Team Green Britain

Individuals taking part are encouraged to make reductions in their energy usage. At the beginning of the competition a measure of the consumption of the street is taken, then over 3 months residents are challenged to reduce their energy use. The street in each area that delivers the largest percentage reduction in consumption wins money to invest in community improvements - trees planted in the street, green products or a sustainable idea of their own.

This is based on individuals making very small changes to their lifestyles; installing energy efficient lightbulbs, ensuring that TVs and other devices are correctly turned off, rather than put in standby, as well as using appliances at off-peak times. This will save money for those taking part as their electricity bills will reduce with their lower energy use, but it will also really help to change the country's energy use as many people working together will make a difference.

it was fantastic to explore art in a different environment, noticing brush strokes, elements of art works which you wouldn't normally notice under the stark gallery lights, and enjoy the exploration with others interested in challenging energy consumption.

The challenge for dog walkers, campers, guides, scouts and others across the UK is how they can move to sources of light like this - removing the reliance on charging torches or batteries and seeking fun alternatives to what we expect. I'll be using mine for camping, walking at night and providing bedside lighting at night.

The aim of this is to highlight the different types of everyday energy use that we don't think about: the things that we often take for granted. Turning on a light, powering the TV set, recharging your mobile phone - it's surprising to see how much their comparable costs are. And really interesting to think how far a swim at a local pool could go towards powering a television.

The sweeping curves of the aquatic centre and the cube of the basketball arena all have their unique styles which combine into an amazing space. One that is also completely reconfigurable.  Chatting to Kay's husband, John, we discussed the aims during our tour of the park. The ambition to avoid a huge Olympic park that would lay underutilized after the games encouraged the teams behind the project to look at modular construction to ensure the temporary facilities could either be reduced in capacity, or dismantled completely and reused elsewhere.  

A small UK start-up has introduced this clever device, which applies the African ground-cooking concept to highly insulated bags that can retain the heat from a saucepan and slowly cook the food over the course of the day. It's a slow cooker without the energy use.

I've already used it to make a large vat of spaghetti bolognese, which I then divided into portions to freeze - providing home-cooked ready meals at a fraction of the energy consumption. The company behind the product claim it can save unto 30% on your household bills. I think that's a little optimistic, but it works well and is a great invention. The real benefit is that every time you buy one in the UK, they give one to a family living in Africa - a great reason to try one out.

An idea that needs huge collaboration and reaches into schools, universities, energy suppliers, government and media organisations. Something that needs substantial support. So to start with I've been measuring my own energy consumption and aiming to reduce it by 15% over the next 4 months. To do this I have installed a graphing energy monitor (see my blog post on Wattson). That way I can see how viable it is.

I have started putting together a business plan to deliver the project. The next steps are to bring together representatives (eg. People from across the energy industry) to create a framework to deliver the project and help reduce the UK's energy consumption. More information to follow.

Once I had set up my energy monitor (see post on Wattson link) the process was so much quicker - just look at the usage, turn things off, and track down the high consumption culprits.

I recently got home to find the monitor reading incredibly high - so I started to turn things off - a bit like sticking a bicycle inner tube into a bucket and looking for the air bubbles to find the puncture, and boy did I find it - with a predicted annual consumption of £300 of electricity, the dehumidifier which is common place in most flats, was chewing up the power. Even on the supposed eco setting. 

The first thing that strikes you is the acceleration - it's great and really does match a Mini Cooper, the second thing is the silence. All the motoring press and programmes always talk about the fact that there is no engine noise, but it's not until you sit in a car and silently pull away from the lights that you notice it.

Internally it's much like a normal Mini Cooper  - but without the rear seats as they are replaced by a stack of batteries, really well fitted and carpeted to make the car feel like a traditional two-seater coupe.

Charging
How to charge an Electric Vehicle - well, it's pretty simple really. Plug the connector into the car, then connect it up to the charging point and you are done! Then just leave until it's full again.

Charging Costs.
I'm running a full electricity monitoring and tracking system provided by Wattson, a really smart device that enables you to monitor your consumption and displays it in a really neat way.

I was intrigued to see how my car would add to that charging - and got a rather huge shock! But this is much more easily avoided by setting the time that the car is charging (ideally in off peak economy 7 times), but the reality is for most city use you will only be topping up the charge.

I started by looking at the times that we are in the flat - during the day and in the evenings and reduced the heating to only being on at these times. I have also resisted the urge to turn the heating up to create a tropical climate, instead I'm happy to wear a jumper if it will save on the energy use - and the results are already staggering year on year. And that's without really trying!

Individuals taking part are encouraged to make reductions in their energy usage. At the beginning of the competition a measure of the consumption of the street is taken, then over 3 months residents are challenged to reduce their energy use. The street in each area that delivers the largest percentage reduction in consumption wins money to invest in community improvements - trees planted in the street, green products or a sustainable idea of their own.

This is based on individuals making very small changes to their lifestyles; installing energy efficient lightbulbs, ensuring that TVs and other devices are correctly turned off, rather than put in standby, as well as using appliances at off-peak times. This will save money for those taking part as their electricity bills will reduce with their lower energy use, but it will also really help to change the country's energy use as many people working together will make a difference.

I am passionate about reducing my personal energy consumption, which often goes against my interest in new technology and gadgets. I am a huge cycling fan, and try to use my bike for all personal and work journeys where possible, as it's one of the fastest ways of getting around London and also keeps you fit. I cycle 14 miles everyday on my commute to and from work,  and really believe it is one of easiest ways to change your carbon output, as well as saving you money. - I'll be looking at cycling as part of this challenge and the impact it can make if more people take to two wheels.
 
I'm hugely honoured to be part of this programme and incredibly impressed with the amazing ideas and projects that my fellow team members are taking part in. I'm sure I'll learn a huge amount from their efforts. I'm hoping to bring a realistic real-life perspective of sustainable living to the team, that has to work around you - not adhering to an extreme vision of sustainability that won't work for most people - and I'm sure it will be a lot of fun in the process!