Plenty of discussion, her is a summary, feel free to add you comments/question at the end.

Next Energy Drinks gathering on Thus 29th October 16:30, see events for any updates.

1. The programme for Open Eco Homes has been published. There will be about 21 location to visit in Devon over the weekends between 19^th Sep. to 11^th Oct. The majority are in Teignbridge opening their homes to visitors on three weekends. Check out the publicity to plan/book your visit.
   
   A launch event is planned at the Newton Abbot library on the 23^rd September 19:00-21:00. This will be a collection of talks by some of the hosts with an opportunity to ask questions and find out more about what’s on offer for this year’s Devon-wide Open Eco Homes.
2. As our summers get warmer, it’s inevitable that the topic of overheating homes was raised. Many remedies we hear about tend to suggest ways of cooling our homes or ourselves. These should really be the last resort. A more effective way would be to keep the heat out of our homes in the first place, but only in the summer.
   
   Shading, especially windows, are a first consideration, ideally flexible to allow solar gain in the winter. This can be natural structures like deciduous trees, umbrellas, hard/soft material awnings (adjustable/retractable), external screens or high G-value windows. Closing curtains/blinds can have some benefit, but is not as effective because the heat will have got into the house.
   
   It may sound counter intuitive, but insulating our roofs and walls can make a big difference. Some heat pumps are reversable, especially air-to-air ones. Air-to-water heat pumps can work, but need careful consideration of potential condensation. If you have surplus electricity from solar PV panels, you can consider using this for cooling rather than exporting to the grid.
   
   The Energy Saving Trust provide a good overview. You could also visit some of the Open Eco Homes that have taken measures, from PassivHaus to DIY or go to the Build It Live exhibition at Westpoint near Exeter on the 12/13 September.
3. In the news the past year has been the US’s aggressive stance on controlling natural oil/gas reserves. First in Greenland (40 bn barrels) and more recently Venezuela (300 bn barrels). The UK may still have 3-7 bn barrels left in the North Sea. Should we be worried and what can we do about it?
   
   It’ll take many years to develop the fields in Venezuela and Greenland, possibly decades. Nevertheless, there are many more known oil reserves worldwide (over 1,500 bn barrels), many are being actively developed with little if any effective campaign to stop them.
   The US administration is motivated by having little or no geopolitical control over the vast majority of these reserves. Its own reserves are 38-46 bn barrels which are being depleted faster that all others as it tries to satisfy demand without strengthening countries it disagrees with geopolitically.
   
   It is only natural that when we pick up on certain alarming news items that resonate, we get worried and try to do something about it or just forget/ignore. Another soon to hit the news are the North Sea licences the government is likely to issue. This is a difficult balance for many, how much effort to put into taking action. The subject is not new to those steering ACT’s activities or for those who subscribe to ACT and other environmental groups. While ACT welcomes and encourages everyone to take whatever action they feel appropriate, we are aware of our finite resources to take effective action.
   
   Our focus is therefore to take action where we can achieve maximum impact, within the constraints of our resources and abilities. You can find out about our priorities and what activities the different ACT groups are taking, visit our website.
   
   There are several international organisation acting on dramatically reducing the use of fossil fuels in generating the energy we depend on. They include:
   • 350.org: A massive international grassroots movement
   • Oil Change International: A research and advocacy organisation
   • Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative: A diplomatic push modelled after nuclear treaties
   • Climate Action Network (CAN): A worldwide network of over 1,800 civil society organisations
4. An energy group member made an excellent suggestion to create an infographic as a response to the misinformation around the price of energy and decarbonisation. There was very useful feedback on the initial drafts from about 10 people of varying background, interest and views on the topic.
   
   As a result, we’ve created an infographic which explores if renewables are more expensive than gas generated electricity. We know that over 85% of UK residents are concerned about climate change, but many of those are not necessarily convinced renewables are the answer, mainly because of the widespread belief that they push up electricity prices.
   
   It is that audience we want to target with an infographic that is uncomplicated, balanced with enough information to elicit both agreement and challenge. Essentially to engage people in a conversation. You can see a draft of this here, let me know what you think.
5. Inevitably China came up in the discussion about the infographic on electricity from renewable vs gas. We agreed that we don’t really hear much about how China is progressing, some claim they are the biggest polluters with their carbon fuelled power stations, others claim they have more renewables than the rest of the world put together.
   
   Here is a useful article on what China’s plans are. Let me know if you’d like to share other relevant information on this topic.
6. NESO are conducting further Demand Flexibility tests during September. Our region will be offered one such test with the Guarantee Acceptance Price from NESO shown below.
   These are competitive prices when compared to the average wholesale prices of electricity ranging between £60/MWh and £130/MWh depending on whether gas generation is <20% or >20% respectively.
   
