Community energy fortnight 2018 (23 June - 8 july)

The sixth community energy fortnight kicks off today (23rd June – 8th July). A celebration of communities who are sharing their resources, generating renewable energy and wasting less - embracing technologies as diverse as solar-PV arrays, wind turbines, hydro-electricity and biomass heat.
 
The Community Energy Fortnight is run by Community Energy England on behalf of the Community Energy Coalition. This year there is a great range of events being organised in London by Community Energy London.
 
Check out the events below:
 
‘Energising Communities’
Thursday 28th June, 5.30-8.50pm at City Hall, London.
Please register for your ticket here
 
This year the theme of Community Energy Fortnight is ‘energising communities’ and we’re taking this opportunity to rally together to inspire new and exisiting practitioners to come forward and engage with community energy.

Last year’s conference saw the release of the sector report for London, ‘Realising the Potential’, which examined barriers to the sector and opportunities moving forward. ‘Energising Communities’ is the next step; through a series of talks and panel discussions, CEL will explore what ‘moving forward’ looks like for London in practical terms.

This includes engaging with new stakeholders both across the sectors and within existing communities. CEL appreciates that ‘community energy’ goes far beyond solar – even in urban environments. We recognise that it is not just about energy technologies, efficiency or even fuel poverty; The key strengths of community energy are both our ability to raise awareness of energy issues, as well as to engage and empower the people that make up the many different communities across our city.

London may be at the bottom of the renewable energy and low carbon league tables today, but within our sector there is the knowledge and vision to help develop a London that leads the way and inspires other cities across the world.

Registration is at 5.30pm with speakers starting at 6pm. There will be time for networking from 8pm.
 

‘The Age of Stupid: film screening and panel discussion  
Tuesday 3rd July, 6.30pm – 8.45pm
Tickets
 
The Rio Cinema in Hackney will host the CEL screening of ‘The Age of Stupid’ to help raise funds for its rooftop solar project in connection with Hackney Energy.
 
Community Energy isn’t all about solar panels, financial models and draft excluders. It’s a varied and innovative space, which is fast becoming a more regular feature of our landscape, found in schools, housing co-ops, gardens, businesses, train stations and places of worship, to name a few.

The Age of Stupid stars Pete Postlethwaite, a future archivist looking at old footage from the year 2008 to understand why humankind failed to address climate change. Sadly this film is still hugely relevant – nowhere more so than in such a fast-paced consumerist city such as London.

The screening will take place at Rio cinema in Dalston, on Tuesday 3rd July at 6.00pm, followed by a discussion panel made up of London community energy practitioners and campaign groups who will explore the realities and future of community energy in London.

The Rio cinema is currently in talks with CEL member group, Hackney Energy, to explore the cinema’s potential to generate rooftop solar.

Tickets are £5, available through the Rio Cinema website and all sales will go towards feasibility studies for this project.
 
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Community energy advice – Open Space!
Thursday 5th July, 6pm – 9pm at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS, University of London
Please register for your ticket here
 
An informal advice session for experienced practitioners and energy newbies alike. This is a welcoming space, which offers the chance to have questions discussed by community energy guides, over food and drink. We might not always know the answer, but we usually know someone who will!
Whether you just want to learn about your local community energy group, start one of your own or find out how your existing group can scale up its operations, this is the place for you!