Low Carbon Bulletin

Dear Member,

Welcome to the 4th issue of the Low Carbon Innovation Bulletin.

The Low Carbon Innovation Network has recently reached the impressive milestone of registering 2000 members, with many new members having joined as a result of existing members forwarding them the bulletin or showing them the website. It's great to see the wide range of departments within each member organisation that have joined the Network and are actively seeking to reduce emissions. If there are any other departments within your organisation that you think should be looking at their carbon footprint, please forward this bulletin onto them.

Case Studies this month come from Clarks Shoes, who have implemented a low carbon cooling system, Castle Cement, who are using biomass to fuel cement manufacture, and the Forestry Commission who are using bio-fuel to reduce the environmental impact of their fleet of vehicles.

As usual the bulletin includes a round up of news stories and some best practice ideas on reducing emissions in your organisation.

Just as a reminder, the Low Carbon Innovation Exchange will be taking place on June 14th, so if you haven't already, please book your place here

Best regards

Dominic Matthews

Click on the links below to read the full stories

UK brewer takes industry lead on climate change

www.beveragedaily.com published 03/05/2007

Solar thermal for York racecourse

www.newbuilder.co.uk published 08/05/2007

Tidal energy to power 800 homes in NI

www.utvlive.com published 01/05/2007

Pioneering efficiency for schools

www.lowestoftjournal.co.uk published 01/05/2007

The Low Carbon Innovation Network and Enterprise Events cannot be held liable for the content of external websites

To see more news and to add some of your own visit the forum here

The Low Carbon Innovation Exchange will take place on June 14th at the Olympia 2 Conference Centre in London and the list of companies and products that will be on show continues to grow.

Companies represented in the showcase will include:

Akristos, Ambirad, Aptiform, ASI, Bluesky, BT, CRM, Curvaceous Software, EA Technical Services, Ecocooling, Ecosearch, EDF Energy, Encraft, Epicam, Eurowind, Flexitricity, Gasfill 2000, Green Dimension, Green Ocean Energy, Hoval, Hydroventuri, Interflush, KVM Partnership, Microcab, npower business, Schneider Electric, Scottish Power, Sd3, Spirovent, Tarmac, The Energy Savers, Trend, TruRead, Walltransform

Full details of the showcase attendees can be seen here

The best practice Exchange is an event for members of the Network to share experiences and develop actionable ideas about how to effectively reduce carbon emissions.

The format is designed to enable the effective sharing of best practice through peer-to-peer interaction and offers a wide choice of roundtable discussion groups and case studies to enable participants to discuss challenges, share knowledge and explore alternatives. Each discussion group has a facilitator to help focus the discussion so that individuals may learn from the collective experience of the group.

We've had a great response from the network in terms of members coming forward to host sessions on the work that they have done.

New discussion groups recently added to the programme include:

Experiences of a low cost Airline

Steve Parrott, Director of Health, Safety and Environment, Flybe

C02 emissions reduction: Policy driven or technology driven?

Tom Denton, Manager of Environmental and Social Affairs, Toyota (GB)

Opportunities and current calls in Framework 7 related to environmental technologies

Dr Zitouni Ould-Dada, Head of Environment Science Co-ordination Branch, DEFRA

Experiences and challenges of energy saving within a large corporation

Gregory Luxford, Energy Manager, Norwich Union

How we managed 50% gas savings on educational/office type buildings

David Oldham, Energy Manager, University of West of England

To book your place to attend the exchange for the special discounted member rate please click here

The full programme for the day can be seen here

So how can you be involved?

-- Have you got any experience on a carbon reduction initiative that you would be willing to share with a small group of counterparts?

-- Or is there a specific challenge you face, where a collective brainstorm may help provide some of the answers for yourself or others?

Previous participants who have led or facilitated discussion groups at similar best practice events have rated the peer interaction to be very valuable, both in terms of exchanging experience and bringing together networks of people sharing an interest or challenge.

In recognition of your contribution, all topics accepted into the programme will qualify for a complimentary place at the Exchange.

So if you are interested in hosting a roundtable group on a topic of interest, please send an email to laura@carbon-innovation.com and we will call you to discuss the options.

Expert panel sessions on the day will cover a range of subjects, giving network members an insight into how carbon emissions are being reduced around the world, and also the opportunities that the future holds for reducing them further.

Panel sessions on the day will focus on minimising carbon emissions and creating bottom line savings, micro power generation, adapting products to suit new low carbon demands and supply chain partnerships.

To find out more about the Low Carbon Innovation Exchange please click here

Forestry Commission implement Bio-Fuel

The Forestry Commission (FC) has introduced a number of projects to reduce carbon dioxide emissions through a range of measures which have included the implementation of bio-diesel and alternative road fuels in their fleet of vehicles.

Read the full story on the forum here

Utilising Biomass in Cement Manufacture

Castle Cement is the UK cement arm of HeidelbergCement Group and meets about a quarter of the demand for cement in Great Britain, selling more than three million tonnes of the product. In recent years Castle Cement hasve replaced 160,000 tonnes of coal with 195,000 tonnes of alternative fuels to power their huge kilns. Castle have lead the way in finding fuel sources in a range of different places. Energy sources used include scrap tyres, fuel processed from recycled waste solvents, paper and plastics that are not recyclable in other ways, and abattoir waste.

Read the full story on the forum here

Carbon Efficient Cooling at Clarks

The cooling of two large mezzanine floors at the Clarks Shoes warehouse in Somerset has been accomplished using innovative evaporative coolers. A total of 12 coolers, providing up to 400KW of cooling capacity, were installed as part of a cross flow ventilation scheme.

Read the full story on the forum here

The bigger the Network is, the more organisations there are to share best practice!

Please forward this bulletin on to anyone who you think would like to be part of the Low Carbon Innovation Network. This may be someone within your organisation or it may be someone in your supply chain or competitive organisation.

New members can register for the bulletin for free by clicking here

We are always grateful to receive any comments or feedback that you have with regards to the bulletin, the forum, the exchange or the network in general.

We would also like to hear from you if you have a case study for the bulletin or have a topic that you would like to discuss at the exchange.

Please send any comments or suggestions to Dominic Matthews, Editor, at dom@carbon-innovation.com or call +44 (0) 1883 344 799

Best Practice Ideas

Please visit the forum here and share a tip that you have for organisations to reduce their carbon emissions. Often the very simplest ideas can have the greatest effect in reducing carbon emissions.

May Best Practice Ideas:

Check how hot water is generated in the summer ensuring that you avoid using large boilers for small loads of water.

Industrial buildings with cold spots may be locally heated with gas fired infrared plaque heaters at low cost. These are far more efficient than supplementing warmth with electric heaters.

Ensure that water temperatures are set correctly. Water should be heated to 60°c to protect against legionella; water at hand washing sinks should ideally be blended to 43°c

Check urinal controllers are fitted and operating correctly. Cisterns only require to fill and flush when the building is in use. A defective battery may mean they are filling continuously.

Using rotating doors as oppose to conventional hinged doors reduces the amount of heat and air conditioning that escapes.
Cut the power use of computers and IT equipment. Use "power down" or energy saving devices during the working day. Screensavers do not reduce energy usage, with more elaborate ones actually using more energy.

To share your best practice ideas visit the forum here

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