson – two of Britain’s greenest entrepreneurs – have come together to appeal for businesses to refocus on people and the planet over profit. 

Vince, who is the founder of green energy company Ecotricity, and Singh-Watson, who established the organic veg box company Riverford, have called for different measures of success, and said the short-term pursuit of profit damages both people and the environment. 

It comes in a week of yet another reminder of how human activity is harming the environment with news that more than 40 per cent of insect species are declining and a third are endangered, primarily due to agricultural intensification.

Motivates

On a global policy level, there is little evidence that world leaders are truly committed to the scale of change needed. David Attenborough told the recent World Economic Forum in Davos that humans are wrecking the planet, but the leaders he addressed arrived on 1,500 private jets and some are already planning how to capitalise on the impacts of climate change.

Dale Vince, Ecotricity founder, said: “Capitalism has become a force of evil in the world and I don’t think it originated in that way and it doesn’t need to be that way.

“The pursuit of profit has taken priority over people, over the environment, over everything.

“I’m not motivated by money. I want to change the world. Everything that motivates me is about creating change because I can see so much scope for that – so much change that we need to bring so that we all live more sustainably.”

Veg boxes

Guy Singh-Watson, Riverford founder and organic farmer, said: “The quest for short-term profits is what’s wrong. For some reason we don’t measure success in the things that really matter so we measure it with money.

“It should be measured in what you can do – what you can do for other people, what you can do for the environment. That’s the shift we need.”

Riverford is the first veg box company in the world to have all their operations powered by 100 per cent green electricity, and saves 665 tonnes of CO2 annually by being supplied by Ecotricity –the equivalent weight of 133,000 veg boxes.

This Author

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist. This story is based on a press release from Riverford.

Dale Vince and Guy Singh-Watson – two of Britain’s greenest entrepreneurs – have come together to appeal for businesses to refocus on people and the planet over profit. 

Vince, who is the founder of green energy company Ecotricity, and Singh-Watson, who established the organic veg box company Riverford, have called for different measures of success, and said the short-term pursuit of profit damages both people and the environment. 

It comes in a week of yet another reminder of how human activity is harming the environment with news that more than 40 per cent of insect species are declining and a third are endangered, primarily due to agricultural intensification.

Motivates

On a global policy level, there is little evidence that world leaders are truly committed to the scale of change needed. David Attenborough told the recent World Economic Forum in Davos that humans are wrecking the planet, but the leaders he addressed arrived on 1,500 private jets and some are already planning how to capitalise on the impacts of climate change.

Dale Vince, Ecotricity founder, said: “Capitalism has become a force of evil in the world and I don’t think it originated in that way and it doesn’t need to be that way.

“The pursuit of profit has taken priority over people, over the environment, over everything.

“I’m not motivated by money. I want to change the world. Everything that motivates me is about creating change because I can see so much scope for that – so much change that we need to bring so that we all live more sustainably.”

Veg boxes

Guy Singh-Watson, Riverford founder and organic farmer, said: “The quest for short-term profits is what’s wrong. For some reason we don’t measure success in the things that really matter so we measure it with money.

“It should be measured in what you can do – what you can do for other people, what you can do for the environment. That’s the shift we need.”

Riverford is the first veg box company in the world to have all their operations powered by 100 per cent green electricity, and saves 665 tonnes of CO2 annually by being supplied by Ecotricity –the equivalent weight of 133,000 veg boxes.

This Author

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist. This story is based on a press release from Riverford.

Dale Vince and Guy Singh-Watson – two of Britain’s greenest entrepreneurs – have come together to appeal for businesses to refocus on people and the planet over profit. 

Vince, who is the founder of green energy company Ecotricity, and Singh-Watson, who established the organic veg box company Riverford, have called for different measures of success, and said the short-term pursuit of profit damages both people and the environment. 

It comes in a week of yet another reminder of how human activity is harming the environment with news that more than 40 per cent of insect species are declining and a third are endangered, primarily due to agricultural intensification.

Motivates

On a global policy level, there is little evidence that world leaders are truly committed to the scale of change needed. David Attenborough told the recent World Economic Forum in Davos that humans are wrecking the planet, but the leaders he addressed arrived on 1,500 private jets and some are already planning how to capitalise on the impacts of climate change.

Dale Vince, Ecotricity founder, said: “Capitalism has become a force of evil in the world and I don’t think it originated in that way and it doesn’t need to be that way.

