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August 18 2023

UrbanScape

Our Story

In 2021, when I was 14, I set up Mulgrave Street Action Group (MSAG) as a community interest with some help from other people. MSAG is led a group of directors, including myself, and we also benefit from lots of ongoing input from the local community.

The aim of starting MSAG was to reduce fly tipping in my local area by building a community garden on a fly tipping hotspot. After two years of campaigning, some funding from Liverpool City Region Community Environment Fund, several public consultations and lots of pushing, UrbanScape was named and launched on the 6th April 2023!

Along the way, we have worked on a plethora of projects, including bringing planters to the postcode, hiring skips for fly tipping management and providing free food-growing plants for people.

The Challenge

Our main challenge was being let down by five different contractors for a variety of reasons including underdelivering, overcharging and being unable to fill out paperwork. This resulted in MSAG taking the reins themselves and project managing. Don’t give up!

Another challenge that we overcame was finding funding. This was a struggle for a long period of time until LCR (Liverpool City Region) opened their fund and we successfully won a portion. Having a committed team, a plan and lots of support from the community helped get us over the line with our LCR funding bid.

UrbanScape is something that could be replicated in another area for lots of reasons. It has shown that it has a great positive impact on the community, including increasing socialising, reducing isolation, improving air quality, increasing biodiversity and reducing fly tipping (which was our original aim!).

Our Solution

UrbanScape is a multipurpose outdoor community garden which provides a place for the community to be mindful, appreciate nature and get outdoors. From this new space, we will be delivering a variety of projects very shortly, which will further increase the value to the community here in L8. Our work will help increase biodiversity and reduce fly tipping in the local communities. A knock on effect of this will allow people to socialise more and reduce isolation in the community.

August 18 2023

Forest School

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Our Story

Forest School is an innovative, self-led learning approach suitable for all ages in a woodland setting, supported by a trained Forest School Leader. Within a school setting, children might take part in regular two-hour, weekly sessions over the course of a minimum of six weeks. The sessions, which include activities such as building dens, cooking over fires, knot-tying and making art with natural materials, help to combat children’s increasing isolation from the natural world, arising from greatly reduced freedom to roam and society’s increased fear of risk.

Classes are taught outdoors in a wooded area, either within the school grounds or at a local woodland, and help children build their confidence, improve their teamwork and practical skills, and learn about natural environments.

The Mersey Forest helps schools and other organisations to access, create and adapt woodland spaces for their Forest School sessions, and provides advice and support to fledging Forest School programmes – some of which are based in woodlands which The Mersey Forest helped to plant over the past 25 years!

We’ve already worked with over half of Merseyside and North Cheshire’s schools to introduce the benefits of natural play to children’s education through school grounds improvements and Forest School. We’re now helping teachers and practitioners to gain the Open College Network teaching qualification in Forest School, so that they can teach Forest School sessions on a regular basis.

The Challenge

Forest School isn’t just about delivering the national curriculum at a primary school level, however. It has a range of applications and can be used to teach all age’s. ‘Training the trainers’ is key to success, and we encourage teachers and other practitioners to gain qualifications in Forest School.

Seek advice on the choice of a site where you would like to set up a Forest School woodland, so there are no issues in accessing or managing the site, and make sure you have the necessary landowner agreements and other formal documents in place. Set up cluster groups and support networks – so that advice and support is never far away.

Our Solution

Our success is measured on the number of schools enrolled, how many children participate, and the geographic coverage of the schools involved.

August 18 2023

Advanced Bacterial Sciences

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Our Story

We are a group of individuals including scientists, ecological experts and entrepreneurs that have been at the forefront of climate neutral research, development, and investment for over 20 years. Coming together as Advanced Bacterial Sciences (ABS) involved the magic of the right people coming together at the right time, all willing to build something new and innovative bringing microbiota solutions to waste and water management.

We understood the existential threat from the combined impact of three interlocking crises – climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. By understanding this situation, realising the opportunity, and responding to a gap in the market we were able to develop a range of highly effective products that target and successfully treat very specific problems.

