Energy Group homepage

Energy is one of six main activity areas that Transition Marlborough is focused upon. The other five are Food, Transport, Recycling, Climate and Permaculture, but because Energy usage is central to everything we do, in that sense it is also an integral part of the other activities.

However, the activity area that the Energy Group focused upon from the outset was the supply and direct use of Energy and how, as a Transition Community, the Marlborough Area can take more control of the Energy we use and how it is generated - and this led to the formation of the Community Energy Company (KCEL).

We are not the first to form such a Company, as a number of not-for-profit co-operative ventures have been formed by communities in recent years. Their basic business model is to raise capital for local energy project deployments by offering shares in the company. The income from the projects is then used to, not only provide a dividend to shareholders, but to also invest in other related community projects.

The operation of KCEL, as it builds a portfolio of renewable energy installations, is now the single focus for all the original Group's activity, so the Energy Group is no longer functioning as such, having morphed into the KCEL Board of Directors.

The content of these pages will still be updated from time to time but will inevitably be somewhat static.

Energy usage context

Currently fossil fuels supply 80% of the world's energy needs and that is unlikely to change significantly in the very near future at a global level, so how do we address what are generally thought to be the three main drivers for change, namely:

• Energy scarcity - which has steadily driven prices upward at an alarming rate, e.g. oil was less than $10 a barrel in the mid-1980s and has peaked at over $150 in recent years
• Energy security - at a national level the UK is critically dependent upon imports of both oil and gas, which are owned or controlled by nations that may not always be willing to supply us. In addition because of the need to ensure a continuing investment in infrastructure the Government must create an economic environment that ensures an adequate return on capital for the very significant amount of energy infrastructure investment that is needed.
• Environmental impact - which is probably the most concerning issue since it is now essential that we reduce the carbon emissions associated with our energy production. The Government is now committed to a legally binding target to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by 2050, relative to 1990 levels; this national target is therefore driving a wide range of initiatives, some of which we as individuals or as a Marlborough community can exploit.

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