The Dorset CAN Energy Team

What we have achieved so far and what’s next..

Updates

*   Dorset Greener Homes, which allow householders to share their experience of trying to keep their homes warm sustainably. Now many of the homes are open year round. Sam Wilberforce will outline current progress.

*  Dorset Community Energy (DCE) is developing a retrofit project,  working with Wessex Community Assets (WCA), experts in community-led affordable housing,. Tim Crabtree will be outlining the next steps, involving a retrofit program, training assessors and installers

*  Dorset now has four wind turbines in Purbeck, Will Bond, who has been working on this project for 20 years, is ready to generate 8 MW of electricity, sufficient for 5000 homes. Alan will bring us up to date with the wind facility and associated solar farm on his land.

*  After the failure of the Offshore wind application off the coast of Bournemouth in 2016, Pete West will bring us up to date on new plans for a wind farm 20km from the Dorset coast. He will also update us on the Bridport Local planned solar farm in Dottery.

DCAN’s plans for Low Carbon Neighbourhoods

1. Greener Homes: Our aim is to support householders to make their homes more sustainable. Part of this is to provide visits to homes where they have made changes to use less energy; but also to improve access to good advice, trustworthy and qualified installers and retrofitters and sustainable materials. How can we support DCE’s initiative ( see above).

2. Energy Champions: visits to homes with a thermal camera, offering advice on how the resident can lower their heating bills and carbon footprint. A scheme like this is running in Bridport and Lyme Regis. How can we widen this to other areas?

3. Solar Communities: bulk buying and installation of solar panels and batteries. DCAN has been at the heart of several schemes, and over 150 homes have benefitted from lower costs. How can we roll this out further to other towns in Dorset?

4. Onshore wind: we anticipate that the restrictive planning regulations are expected to be relaxed. Some DCAN members have been looking at where new windfarms might be built, what are the obstacles, and how we can increase benefit to the community through community ownership or local networks.

We want to hear from our members. How can we retrofit our homes to make them warm but with minimum carbon? How can we encourage more homes to install solar panels? How can we end fuel poverty in Dorset.   How would you like to help to  answer these and many other questions? This is your opportunity to get involved in these plans

The meeting is online on Monday 25 March 7.30-9.00

Register Here to secure your place.