No, not an ornithological sighting for the twitchers; rather a working party of wellies and waders to install the weir for SHARE’s hydro feasibility study.
The story so far: thanks to everyone’s generosity, we managed to raise all the funds necessary to get construction under way. Some of this started in isolation, but now we’re enjoying the luxury of Tier One, with socially distanced teamwork cranked into overdrive.
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On our Crowdfunder page you can show your support by donating any amount over £1, to help raise this relatively small amount of money to kick-start our project. Please help now.
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… but what in the world does that mean?
A community benefit society is a legal form for organisations that wish to operate on a not for profit basis for purposes that benefit the community as a whole.
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SHARE’s Mission is: “Powering renewable energy into a secure and sustainable future for all”.
Continue readingThe Carbon Neutral Cornwall Hive is Cornwall Council’s new online resource to help us tackle climate change – sharing ideas and information about projects and activities:
Click here to visit the Hive and see how to get involved
SHARE Welcomes the recent announcement by the Government to phase out the sale of coal and wet wood for domestic burning next year.
The tiny particles produced when these fuels are burnt pollute the air and have a serious effect on human health. To reduce our emissions of CO₂ and slow down climate change we must stop burning fossil fuels. Coal is especially bad so coupled with the air pollution it causes, we really must stop using it.
Fortunately there is an easy fix to the problem of wet wood. Dry it properly ! A recently felled tree will have a moisture content anywhere from 40% up to 60%. This must be reduced to around 20% to burn without producing the particles that the health experts are so concerned about. Burning wet wood also produces tar which will condense in your chimney, could corrode the liner, could block it or it could fall back into the fire and start a chimney fire. Economically, burning wet wood doesn’t make any sense either. Basically you are using a proportion of your fuel simply to evaporate the excess moisture in it.
All of the firewood supplied by SHARE is properly seasoned and stored in the dry. All customers are advised to store it undercover and are very often helped to stack it there.
Top tips: • Use a woodburner rather than an open fire to get the most useful heat out of your wood fuel. • Have your flue swept regularly. • Ensure the door seals are undamaged and effective. • Check the vents and other controls are in good working order. • Ensure the room has a vent allowing fresh air in and a carbon monoxide alarm.
Stay warm: Phone Ali for local wood deliveries. 07305 044049
Investment Offer over-subscribed For the past few years SHARE has offered a fixed-term investment opportunity. This is our means of paying off our capital investment in the 40kW solar PV installation at Church Park, South Hill. Each time, we look to raise a certain amount of capital, spread between as many investors as possible and offer to our members first. We are already over-subscribed for this year. Thank you for your support. Church Park is performing well, in fact much better than our initial cashflow predictions, which is why we can offer 4% interest to our investors. To date the project has generated electricity equivalent to that used per year on average by 4 UK households (4,648kWh). This is a carbon saving of 7.5tonnes CO2e. As a matter of interest I have just read that the average USA household uses 11,700kWh of electricity!
Recycling for Charity suspended due to Covid-19 Please save your items and sort like items together, our volunteers can no longer sort out crisp packets from sweet and biscuit wrappers etc, we need your help. When you have a bag full, drop to Green Meadows.
Climate changing emissions down – CO2 and NOx One positive result of the current pandemic is the huge reduction in “greenhouse gas” emissions globally. Parts of China worst affected by the virus have seen up to 25% less Nitrogen Dioxide in the atmosphere, as observed by NASA on satellite images. The BBC reported that there are observable reductions in CO2 emissions in the UK due to people travelling less, and lower air pollution levels in towns and cities. Perhaps the current enforcement of home working and holding remote meetings will make people realise that not everybody needs to be out on the roads every day.
SHARE in the Community While events were still going ahead, we have been very active in the area spreading the word about SHARE and our projects to various groups from W.I , U3A, Youth Groups and attending a number of Environmental Action Group meetings held by Cornwall Council and local Towns and Parishes.
Firewood and wood chippings available Large trailer load logs £120; dumpy bag logs £60. Dumpy bag chippings £5 Contact Ali 07305 044049
Tree Planting Another 400 trees planted! Thank you to the children that helped plant trees along the verges in the parish.
Stay safe and be sensible Don’t panic buy, there is plenty to go round. Over buying of fresh food especially could lead to food waste, which we’ve all been trying to cut down on.
Ask if you need help, we’re all in this together.
Visit to Cotehele Mill SHARE had a successful visit to Cotehele mill to see the hydro installation on Friday 6th December. A group of 21 people went to see the 5kW generator on site and learn about the benefits and pitfalls of such an installation. Leaves, young fish and regulations all need to be addressed so planning is crucial for a successful project, but if done properly, this can be a good source of electricity for the wet winter months.
Parish Carbon Footprint SHARE had asked Atlantic Energy to perform a carbon audit on the South Hill Parish and the results were discussed at our meeting on 8th January. The results showed that the main contributors to our carbon footprint are manufactured items, transport (including transport of goods) and energy used in the house, in that order. We can all do our bit by buying less (do you really need it, can you buy second-hand), working from home or car share, and use renewable energy and LED lighting in the home. Also, to work towards going to a zero carbon footprint, we would need to replace our cars by all electric cars, turn off electrical items we don’t use (don’t put our items on standby, switch if off at the socket), use heat pumps for heating our houses and only use renewable energy sources. For those who missed the presentation, Astrid will present the results again at the W.I. meeting on 6th May and we’ll post results on the SHARE web page.
For more info on this, any other thoughts or to join SHARE SHARE@south-hill.co.uk or phone Secetary Astrid Fischer 07875 284346