The Challenge

The potential of microbial solutions to change the world is undeniable, making it an extremely exciting space to be in. Ventures looking to develop products such as ABS bacterial products that can contribute to the circular economy need to have a clear idea, a well-defined plan and adequate funding from committed investors. In order to develop biological solutions long-term investment is required for research as creativity is fuel for continued innovation in this area.

What are your goals? What is your purpose? Make decisions based on whether they are aligned with your purpose or will bring your closer to achieving your goals. Naturally we need to respond to changes when necessary but it is important to remain focused on these goals and not become distracted by the inevitable noise of launching a business or developing new products.

You need to understand the challenges that your customers experience. With this information you can identify the need and develop a truly effective product.

Do not underestimate the importance of collaboration. ABS is at the forefront of researching and developing innovative microbiota solutions for waste and water management that will benefit people and the planet. The opportunity is huge however, the pool of experts is still relatively small. To complement our team, we are engaging an international network of scientific collaborators. We will encourage joint ventures with strategic partners so we can accelerate scientific learning to expedite relevant products and solutions. We will actively look for opportunities to work with local authorities, industrial and commercial groups and NGOs as well as with policy makers and the regulators.

It is important to understand what success looks like for your company or initiative. For ABS not only do we want to develop effective products and create lasting value for our shareholders but success for us is channeling natural efficiency and inspiring benign environmental impact. We have developed our business plan and measure our success by how our products support the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Our Solution

Our products break down organic waste and absorb inorganic substances with little or no by-products other than water and minimal CO2.

Bacterial solutions have been used for centuries, they are natural, versatile, resilient and can be found everywhere. Water companies rely on bacteria to process tonnes of waste daily. Microbiota are the most prevalent lifeform on our planet and can survive in the most inhospitable of environments. Their sheer number and diversity mean that they are the most ecologically sound, sustainable solution to many of our planetary challenges.

What ABS plans to do is to tap into processes that would occur anyway through the work of bacteria and similar microorganisms, giving us natural alternatives for waste management, in turn reducing our carbon and wider environmental footprint. Driven by a dynamic approach based on a unique fusion of biology, chemistry and engineering, enables rapid growth at the leading edge of scientific knowledge and application, access to profitable markets through next-generation products tailored to specific problems.

Product development is carried out by an in-house interdisciplinary research team, based at the world-leading Centre for Environmental Science at Lancaster University, supported by an international network of scientific collaborators. Advanced, natural science-based approach distinguishes it from the competition. The ABS vision is to become a global influencer in the application of microorganism ecology for pollution remediation, plant, animal, human and environmental health.

ABS is achieving that by focusing on increasing the scientific team to 50 scientists by the end of 2022 and by concentrating in research and continuous improvement of novel bacterial formulations for in situ application based on ecological theory, chemical and engineering innovations that can be adapted to the needs of the customers, supporting a service model that will enable ABS to be a trusted partner and collaborator to all its stakeholders. The Global Market Opportunity for ABS has been assessed at greater than $2 trillion.

Overall, this helps reduce carbon emissions, increases the lifespan of our assets and reduce maintenance costs, whilst also reducing the environmental impact of our interventions.

August 18 2023

Warrington Community Municipal Bonds

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Our Story

Councils that have declared a climate emergency may then struggle to fund the measures needed to cut emissions in their area. Warrington Borough Council has piloted the use of community municipal bonds, a fundraising tool for local authorities, to fund renewable energy projects. Community municipal bonds allow councils to raise money directly from residents.

Bonds are issued by a council to members of the public, who can invest as little as £5 and get regular return payments on this investment. This is done via an online crowdfunding platform. Once enough has been invested, the council can give back to communities by using these funds to deliver low carbon infrastructure and projects.

Warrington Borough Council announced their pilot bond scheme in May 2020. The bond was issued three months later, available to Warrington residents and others across the UK. It involved a collaboration with ethical investment company Abundance, who administered the bond on behalf of the council. The bond was closed in November 2020, reaching its £1m target three days before the set deadline.