   There is an online webinar scheduled for Sept 22^nd 1pm on grid balancing, it’s free to attend if you’re interested in what criteria are used to turn generation on/off.
   • demand turn-up test will carry a GAP of £180/MWh
   • demand turn-down test will carry a GAP of £500/MWh
7. Teignbridge district council has publicised the joint My Electricity initiative. There were 11 people who expressed an interest in running a session with one group having completed this. The session was at a sports club where the committee running the club identified significant potential for saving (more than half of their ~£25k annual electricity bill).

My notes from the July 2026 ACT Energy Drinks gathering.

Next gathering will be at the Newton Abbot Taphouse on 3rd September 16:30 unless someone would like it elsewhere.
Thank you to all those who sent the following in.

• Data centres, North Devon proposal.
• NESO’s responds to our request for evidence.
• 2025 UK emission data published.
• UK electricity plans for the 2030s onwards.
• Register for Open Eco Homes.

1. The company behind the North Devon project is Xlinks. They say the company is all about building renewable capacity to support the growing need for electricity, e.g. Data Centres. Interestingly the proposed North Devon site does not appear to include renewable generation (other than a few solar carports in the artist’s impression), just a 1.8GW battery system to “deliver up to 1.8GW of AI-optimised compute capacity”. That figure is a bit vague as it suggests the maximum Power that the Data Centre draws. That is a lot given the total UK’s maximum electricity grid Power was ~ 46GW throughout 2025. It’s also significantly more than some of the largest Data Centres with a Power rating of ~0.1GW.
   
   They may have got the units wrong and meant to say 1.8GWh, probably over 1 year. This would make it a relatively small Data Centre compared to some that consume more electricity than the total UK consumption of ~300TWh p.a. (1TWh =1,000GWh). So it’s probably the correct unit of Power rather than annual energy. Therefore, a very significant addition to UK electricity consumption!
   
   Promising no new renewables on site or nearby, just a battery, suggests they’ll be buying low-cost (high Carbon?) electricity and cycling it through the battery, further increasing GHG emissions. See the Greenwash paper and the on-line regional forecaster.
   
   We discussed the general advantages of AI and associated Data Centres as well as their impact on electricity and water consumption. We also touched on the impact of AI on human behaviour/cognition. In essence we felt there was a lot of ‘unnecessary’ use of the technology, some of which we touched on in previous sessions. Putting planning constraints on Data Centres to generate the majority, if not all, their energy demand from new local sources seemed a good starting point. Similarly, a requirement to have a closed-loop water cooling system, would be necessary especially where such water volumes were not readily available (e.g. by the sea).
2. DFS carbon saving claims were covered at our last session. We had to submit an Environmental Information Regulations Request to get a sensible reply detailing the evidence used for their assertion on the Demand Side Flexibility service. Eventually they did e-mail back with a link to a report which contained 1/2page ‘evidence’ for the claim in a 21 page report on the financial and network constraint benefits (see page 19).
   
   I had to write back to clarify the question and the rather vague evidence provided. I received a phone call within the hour from a helpful person at NESO. Surprisingly, he was not aware of the Regional Carbon Intensity his organisation has been publishing for over two years. Understandably he was not able to take responsibility for how their customers (the utilities) market the product.
   
   Regrettably, I was not able to persuade him to put a cavate next to their claim the DFS service reduces ghg emissions. I had to accept that given the methodology used of only measuring aggregated transmission network impacts, they did not need to highlight that not every region would see a reduction in ghg emissions as this was something their customers should do. Although they did have the regional distribution of MPANs, this information could not be shared.
   
   Hopefully the exchange makes those at NESO look into how they run this service and make appropriate adjustments for regional variations.
3. Government published UK ghg emissions for 2025 highlights. A useful overview (see the bar chart) of reductions and some increases since 1990. Also, the sector breakdown of these emissions. You can draw your own conclusions on how good these reported figures are and how they compare to what the Paris Agreement target is to avoid a climate tipping point.  
4. See the GB electricity future report from NESO. This describes how the network is expected to grow after the mid 2030s. Between now and then the electricity network demand (consumption) is expected to grow by 30%. This sounds like a modest increase given the policy to decarbonise transport and heating may eventually result in a 4-fold increase in demand. It is true electricity demand has flatlined for the past 5 years despite the uptake of heat pumps and electric vehicles, albeit at a modest rate. This increase in demand has been offset by greater efficiencies and de-industrialisation. It’s not clear though why this trend would continue at the same rate to justify the low ambition in NESO’s plans.
   
   Maybe there is a secret plan to help household and business reduce up to 40% of their electricity consumption!
5. Last reminder if you, or someone you know, has built an eco-house or made their home more sustainable and might like to open it to the public for a few hours one weekend this autumn.
   
   Register your interest by filling in this short form: 
   Open Eco Homes Devon – Homeowner Expression of Interest Form
   Events are taking place throughout Devon.
   
