Energy

Transition Black Isle’s Energy group is pursuing ways of reducing our use of energy, and switching away from fossil fuels to renewable sources.

Current projects are:

Greening Homes & Gardens

In September 2009 we held the first Greening Homes and Gardens event. Ten local householders opened their homes to the public to demonstrate the practical use of renewables for domestic heating and electricity generation, and ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by composting and vegetable growing. The hub for the event was Munlochy Village Hall, where around 300 people attended to pick up maps showing the open properties, and to see stalls set up by local renewable energy companies.

After the success of the first one, a second Greening Homes and Gardens Day was held on 11th September 2010, with a similar format.   This time the hub was Findon Hall, Culbokie, and again it was a great success.   We had a year off in 2011 but hope to run more similar events in future - keep an eye on the calendar for details!

Smart Meters

With funding from the Climate Challenge Fund, we have bought a number of electric “Smart Meters” which are available to lend to householders wanting to use them to reduce their electricity consumption. The meters are loaned out for three month periods, and participants encouraged to share experiences. Participants have found these helped them reduce their electricity consumption by up to 50%.

We have also linked up with Fortrose Academy, who are using the meters as part of their science curriculum – this means up to 120 local households per year using one of the meters to investigate their electricity usage.

Community wind farm

We are investigating the possibility of a community wind farm for the Black Isle, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and producing an income stream for the community.  This is a big ambition and requires a lot of work - volunteers welcome!

Other ideas

There are any number of the other possible projects, it would be great to hear from anyone with a new idea and some time to help put it into action.