The event was organised by CAT/Energy 21 and INFORSE-Europe. The 3-day seminar offered information and inspiration to anyone considering community energy projects. It also linked the local possibilities with European activities and policies.

The most recent scientific evidence on both climate security and energy security reveals a situation more urgent than had been expected. However, it's not too late, and solutions do exist.
A great deal of experience on the transition from fossil fuel dependency is available to share, on a range of different scales and from a range of different regions. This conference will explore 'good practice' case studies, looking at not just the technologies, but also the human stories, how the projects got off the ground, what the barriers were and how they were overcome, and how people benefited.

Proceedings

Friday, 2 October, 2009

15.00 - 18.00	Arrivals and registration
18.30 - 19.30	Supper
19.30 - 21.00	Opening Session - Drivers For Change Why communities should develop their own energy projects: an overview of climate security, energy security & international security - Paul Allen (CAT) (Handouts pdf 451 kB) The European Picture: EU energy policies driving change, plus how we can drive the EU, linking local with European actions - Gunnar Boye Olsen (INFORSE) (Handouts pdf 461 kB)

Saturday, 3 October, 2009

08.00 - 09.00	Breakfast
09.15 - 09.30	Good Energy Practice - Introduction
09.30 - 10.00	Good Practice: Practical project examples from across the EU – Gunnar Boye Olsen (INFORSE) Gunnar focused on a wind power cooperative in Sweden, a biomass-based district heating cooperative in Denmark, a wind power project in Germany, and Goessing, the Austrian renewable energy village, plus a rich wind power village in Spain. (Handouts pdf 204 kB)
10.00 - 10.30	Good Practice: Why haven’t we done better? – Peter Harper (CAT) Why aren’t there more community energy projects in the UK, and why haven’t some of the existing ones worked as well as we hoped for? Peter Harper investigated. (Handouts pdf 935 kB)
10.30 - 11.00	Refreshment and discussion break at The Big Feast at CAT Visitor Circuit
11.00 - 12.00	Good Practice: Practical projects from the Dyfi Valley, Wales - Andy Rowland (Ecodyfi) The Dyfi Valley, where CAT is located, has a cluster of small-scale, community-based renewable energy schemes. Andy will describe some of these, including a farm-based hydro and a cooperative that owns two wind turbines, explaining how they came about and what problems face such initiatives. (Handouts pdf 458 kB) Building a Library of Good Practice – Tobi Kellner (CAT) How do you “inform, inspire and enable” the public about sustainable solutions? CAT’s free information service is currently building up a ‘Library of Good Practice’, which presents real-life case studies. This session will introduce the library and illustrate how the project uses different media to present sustainable technology at different levels and from different angles.
12.00 -13.00	What Constitutes Good Energy Practice? Panel debate and discussion Panel: Paul Allen, Gunnar Boye Olsen, Peter Harper, Tobi Kellner and Andy Rowland
13.00 -14.00	Lunch
14.00 - 15.30	Outdoor Tours CAT Energy Systems: An endeavour towards best practice CAT has always been a test-bed for alternative energy ideas and technologies, willing to experiment with proposed solutions that some times work to plan, and sometimes don’t! CAT renewable energy specialists will lead tours focusing on the pros and cons of the renewable energy systems that feed into CAT’s district heat main and electricity supply.
15.30 - 16.30	CAT Visitor Circuit Refreshments at The Big Feast – refreshment and discussion break
16.30 - 17.30	Scaling It Up: Isle of Eigg – Lucy Conway With no mainland electricity connection, and after decades of using diesel generators, the people of community-owned Isle of Eigg switched on their own renewable electricity supply in February 2008. In a unique system, wind, water and sun provide 24 hour power for the island’s 85 residents. Lucy Conway will explain how it all happened. (Handouts pdf 7 MB)
17.30 -18.00	Round up of the day’s discussions
19.00 - 20.00	Supper
20.00 - 21.00	Film: Power and Place– the energy story of Wales (25 minutes) Discussion with the film makers John Burgan and Paul Allen

Sunday, 4 October, 2009

08.00 - 09.00	Breakfast
09.00 - 10.00	The Energy Future for Britain & the EU • A Zero Carbon Britain (ZCB) scenario. How much we can power-down demand, and how we can power-up the UK's renewable energy reserves? What are the 'economic implications' arising from new ZCB:2 research? – Paul Allen (Handouts pdf 2.3 MB) • Lifestyle Implications of Implementing a Zero Carbon Britain Strategy – Peter Harper (Handouts pdf 163 kB) • Zero Carbon Strategies from EU countries – Gunnar Boye Olsen (Handouts pdfx 1.3 MB)
10.00 – 11.30	Sharing examples of good practice– participant presentations - Community of Bro Ffestiniog towards to be a Green Town (Bilangual presentation in Welsh/English) (Handouts pdf 300 kB) - From Portal to Eco Village, David Saunders, Egregoria CIC (Handouts pdf 31 MB) - The Green Valleys: Greenville Ham (Handouts pdf 12.3 MB)
11.30 - 12.00	Closing Discussion

More on:
- Original Program on CAT's homepage: Conference Program
- Energy 21 network: www.energy21.org.uk,
- CAT as a visitor demonstration center at the INFORSE-Europe database, and at CAT's homepage.

Klick on the group photo to see pictures and proceedings from Seminar in 2008.

The event is registered as part of the EU Sustainable Energy Campaign.
INFORSE-Europe is Associate member of the Campaign.
The event is supported by EU DG Environment support to INFORSE-Europe.