   Open Eco Homes events give people the chance to visit real homes that have made energy-saving or ecological improvements – from insulation and retrofit projects to heat pumps, solar panels, natural building, rainwater harvesting, wildlife-friendly gardens and more. Visitors really value the chance to ask honest questions and hear directly from people who have actually gone through the process themselves.
   
   You absolutely do not need a “perfect” eco-home. People are often most inspired by practical homes similar to their own, including partial retrofits, ongoing projects and simple low-cost improvements.
   
   The event weekends across Devon will run between 12 September and 11 October 2026, and we’ll work with hosts to find timings that suit them.

Next energy drinks gathering at the Newton Abbot taphouse is on 9th July 16:30.
Thank you to all those who sent the following in.

1. When/where is it best to charge my EV?
2. What did NESO say when we asked them about the greenwashing of low-tariff electricity?
3. Is cheaper electricity a better approach to decarbonise the economy than more renewables?
4. Electricity price link to gas will be broken, is this enough?
5. Open homes in Teignbridge, would you like to be involved this autumn?
6. How to decarbonise an economy based on GDP growth?

1- Best can mean many things, in our context it means least ghg emissions. You can find out what the best sources of low-carbon electricity here. Most of us end up charging our EV’s from the grid, at least during winter months.

The question then is, at what grid Carbon Intensity (CI) are emissions from a typical battery electric vehicle (BEV) lower than an equivalent internal combustion engine vehicle (ICE). What is the breakeven point?
Assume a typical BEV fuel consumption is 3 miles/kWh
Assume a typical ICE fuel consumption is 50 miles/gallon
You can use conversion factors that give consumption-based CO2e emissions in the CFT. Equivalence means vehicles travelling the same distance using the same amount of energy.

This only covers the running emissions, there are also the manufacturing/maintenance emissions amortised over the life of the vehicle (~100k miles). BEV typically have higher embodied emissions but lower maintenance emissions. We can assume this adds a similar amount to the running emissions for both BEV and ICE vehicles, so in this case does not impact the breakeven point.

Send me your answer, then repeat the calculation for your vehicle’s fuel consumption. Compare these with the CI for the SouthWest to work out the best time to charge your EV or when to replace your existing ICE. Note that you’ll need to add 20% for other ghg emissions and a further 25% for cradle-to-grave emissions (scope-3) as the portal gives territorial-based CO2 emissions.

Here is a useful video suggested at the meeting, it covers battery degradation in 2^ndhand EVs (you can skip the annoying ads!).

2- NESO have responded to a question ACT raised about greenwashing some time-of-day tariffs. They have invited us to ask more specific questions about what messaging they provide to network operators and suppliers and whether they can justify these. We have done this, hopefully we’ll get a reply within 20 days.

Here is what their initial reply was:
“We recognise that carbon intensity can vary significantly by region and time of day, and that in some regions – including the South West – these patterns can differ from the national average. NESO publishes both national and regional carbon intensity data to support transparency and informed use of electricity system information.

Your message raises a number of broader points about how DFS [encouraging time-of-day shifting] is described, how carbon intensity data is used by other organisations, and whether there is evidence to quantify greenhouse gas emissions impacts. These matters involve a mix of operational practice, interpretation of published data, and wider energy market communications, some of which sit outside NESO’s direct remit. For example, how suppliers or network companies market tariff periods or use carbon intensity data is not determined by NESO.”

3- The argument put buy by BBC article and several others, suggests all that’s need to decarbonise is to make electricity cheaper than other sources of energy. This would create a much more rapid shift to Electric Vehicles and Heat Pumps.  While this sounds plausible, evidenced by other examples where cost strongly influences behaviour, it misses out some key caveats.

One of these is the availability of low-carbon electricity. Because the UK has been successful in rapidly decarbonising electricity, it’s still only at around 50% low-carbon sources. Also, the rate it is able to decarbonise is slowing, despite the target of near 100% low-carbon by 2035. Not surprising, given the challenge of increasing low-carbon generation and transporting/distributing. When ACT looked at the numbers, it was clear that the electricity grid would need to grow by ~4 fold to achieve the 2035 target. That would require a herculean ‘war’ effort, not yet evident in government/Ofgem plans or those of the DNOs.

Another aspect not considered is the spike in short-term emissions to replace all that transport and heating technology. This would come at exactly the wrong time, just when we need to drastically reduce our emissions to avoid the looming overflow of our Carbon Budget, triggering an irreversible tipping point.

We really need to consider other approaches, not just cost-driven. We need to make informed decisions which decarbonise at the fastest, cheapest and easiest way to remain within our Carbon Budgets. They exist, but we need to create the head-space to learn and implement them.