“The pursuit of profit has taken priority over people, over the environment, over everything.

“I’m not motivated by money. I want to change the world. Everything that motivates me is about creating change because I can see so much scope for that – so much change that we need to bring so that we all live more sustainably.”

Veg boxes

Guy Singh-Watson, Riverford founder and organic farmer, said: “The quest for short-term profits is what’s wrong. For some reason we don’t measure success in the things that really matter so we measure it with money.

“It should be measured in what you can do – what you can do for other people, what you can do for the environment. That’s the shift we need.”

Riverford is the first veg box company in the world to have all their operations powered by 100 per cent green electricity, and saves 665 tonnes of CO2 annually by being supplied by Ecotricity –the equivalent weight of 133,000 veg boxes.

This Author

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist. This story is based on a press release from Riverford.

Dale Vince and Guy Singh-Watson – two of Britain’s greenest entrepreneurs – have come together to appeal for businesses to refocus on people and the planet over profit. 

Vince, who is the founder of green energy company Ecotricity, and Singh-Watson, who established the organic veg box company Riverford, have called for different measures of success, and said the short-term pursuit of profit damages both people and the environment. 

It comes in a week of yet another reminder of how human activity is harming the environment with news that more than 40 per cent of insect species are declining and a third are endangered, primarily due to agricultural intensification.

Motivates

On a global policy level, there is little evidence that world leaders are truly committed to the scale of change needed. David Attenborough told the recent World Economic Forum in Davos that humans are wrecking the planet, but the leaders he addressed arrived on 1,500 private jets and some are already planning how to capitalise on the impacts of climate change.

Dale Vince, Ecotricity founder, said: “Capitalism has become a force of evil in the world and I don’t think it originated in that way and it doesn’t need to be that way.

“The pursuit of profit has taken priority over people, over the environment, over everything.

“I’m not motivated by money. I want to change the world. Everything that motivates me is about creating change because I can see so much scope for that – so much change that we need to bring so that we all live more sustainably.”

Veg boxes

Guy Singh-Watson, Riverford founder and organic farmer, said: “The quest for short-term profits is what’s wrong. For some reason we don’t measure success in the things that really matter so we measure it with money.

“It should be measured in what you can do – what you can do for other people, what you can do for the environment. That’s the shift we need.”

Riverford is the first veg box company in the world to have all their operations powered by 100 per cent green electricity, and saves 665 tonnes of CO2 annually by being supplied by Ecotricity –the equivalent weight of 133,000 veg boxes.

This Author

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist. This story is based on a press release from Riverford.

The end is nigh for fracking in the UK, not that it ever particularly got started.

Regulators at the government’s Department of Business, Energy, Innovation and Skills (BEIS) recently denied fracking pioneer Cuadrilla’s request to raise earthquake limits.

This is a hammer blow to the company’s prospects of profitably extracting shale gas at their Preston New Road (PNR) site in Lancashire.

There is little more that Cuadrilla could do to portray itself as the arch-villain of the climate movement as they demand the Government allow them to induce more earthquakes at their site between Blackpool and Preston. All to make a quick profit.

Their demand comes after fracking just 5% of the well at PNR since beginning horizontal drilling on 15 October 2018. They have induced 57 earth tremors between then an February 2019.

BEIS state that while they support fracking, they have set existing regulations in consultation with the industry.

You can’t help but expect that even this callous Tory government have woken up to the deep unpopularity of fracking. By limiting Cuadrilla’s expansion at this stage, time is being run down until a Labour government ban it all together. It may even come with a new Tory leader in an attempt to appear ‘green’.

No support

Polling in a BEIS report in December 2018 showed that only 13 percent of the public support fracking in the UK. A peak of now 35 percent oppose.

The gap has only widened since 2014. There is nothing about fracking that cultivates popular support. The more the public learn about fracking, the more they oppose it.

The industry often argues for its existence under the guise of energy independence from big, bad, scary Russia. In reality, less than one percent of the UK’s gas comes from Russia.

The truth is that there is no under-supply of gas in Europe. The only demand for a new gas industry comes from investors and fossil capitalists who stand to make money from exacerbating climate breakdown.

Why would the public support a disruptive mode of extraction that just unnecessarily pumps unwanted gas into the energy supply?

Every proposed fracking site radicalises a new wave of organisers willing to put everything on the line to stop the industry imposing itself on their community.