More than 500 investors contributed to the bond, with an average overall investment of £1,921. The bond was structured as a 5-year investment with a 1.2% return rate, making it competitive with high street savings and investment opportunities. Return payments are made to investors every six months, with the option for these interest payments to be donated back to the council – 11% of Warrington investors did so with their first payment.

Spending possibilities for community municipal bonds include making homes more energy efficient, installing charging points for electric vehicles, or rewilding and tree-planting projects. Bonds can be used to engage and protect vulnerable communities or boost green skills and jobs – they are flexible and can be moulded to specific council objectives.

Useful learnings

A strong business case for council and residents:
The bonds are a win-win for councils and residents. For the council, they are an easy way to diversify funding sources and cut reliance on less stable traditional borrowing channels such as the Public Works Loan Board. The debt presented to the council is similar to the Public Works Loan Board borrowing rates. As the bonds are offered and managed online, they are efficient and logistically simple for council to run.

For residents, the bonds are a low-risk investment, because risk is tied to the strength of the council, not to the success of the project. Investors do not assume the risk if a given initiative fails or is delayed. The robustness of councils compared to high street banks makes this a relatively risk-free way for residents to mobilise their money.

Build consensus early on:
Setting up and implementing the bond ran smoothly with few hurdles. Early on, there was some doubt from opposition councillors. Warrington is a Labour-held council with a healthy Liberal Democrat and Conservative opposition. The wisdom of launching a bond when the council was focused on fighting the Covid-19 pandemic was questioned. However, once the financial details were fully explained, councillors became supportive; the Liberal Democrats in particular have been very supportive of Warrington Labour’s green agenda. Warrington’s example proves that a community municipal bond can be a tool for a just, fair and green recovery. Moreover, even during the hardship of the pandemic the target of £1m was comfortably reached, testifying to the importance local people give to taking on the climate emergency.

Emphasise the local benefits:
The council is considering more bonds to finance future projects. But it would like more local buy-in and to grow the number of residents contributing. Abundance handled the communications for the first bond, but more council involvement in communication and media strategy could push the local green benefits of the bond, ideally getting more people on-board at an earlier stage.

Be aware of any financial risk to the council:
Funding struggles are one reason why these bonds may appeal to stretched local authorities. But for investors, risk is tied to the continued existence and financial strength of the council. Any councils at risk of a Section 114 notice being issued due to failure to balance budgets – a legal order that restricts their spending – will be unable to implement a community municipal bond. Abundance credit checks councils to ensure that investors aren’t lending to authorities at risk.

For financially sound councils there is still risk to consider. If there are serious project complications or setbacks, they will carry the risk as opposed to investors.

Replicability:
The success of the pilot in Warrington led the Green Finance Institute and Abundance to launch a national campaign in July 2021 to help local authorities set up community municipal bonds. The Institute is targeting all 404 local authorities in the UK. In September 2021 five councils signed the Local Climate Bond Pledge, committing to issuing a bond by Summer 2023.

Authorities might feel they lack the knowledge and experience to launch a similar bond, but the concept is simple and straightforward.

Expertise and Vision:
The council boasts previous experience in solar farms, with two already in operation at Hull and York. The council therefore has strong institutional expertise in and passion for innovating on green issues, making it well-placed to become a pilot case for the use of community municipal bonds. It also had experience in raising a city bond, five years prior, to fund regeneration of the town centre.

Accessibility:
With a minimum investment of £5, these bonds are very socially inclusive (although smaller investment equals smaller returns). They also offer an alternative channel to democratic public forums like climate assemblies, which some residents may feel reluctant to participate in. Such bond schemes allow a wider range of people to contribute to local climate action. Community municipal bonds are also very transparent, as residents can see the result of their investment, whether a solar farm or new electric buses.

Our Solution

Emissions impact:
Warrington Borough Council has used the funds raised to develop a solar farm and a battery storage facility in Cirencester. Construction on the solar farm began in March 2021 and is due to finish in May 2022. The council anticipates that this solar farm will produce electricity above its annual energy consumption. Surplus will be sold to generate revenue, which will be used to advance the council’s Green Energy Strategy.