4- The government’s announcement included a number of initiatives to decouple electricity from gas prices, including:

• Actions to move renewables off RO contracts:
  • Increase in the windfall profits levy from 45% to 55%
  • Offering RO generators an optional CFD contract.
• A number of other measures to support carbon reduction including;
  • Increase in BUS from £7500 to £9000 for houses heated by Oil or LPG.
  • Faster upgrades for social housing.
  • Help with solar panels on school roofs.
  • Plans to make it easier for EVs, Heat Pumps and Solar for cases where this is currently difficult.
  • More UK Heat Pump manufacture.

This seems to fall short of cutting the link with gas prices directly. It could instead have legislated to change procurement mechanism/pricing of low-carbon electricity generation from gas generation by giving the former priority and/or lower taxation.

The King’s speech gave a few more hints at change, but with not enough detail at this stage to determine how bold and effective such legislation will be.

• Energy Independence Bill
• Nuclear regulation bill
• Electricity Generator Levy bill

5- ACT has teamed up with the Devon-wide Open Eco Homes scheme supported by Energy Saving Devon.
If you are interested in opening your home/workplace to others in Teignbridge, please contact me.

The focus is on actions you’ve taken to reduce your emissions or improve your natural environment. We’re looking to showcase a range of interventions such as allocating a wilding patch in your garden, replacing windows or a deep retrofit of your home.

It’s your experience that most important to share with others, how you came about making the decision, how you worked out wat to do and how you measured the improvement.

Any help with current organising/administering the event for weekends between 12^th September and 11^th October would also be much appreciated.

6- In our discussions of the above topics, a related question came up. How can those in positions of power/control overcome the deeply engrained economic system and its reliance on cheap fossil based energy. What pathway/solutions do they need to decarbonise economies across the globe in just a few years before we’ve used up the remainder of the global Carbon Budget. Here are a few pointers, suggest your own for a discussion at our next meeting in 8 weeks (9^th July):

• Electrification Ladder
• The World After Cheap Oil
• Books like Growth: A Reckoning by Daniel Susskind

1. Brain design and climate solutions.
2. Project Drawdown, another source of actions?
3. RSPB publishes its tips and Carbon calculator.
4. Supplier’s Carbon Intensity.
5. Government’s Carbon Budget delivery plan.
6. Novel energy source.

1. This talk to an acedemic audience is quite accessible. It’s just over an hour long without the Q&A. It goes to the heart (brain!) of how to change behaviour, a topic some of you may be interested in, it’ll help you tailor and target your message. This is what many of us in ACT grapple with.
   
   Try to listen to all of it as it tells a story with many useful and related snippets of insight. You can start at ~7mins to skip the intros on why the topic is relevant.
   
   
2. The Project Drawdown website provides easy to access solutions and their impact.
   This looks like an interesting resource for general advice. It gives detailed analysis and criteria used for rating actions.
   My concern is that it may be too general for individual cases. Take private ‘electric’ vehicles for example, I was a little surprised that they included hybrid cars, incl. SUVs, as the 17^th most effective action. This is ahead of several other actions that would avoid more emissions even in the worst case. It appears they selected this based on the best case. While they do say emissions will vary depending on use, the overall message is that they have many advantages and come “highly recommended”, something I (and many others profoundly disagree with).
   I could only find one recommendation to reduce waste (in food). This comes 3^rd top CO2e reduction. Confirming some first-hand experience with residential/organisational energy assessment. That is, a large majority (well over 75%) could halve their emissions by simply cutting out wasteful use of energy, almost immediately.
   Although ACT strongly encourages looking at how to reduce CO2e emissions on a personalised/contextualised basis, this resource may be useful/informative. A more bespoke resource to check impact of actions is the CFT and its associated list of Carbon Cutting Actions.
   
   
3. The RSPB webpage has a great set of reasons for why its readers need to limit warming to 1.5^OC. We can all learn from how to target our message. They also recommend that you start by measuring your Carbon Footprint and include a few general actions people can take.
   
   The calculator they use is a cut above the rest. It uses a very similar approach to ACT’s CFT. Several of their calculations (for 2024) match ours which is always reassuring but not surprising as we use the same source data. There are one or two questions that may not be quite right (e.g CI of electricity supplier and some food items), but they are in the right ballpark. Most importantly, they are on the right track in reporting all greenhouse gas emissions at the point of consumption.
   
   The one advantage over the CFT that I can see is it covers all countries of the world, an impressive feat if accurate enough. Unfortunately they do push their ofsetting scheme, something ACT doesn’t encourage iven when gold plated.
   
   
4. We’ve discussed electricity grid Carbon Intensities (CI), how these are measured, how to use them and how they are greenwashed. This initiative is another take on the same topic, this time it assigns CIs to different suppliers on an hour-by-hour basis. The methodology of how Matched Clear Power Index produces this data is unclear, but they emphasise it uses published REGO data. This in itself suggests the index is an average guess based on historic REGO certificates.
   