In Lancashire, local nanas went from dipping their toes in activism by objecting to Cuadrilla’s plans to leading a movement and blockading the site themselves.

Where the fracking industry goes, local residents will be confronted by its terrible realities for climate, geologies, house prices and beyond.

Local struggles

These local communities get highly organised quickly.

They’re also supported by national networks like Reclaim the Power (RTP) and Friends of the Earth (FOE). As locals bring the energy and drive to defend their land from fracking, the networks have brought the experience, skills and capacity to amplify local struggles and throw national weight behind local struggles against a government-backed industry.

As mass demos and audacious blockades continue to the chorus of “until we win!”, you can only believe that these activists are committed to the fight until the bitter end.

Indeed, their organising has brought about the end for fracking. By using every trick in the book to frustrate Cuadrilla’s attempt to kick-start fracking in Lancashire, they have played a massive part in the industry’s failure.

Had they not put up a fight over many years, the government would have found it easy to relax regulations and wave through a dangerous new industry. Instead, there just isn’t the mood for that level of disregard for people and planet.

While UK fracking knocks at death’s door, we must remember that the struggle to kill it off is not over. Later in February, Reclaim the Power are organising “two days of resistance and direct action to disrupt the fracking supply chain and new gas infrastructure”.

The fracking industry needs kicking while they’re down. As the anti-fracking movement puts the nail in fracking’s coffin, there’s no better time to join the movement. Fracking was never going to succeed in the UK, but its down to us to make sure that INEOS, Third Energy and their fellow travellers meet the same fate as Cuadrilla.

This author

Chris Saltmarsh is co-director of climate change campaigns at People & Planet and member of Reclaim the Power in Oxford. He tweets at @chris_saltmarsh.

Ireland’s grid operator is lobbying Brussels to fast track funding to connect the country to the rest of Europe, citing concerns about becoming isolated after Brexit, its boss told Climate Home News.

Ireland relies heavily on British energy. It shares its electricity market with Northern Ireland, with just two power links to the mainland, and receives most of its oil and gas imports from the UK.

While an abrupt, no-deal Brexit on 29 March is unlikely to stop those supplies, it could lead to disruptions if Europe and Britain’s rules diverge in future, energy industry representatives are warning.

Rising supply

With these risks in mind, state-owned EirGrid is urging the European Commission to approve funding for a planned €930m electricity link with France before the commission’s term ends late this year, according to chief executive Mark Foley.

“It’s a project of common interest and a project of enormous strategic importance to an island nation which, in a post-Brexit situation, is not connected to Europe,” Foley said on the sidelines of a conference at Dublin City University last week. “We’d like to achieve grant aid in formal terms in the lifetime of the current EU commission.”

The commission has already approved funding for studies of the Celtic Interconnector, which is deemed a cross-border project of common interest that can bolster the EU-wide energy market. If additional funding is secured, EirGrid and its French counterpart, RTE, hope to begin trading power in 2026, Foley added.

Plans for the link between southern Ireland and northwest France predate Brexit by about five years, and proponents say it will be crucial to both countries regardless of the UK’s future relationship with the EU.

For Ireland, new interconnectors are needed to balance the rising supply of renewable power. This way producers can export their electricity when the weather is strong and supply exceeds demand, and import when it wanes.

Disputes

Renewables – mostly wind, with some hydro and solar – accounted for about one-third of the entire island’s power generation in 2018, according to EirGrid. The republic aims to reach 40% by 2020, and EirGrid expects to have to double the island’s capacity of around 5,000 megawatts to reach its 2030 goal.

“As we take it to the next level, if we don’t have the safety relief valve to export wind to other jurisdictions, the economic case for building renewables on the part of private developers won’t be there… they won’t get bank financing,” Foley said.

That’s why EirGrid is also pursuing a planned second power connection with Northern Ireland and considering another to mainland UK – on the assumption that Brexit will not split the island’s single power market, he added.

Ireland and Northern Ireland further integrated their market last October, allowing traders to buy and sell as quickly as within the day. London, Dublin and Brussels have all promised to keep the market intact after Brexit.

That said, there are concerns that British and Irish market rules will gradually diverge, and uncertainties about how disputes between traders would be resolved if the UK is not under the European Court of Justice’s jurisdiction – adding to Ireland’s need for links beyond Britain.

This Article

This Article first appeared on Climate Home News.