The Cirencester farm has been a key pillar of Warrington’s bid to the Department for Transport’s Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme, which will dispense £120m to support the introduction of zero-emissions buses. If the bid is successful, the council intends to replace its entire bus fleet with electric vehicles and to power this new fleet via the Cirencester farm.

Social impacts:
The revenue from the solar farm will reduce fuel poverty by contributing towards the council’s own fuel poverty charity, the Warrington Community Energy Trust. This will in turn save the taxpayer money and further support the council’s delivery of public services.

The scheme has raised the council’s profile and improved its reputation among members of the public – investors reported that the scheme gave them a more favourable view of the authority. Through their investment, more residents are now engaged in efforts to address the climate crisis. The council has therefore cultivated a pool of residents more likely to participate in its other net zero projects, and who may also be relied upon as future investors. On this foundation, there is potential for Warrington to issue more bonds that provide a regular stream of income over the next five to ten years.

August 17 2023

Net Zero Cheshire

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Our story

Climate change is everyone’s business. It is also our business. EA Technology’s mission is “to promote the development of resilient, accessible, low-cost energy networks globally, accelerating the transition to energy decarbonisation”. We educate and facilitate the introduction of low carbon technologies. We work collaboratively with Regulators, organisations and partners to manage the effects of climate change. We make it our business to deliver innovative solutions to operators of power networks globally. We help accelerate progress towards clean growth, adaptation and resilience of energy networks.

We have pledged decarbonisation of our 1950’s headquarters building and continue to invest in this with the aim of making it net zero with features including EV charging points, solar PV panels on the roof, a low-carbon heating system, LED lighting and an energy storage facility. We are openly sharing our decarbonisation journey, documenting it as a blueprint, paving the way for others to adopt as they look embark on their decarbonisation journey and retrofit their own legacy buildings.

Our building decarbonisation plan has faced challenges, some of which were completely unpredictable. A pandemic that has made us pause and rethink how we use our building and reassess our priorities for it including a blockage in the Suez Canal that delayed the arrival of our new battery system . . . to name but a few.

But we are learning many other lessons applicable to any organisation that is considering implementing a scheme like this. We have already shared a case study on the project website about our experience converting to LED lighting. We have now updated our EV charging infrastructure, with ten 22kW chargepoints in use; a case study documenting our learning from this will shortly be going on the website.

The 372kWh lithium-ion battery storage system is now in place, the low-carbon heat system is now installed and the PV panels will be generating around 50kW zero carbon electricity in time for the sunny weather in 2022. A building control system will balance the needs of all these systems to ensure we prioritise low-carbon generation.

We look forward to being able to demonstrate these new technology and share our experience and learning via virtual and in-person tours in summer 2022.

Useful Learnings

Our experience of decarbonising our 1950s HQ building hasn’t been straightforward. We will be sharing all of our learning from this journey on our project website. We also look forward to welcoming anyone interested on tours of our HQ building in Cheshire in the summer – both virtual and in person – when we will be able to talk more about the work we have done to the building.

The most fundamental advice that we could provide any organisation thinking about following our footsteps is firstly to collect as much data as possible. How much energy does the building use? Does that change by day and night, or weekday or weekend? How is that split by different processes and loads like heating and lighting? What is the operational ‘base load’ for essential equipment?

Secondly, think about how your building use may change over time. It may be as fundamental as whether you will still be in the same building in 10 years. This is something that the pandemic made very obvious to us when it accelerated subtle changes in the way we us our HQ building, speeding up a process that now sees some colleagues working at home more frequently. While changing working patterns alter how we use internal space, it also means smart controls of heating and lighting can be more rewarding if some rooms aren’t going to be used every day. Changing working patterns may also have implications for how frequently EV charge points are potentially used.

The final piece of advice we would like to give here is to prioritise energy efficiency above any other measure. Reducing the amount of energy that your building uses is a first step in any decarbonisation plan and greatly increases the effectiveness of the more obvious technologies. One of the first measures we implemented was to install LED lighting around our building. This has reduced the amount of electricity we use to light the building, but also changed the ambiance of the building. We installed some smart controls at the same time that turn off lights when rooms are unoccupied, but with hindsight we should have installed more.