   This topic can be quite complicated, so ripe for greenwashing. If you are interested in a better understand or at are looking for a simple guide on how to avoid falling for these sales messages, have a look at our guide on Greenwashing in the electricity grid.
   
   The topic has come up so many times, I’ve scheduled a dedicated meeting on the topic, contact me for the online link on the 20^th November 16:30 – 18:00.
   
   
5. The government has published its Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan. This is an ecouraging step with some excellent ambition. We’ll need to see the detailed delivery plans and then see them enacted.
   
   Friends of the Earth, and others, have given initial reactions to this.
   
   
6. Extracting low-Carbon energy from a well known physical phenomenon is not unusual. Osmotic enery looks interesting, but still has many challenges, not least system losses (efficiency) and the volumes of water needed.

Next meeting 23^rd October 19:00, online via Teams

Here is what we covered:

1. Domestic flexibility trials
2. Local Plan GIS information
3. Government Energy Strategy
4. Car share scheme
5. Electricity grid stats

We went through the agenda quite quickly as there were only two of us.

We decided to cancel the September in-person meeting, so the next online meeting is currently scheduled for the 23^rd of October at 19:30. I’ll confirm this closer to the time if you are registered to receive ACT Energy group notifications.

1. NESO has published it’s trials to explore how domestic customers respond to financial incentives to turn up/down their electricity use. Here is the report which highlight some interesting and not unexpected results, see the 5 bullet points.  It is a large sample of very mixed households, so a more representative cross-section of the UK population.
2. The consultation on the changes made to the local plan following the inspector’s comments ends Oct. The energy group will not be responding as we do not believe we can effect further changes. TDC has accompanied this with an up dated map of the areas affected, see here.
3. The government has published its Industrial strategy which included energy . Regen have provided a useful summary here and on the  flexibility strategy.
4. It looks like E-Co Cars are planning a hub for Totnes, the presentation date has passed, but you can follow the concept here.
5. Here is the  NESO monthly report for August. It’s good to see that 62% was generated from low carbon (not zero carbon as claimed) sources. If you are a user of our Carbon Footprint Tracker tool, the significant difference in Carbon Intensity is because NESO report CO2 not CO2e and only include territorial emissions of the fule usage. Also, these numbers represent one month rather than a full year.

next regular meetings will be:

Next meeting 28^th August 19:30 by zoom

Here is what we covered when we met at the Teign Valley Community Hall:

1. Carbon and energy reduction at the Teign Valley Community Hall
2. Biofuel Watch
3. Energy related planning policies, guidelines and strategies
4. Learning about Climate Change, how to communicate for effective action
5. More on grid battery charging, response from 3 industry experts & pumped hydro

1. It was interesting to hear the background and process leading up to the major refurbishment of the TVCH’s heating and acoustics. You can read a summary of this in one of our case studies here, go to chapter 5.1 on page 14. This lead to some interesting discussions, including whether it was worth it. Specifically, the carbon and financial pay-back as well as the price of a tonne of avoided carbon.
   
   The numbers clearly show a significant 13.38t CO2e avoided each year, an impressive success. A saving of £2,623 per year at net present value is more modest, especially given the relatively high cost of the project. It was, however, pointed out that the improved comfort, the initial reason for the refurbishments, is not measured in financial pay-back, just like it isn’t when we buy a more comfortable mattress! As a comparison, the UK government’s central estimate for the value of CO2e in policy appraisal last year is £256 per tonne (based on 2020 prices over 30 years).
   
   
2. Biofuelwatch say they “provides systemic analysis based on secondary and occasionally primary research and undertakes advocacy and campaigning in relation to the climate, environmental, human rights and public health impacts of large-scale industrial bioenergy.” In essence they are not in favour of any biomass use for energy generation, especially the most damaging like Drax.
   
   We have covered this topic a few times in the past, especially the question of whether burning biomass is carbon-neutral. Their FAQs make it clear the believe the answer is NO because “It can take years for that same amount of CO2 [when burnt] to be locked into biomass by a plant [sequestered]”. They then assert that “Biomass also emits more greenhouse gases per unit of energy than most fossil fuels.”,  a dubious claim based on the false premise that CO2 released from burning cannot be sequestered, the point they want to prove, a classic circular justification.
   
   Unsurprisingly, coal has about four times the calorific value of wood. Typically, and assuming sustainable wood supply, one cubic meter ~950kg of coal contains ~7,500 kWh of energy and would emit ~3,200 kg CO2e. To generate the same energy you’d need ~4.35t of wood logs emmiting ~177 kg of CO2e. These are consumption based emissions, so include mining/harvesting, processing and transport. Even the lowest Carbon Intensity fossil fuel, natural gas, would emit ~1,600 kg CO2e for the same energy, more than 10 times that of wood! See the CFT to lookup consumption emissions from wood products, a 90% efficient biomass boiler will generate 1.1-1.8 MWh of heat energy per cubic meter of logs, depending on wood type and quality.
   
   The point they seem to miss is; sequestering CO2 over ~150 years cannot be compared to ~150 million years of sequistration to make fossil fuels. While it is possible, and essential, to sequester emissions from burning biomas through sustainable agriculture, the same is not possible for fossil fuels.
   
   To their credit, the following FAQ covers the IPCC’s statement on carbon neutrality of biomass. Unfortunately, it appears they either did not read or not understand this. The key point in Q2-10 of the IPCC reference they quote is that emissions from biomass burning should be calculated as part of land use emissions rather than emissions from burning the biofuel. A sustainably managed biomass crop (say 10 year rotation or more) would have a net-zero impact. The consumption carbon emissions in the CFT (used in the example above) covers processing and transport emissions as published by the UK government.
   
   If you are interested, we cover this question as part of the Carbon Cutting and Carbon Lite training sessions.
   
   
3. TheDevon County Council have published a revised landscape policy document for renewables. A number of district councils and Community Energy groups, provided input to this. It is not clear to what extent this input was taken on board, for example the CPRE’s ‘tranquil’ and ‘dark skys’ map from 2006 and 2016 are still being used as criteria for effective exclusion.
   
   The RTPI’s guidance in relation to local energy infrastructure planning was recently published. This provides further spatial planning guidence to councils.
   
   Teignbridge District Council is consulting on the major modifications made by the examiner of the local plan 2020-40. Consultation ends 1^st Oct 2025. Let me know if you have any comments you’d like to make with respect to renewables and ghg emission targets.
   
   These policies and the local plan are likely to be impacted by the publication of the government’s onshore wind strategy.
   
   
4. A recording of he Plymouth Uni training I mentioned at our last meeting can be found here. I have a meeting scheduled for the 3^rd August  to discuss how best to communicate Climate Change in terms of its causes, concepts and effective actions. We’ll be comparing notes on our respective training programs.
   
   Some of ACT’s Carbon Cutters are planning to train as Climate Ambassadors under the Dept. for Education’s STEM Learning programme. Let me know if you are interested.
   
   
5. Many in the industry are still unaware or unwilling to admit that electricity grid Carbon Intensity (CI) is not always linked to Time of Day (ToD) tariffs. As we discussed previously (notes from 10.04.25 meeting). Our region has a particularly high CI during cheap off-peak rates. In a recent webinar hosted by Vest Energy, an energy trading and optimisation company, this question was raised in respect of their Community Battery proposition. Its was encouraging to hear back from 3 members of the panel acknowledging this point.
   
   I’d forgotten to mention the interesting visit to high-density pumped-hydro trial operated by Rhenergise and organised by Regen. One surprising target is the over 80% round trip efficiency at the grid expected from this system, get more information on this grid-scale storage system here.

The next regular meetings will be:

Thus. 31.07.25 at 16:30 in-person looking at a site of interest.

Then 28^th August by zoom at 19:00

Here is what we covered:

1. Meeting, purpose, format and times
2. Global energy use and latest Carbon Budget, where are we?
3. Devon and Teignbridge Climate plans, are they delivering?
4. EV popularity, is it waning and why?
5. New EPC standard (RdSAP 10), are they useful?
6. Cooperation and competition in humans, which edges it?
7. Government rooftop PV drive and balcony PV systems.
8. Recent webinar/training: understanding climate change and secondary suppliers.

1. We discussed the purpose and style of the meetings. One possible reason given for the low participation was confusion around the different times meetings were held (alternatively 19:00 and 16:30). Other reasons were that the notes were sufficient for most people. Please let me know your thoughts on the matter and any suggestions to improve participation or if you think it’s ok as it is.
   We decided to give the in-person meetings a practical focus, so the next one will hopefully be to help a group member find his mystery zombie-load and demonstrate how they’ve gone about reducing their building’s energy consumption.
   
   
2. The International Energy Agency Global Energy Review 2025 is worth a read. It reports some encouraging trends, but GHG emissions are still going up. This means we’re using up our Carbon Budget even faster, requiring a more dramatic reduction in emissions as seen by the featured chart.
   If you’d like to understand what this essential graphic means to the actions we have to take, why not register for one of our Carbon Cutter Lite sessions? Or come to a meeting and ask.
   
   
3. You can read progress on the Devon Carbon Emergency plan here. For Teignbridge as a whole, TDC has been compiling its own Carbon Plan covering the same themes (areas to tackle). TDC officers have compiled a number of actions for them as well as district councillors and local councils in the district to undertake. ACT has worked with TDC to make the objectives meaningful and implementable. The draft plan will now go for formal approval by the council in the autumn. We very much hope the key actions/initiatives agreed will remain and be acted on. ACT is committed to help deliver these to achieve the necessary GHG reductions in the district.
   If anyone is interested in being involved in some of the proposed initiatives, please contact me.
   