For most buildings, upgrading the insulation and thermal efficiency is also a ‘must’; other technologies such as heat pumps can be unsuitable, or operate very inefficiently if the insulation is not sufficient. This should be done before any low carbon heating sources are installed as the cost-benefit for other equipment often relies on the insulation. Once these measures have been taken, a low carbon heating source such as a heat pump may be appropriate, however it should be specified to the building after it is updated so that it operates most efficiently.

We have gathered a great deal of information and are learning as we progress along our journey to net zero. As we complete bits of our transformation, case studies are being added to our website.

Read more here.

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August 17 2023

Encirc

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Our story

We are looking to reduce our carbon emissions towards net zero with a focus on reducing energy and investing in improved technologies. Recently, we have trialled in one of our plants converting a furnace to run on biofuels, while also increasing the recycled content of our glass bottles to 100%.

For the full story, please watch the video!

Useful Learnings

Businesses have a key role in shaping the future. It is a business benefit to have a clear sustainability agenda as young people want to work for companies who are investing in, and have a clear strategy to address, environmental concerns. Innovation is necessary to accelerate the process to net zero targets.

Read more here.

August 17 2023

Bretton Hall Community Solar Farm

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Our story

Ynni Newydd Cyf (New Energy Ltd) is a community group working to develop a large community solar farm, crossing the English-Welsh boarder between Cheshire and Flintshire. The 49ha site is currently used for sheep farming, which will continue after the solar farm’s construction.

The group undertaking such a large project shows the ambition of communities to rise to the challenge of Net Zero and meet the energy demands of their community with local generation. The group brings a wealth of experience and have successfully delivered other renewable energy projects.

Originally the solar farm was going to be developed by a commercial developer, but they pulled out when the ‘Feed in Tariff’ renewable energy subsidy was removed by the Government. The community took on the project as their key objective was carbon emission reduction, rather than profits. The scheme was considered to be marginal, but doable and necessary. However, the energy crisis has meant that the revenue from the sales of electricity should now be able to bring healthier profits to the Community Benefit Society, which is a not-for profit organisation and any surpluses go to the Community Benefit Fund for local projects.

Useful learnings

The solar scheme received a grant from the Rural Community Energy Fund (RCEF) to assist the project to prepare and submit the scheme for planning permission, and received support from the Welsh Development Bank.

The group have successfully raised development funding, secured a land lease, grid connection and undertook extensive community consultation and engagement – a key part of the community solar farm’s objectives.

As the site is in both Wales and England, the group needed to submit 2 separate planning applications. The planning decisions will be taken in England by Cheshire West and Chester City Council. In Wales, the project is being treated as a Development of National Significance and will be adjudicated by the Welsh Planning Inspectorate with input from Flintshire County Council.

Gaining planning permission will be a major success. Once achieved, the significant capital costs to build the solar farm will be raised by a Community Share Issue, where members of the public will be invited to invest in the project and will receive a 3% rate of interest on their community investment.

Following this, the solar farm will be built in 2023 and will begin generating 24,500MWh of renewable electricity each year. This is enough to supply around 7,500 households, saving around 6,370 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year. The scheme will displace fossil fuel electricity generation for over 30 years, helping the UK to meet its legally binding target of net zero carbon by 2050. Locally generated electricity will support the grid to decarbonise, as people move to electrify heating and transport, and it will also help to protect consumers from rising energy prices.

This large scale, community owned, renewable energy asset will generate revenue through sales of the electricity. All profits will return to the Community Benefit Society and will be allocated to projects to regenerate the local area, meaning the benefits will stay local for the lifetime of the solar farm.

Read more here.

August 17 2023

Congleton Hydro Project

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Our story

Congleton Hydro is one of the first community-based generation schemes within Cheshire East, the project will produce enough clean, green energy to power the equivalent of 60 homes. The scheme will utilise the waterpower from the River Dane by installing a 65kW turbine. This installation will include a 2.5m diameter, 8m long Archimedes screw which will drive the 75kW electrical generator. Once generated, the power will be transported through a 1000m cable to the Siemens factory, it is hoped that this project will provide the necessary vehicle for other environmentally conscious local companies and institutions to get involved.