   
4. EVs have become more controversial in recent times. Like all new things, there is much misinformation and scepticism, the introduction of steam (from coal) powered trains is a good example from the past. While there are several impartial/balanced sources for information (e.g. TECs’ Electric Vehicles guide), there are probably more sources of mis/dubious information. It is however surprising to see this from a reputable source quoting an attitude survey by the AAA (American automobile association).
   Admittedly this is the US which we felt differed from the UK (49% of those considering a new car would get an ultra-low emissions vehicle according to this attitude survey, and this summary of statistics). US consumers appear not to be as aware of their contributions to climate change compared to Europeans. It’s all about the money and convenience, clearly they’ve not played the E=mC² game!
   
   
5. The methodology to measure a building’s energy performance (EPC) has been updated and it is better. You can find out about the details in this webinar recording, the first part is a good introduction explaining the impact on anyone selling/renting or considering home improvements. Anyone interested in learning more about how to make building more energy efficient can contact me, look at our energy webpage or consider attending a building physics course like the AECB’s.
   
   
6. The question of how did China leapfrog the US with its cheaper and more efficient AI approach was raised by a member. This is generally attributed to a number of reasons, including the greater cooperation in open-sourced software. It’s also helped by the Chinese government’s significant investment in technology, especially AI and, ironically, the restrictions placed by the US forcing China to innovate even faster.
   A good discussion in which we agreed that healthy competition was necessary, but competition for the benefit of financial/personal (or national) gain over others alone was ultimately self-defeating. With so many challenges facing humankind, it is sad to see conflict and division are still elevated by some for personal gain.
   
   
7. The government has published its Solar roadmap in which it encourages the deployment of PV, especially behind the meter. As well as the roadmap, the link references so called “balcony” PV systems and attitude surveys for the UK.
   A group member asked if these balcony PV systems were worth having. As always, the answer depends on the purpose. These systems are generally cheaper as there is no labour involved, but also smaller as space and orientation are more limited. So the cost per installed kWp or generated kWh/year are no better than the payback you get from a conventional rooftop system. Because the bundled inverter plugs into a 13A socket, the maximum power generated will be limited (~0.8 kWp). See TECs’ solar PV guide for more information on how to select a PV system that meets your objectives.
   
   
8. Plymouth university are running general and targeted workshops on Net-Zero and climate change. The general (introductory course) covers the same scientific material on the cause and consequences as ACT’s Carbon Cutter and CC Lite sessions. It is less clear on the actions people/organisations can take although it does include a forward-looking “Carbon Handprint” approach to actions. I’m hoping to have a meeting to exchange views and explore collaboration.
   
   Energy System Catapult ran a webinar exploring secondary electricity supplier models. That is buying your electricity from more than one supplier. Typically, this is envisaged for specific usage such as an EV charger. This was another significant study on how financial benefits could be extracted from time-of-use (ToU) tariffs without mentioning the need to line up ToU tariffs with local/regional Carbon Intensity (CI) of the grid. Luckly this question was acknowledged right at the end of the Q&A session. Indeed, the same Living Labs team had previously published a study that shows the ‘herd mentality’ created by targeted ToU tariffs. This creates an even higher peak demand than the current evening peak, defeating the primary reason for such tariffs. More worryingly, it results in higher overall GHG emissions, the exact opposite of why such studies are being undertaken. It would make more sense to spend the same effort exploring how to link ToU tariffs to low-CI so this can be financially beneficial to suppliers and consumers.
   See item #2 from our 24^th March 2025 meeting for details on how to use grid CI.

Written by Fuad

Energy group coordinator

fuad@actionclimateteignbridge.org

1. Leaking flat roofs, too cold and too hot.
2. Centre for Sustainable Energy’s study of variable tariffs.
3. Spain’s power outage.
4. Wind and solar farms.

Unless anyone would like to suggest another venue in Teignbridge, the next in-person meeting will be at the Taphouse in Newton Abbot.

1. Flat roofs are notorious for leaking, but they can also be a problem to insulate. If you live under a flat roof with inadequate insulation, you are likely to lose heat in winter and overheat in summer. So what’s the solution?
   Unfortunately retrofitting insulation in a flat roof isn’t as easy as adding traditional loft insulation between and above ceiling joists in the loft space of pitched roofs (also referred to as a cold roof insulation because the loft space remains cold). Flat roofs typically do not have easily accessible space between ceiling and roofing material (often the finish is roofing felt). So to gain access, either the ceiling or the roof covering have to be removed to add insulation.
   If there is a leak and the felt or outer roofing material has to be repaired/replaced, this is an opportunity to add insulation. Ideally above the rafters or a combination of this and between rafters. Insulation above rafters is sometimes referred to as ‘cold roof’ insulation, but the term is misleading when applied to flat roofs. Here is a useful explanation.
   There are also better roofing materials than felt, but these tend to be more expensive and require skilled installation, something the UK building trade is not famed for!
   Drawing curtains to keep the sunshine out in summer and in winter to keep the warm air in helps a lot. Opening windows if there is a marked temperature difference between inside an outside temperatures, this can cool/warm the room as needed.
2. The CSE provides very good research and advice to achieve its mission. The recent webinar was billed to cover “The transition to a smart, low-carbon future” and how it “is transforming how consumers interact with the energy system”. You can watch it here.
   Two ACT energy group members had attended. It was strange that the webinar did not mention carbon emissions at all, focusing instead on financial benefits from these tariffs. You can watch the study’s conclusions, which are not surprising given that these ‘smart’ tariffs are aimed at those who want/can engage in how/when they use their electricity.
   As we’ve discussed on several occasions in the past, including last month’s meeting, There is a big mismatch between low-carbon claims associated with low-tariffs. The question was raised and answered by the CSE team at the end of the webinar if you want to take a look. Let’s hope they check out the information we gave them in the Q&A and include this information in future.
3. Several sources were quick to blame the major electricity grid outage in Spain, parts of France and Portugal on renewables. While it is true that most of Spain’s daytime generation at the time was renewables, this is not an unusual situation. It is not yet clear what triggered the cascading shutdown, related to frequency fluctuations which cause automatic shutdown of all generator types.  No doubt not enough contingency planning had been made to prevent major and multiple failures from taking down the whole electricity grid. Here is a good summary from a week ago.
4. We discussed the recent news that the largest offshore wind farm developer is pulling out. This is the second large wind farm development to run into trouble because of escalating costs, in turn caused by the multiple international events in recent years. Read the company’s statement on this here and the broader picture here. The first of these is back on track, so presumably the government will either have to adjust the Contract for Difference (CfD) arrangements or find another developer.
   This led us onto discussing onshore wind and solar farms and the relative merits/problems with each. ACT has published its position on this as part of our submission to the Local Plan. In this we favour wind development over solar farms, mainly because of the significant land-efficiency of the former.

Written by Fuad

Energy group coordinator

fuad@actionclimateteignbridge.org

Here is what we covered:

1. How should we update our advice on Transport?
2. Feedback from Fue Poverty consultation.
3. TDC’s Carbon Reduction plans.
4. How reputable sources for tools and data can be misused.

Good venue and company, sorry to anyone who could not find it. I think we’ll try one more location to see if this format works. I’ve had one comment about 16:30 start, especially for those working, this is why we alternate start times. Currently it seems more people prefer a zoom format.

1. We went through ACT’s current advice on transport as applied to local councils. This seems to still be very relevant and useful, at least from a town councillor’s point of view. If you have any suggestions/thoughts on this, please send them to me.
   ACT also provides advice on more specific actions via the Carbon Footprint Tracker, search for “transport” here.
   
2. I attended a very useful online presentation/discussion organised by Regen re the fuel poverty consultation. The points we’d agreed at our last meeting were broadly accepted and echoed by others. Here is a summary, if you’d like the full conclusion on the topic, please contact me:
   introduce a progressive unit pricing and/or social structure.
   split between standing/unit pricing.
   Vulnerable customers don’t use much energy or benefit from flexible tariffs.
   
3. TDC are looking to publish their district wide carbon reduction plan. Comprehensive advice is likely to be targeted at officers with some advice to district councillors and local (town/parish) councillors. Their direct advice to residents and businesses is being delivered via the Teignbridge Climate Hub.
   
4. As competition for service and equipment providers increases, several providers are quoting ‘typical’ user benefits, financial and carbon related. These are often based on ‘evidence’ from published tools/calculators provided by reputable sources. Although the tools and evidence is sound, the assumptions made about what a typical use can achieve tend to be unrealistic. However good a tool may be, if you put rubbish in, you get rubbish out!
   
   Here are some good quality resources recently quoted to ‘sell’ a product/service.
   System Advisory Model, a renewables technical/financial modelling package
   Carbon Tracker, finance and climate change.
   ICE database for embodied carbon from Circular Ecology.
   NESO database for grid Carbon Intensities.
   
   The last of these has been an on-going discussion in our recent meetings, particularly in relation to the claim that low electricity night rates reflect a low Carbon Intensity (CI). The following charts represent daily CI in Half Hourly (HH) increments averaged for 2023 plus the annual average CI long-term forecast. What isn’t immediately clear is that the daily CI is in fact for the whole of the UK’s transmission network. This is not at all representative of the CI for the electricity received in the southwest (region-11) which tend to have a very different pattern and generally higher CI.
   We’ll be coming back to this as more people in Teignbridge are buying into these tariffs in the belief they are doing the right thing.