The Dane Valley Community Energy (DVCE) is a not-for-profit organisation, consisting of professional, skilled and environmentally conscious volunteers. DVCE will install and operate the hydro-electric generation plant on the River Dane, at Havannah Weir. The weir, which has been in place for more than 250 years will now be used to generate energy from rainwater providing a renewable, greener form of energy generation. The project has successfully secured funding using a community shared ownership scheme organised by Share En-ergy.

Useful Learnings

The scheme produces 275kWh carbon-free electricity generation per year, which reduces Cheshire East’s output of CO2 emissions and reliance on fossil fuels for energy generation.

The project has a projected surplus of approximately £5,000 per year which will be used to fund other local community projects.

The Hydro-electric generation plant maintains Congleton’s industrial heritage and provides the opportunity to raise awareness of environmental issues and offer an exceptional educational resource for local schools.

A Rural Community Energy Fund government grant in 2020 supported the provision of evidence to approve the scheme.

Read more here.

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August 17 2023

Reducing carbon emissions with The Tatton Group

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Our story

The Tatton Group is working to implement sustainable farming across their whole 6,000 acres and they are fully embracing nature based solutions as well as looking at their productivity. As an organisation they can make the change from agriculture being the major emitter to it being a major solution.

For the full story, please watch the video!

Our advice

Don’t wait for policy to change, act today!

Read more here.

August 17 2023

Using hydrogen-powered refuse collection vehicles to cut carbon and develop our understanding of hydrogen fuel

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Our Story

Hydrogen Refuse Vehicles: Tackling Emissions from Waste Collection

Cheshire East Council has set a target to become carbon neutral for its own operations by 2025. Project Vanguard was designed as a 3-year demonstration project with the principle aim to reduce carbon emissions within the waste collection services across Cheshire and Warrington.

Thus far the project aims to fulfill the following objectives;
– Reduce carbon emissions from waste collection to help meet Cheshire East’s 2025 carbon neutrality target.
– Build capacity and understanding in the use, management and storage of hydrogen within the project partners.
– Support green jobs and growth through upskilling workers, and safeguarding employment in vehicle and gas technologies.
– Raise awareness of hydrogen and the climate emergency amongst the general public and school children (the two hydrogen Refuse Collection Vehicles were named ‘Chewie and Chomper’ through a school’s competition).
– Facilitate improvements in air quality using hydrogen, as part of our Air Quality Strategy, and reducing fuel transport to the site.

The facility was launched in October 2021.

The project has successfully installed an electrolyser linked to a solar photovoltaic array, hydrogen refueler, and hybrid (H2 ICE) conversion of three vehicles (two Refuse Collection Vehicles owned by Cheshire East and a Storengy 4×4).

The project is complete and the site is now fully operational.

The project has been a collaborative effort as Cheshire East Council teamed up with Storengy Ltd, ANSA Environmental Services alongside support from the Cheshire & Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership.

Useful Learnings

We found that prior research into similar projects such as those in Scotland and Westminster using grey hydrogen helped to develop a basic understanding of how this may work and the potential saving which could be made.

We worked very closely with Storengy to understand the practicalities of operating the project before it was built to establish if the project was deliverable.

Engagement with key stakeholders was important – especially for liaising with our local environment hub, and ANSA environmental whom as a result were aware of our goals and understood the relevance of the project. We also created publicly assessable FAQ’s to ensure information was shared openly.

We also achieved the support form local leaders and councillors early in the process.

In terms of looking back at the project, we learnt that to get things done takes a lot of time and therefore patience. We also learnt the value of having a strong, hardworking team to keep pulling the project together.

The importance of stakeholders was firmly established, we had the support of senior management and our legal team therefore that helped push the project along despite many delays due to COVID-19.

We worked very closely with Storengy to understand the practicalities of operating the project before it was built to establish if the project was deliverable.

We also achieved the support form local leaders and councillors early in the process.

The importance of stakeholders was firmly established, we had the support of senior management and our legal team therefore that helped push the project along despite many delays due to COVID-19.

Read more here.