Category: Sustainability
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Preparing for 50 degrees in Wales
Could 50°C in the towns and cities of Wales be liveable? (Spoiler – yes – and with a lot of strategic thought and hard work could be far nicer than our towns and cities of today. Read on to find out how 👇) Summary of suggestions For any urban area of Wales 🥵 under high…
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Changing diet
Changing Wales’ diet There was an interesting thread on LinkedIn last week, discussing things like Wales’ relience on imported fruit and vegetables. Predominantly Brexit-related issues, but it did spark a few comments about what Wales could and should be producing. And it led me to consider whether public procurement in Wales should only incorporate vegetarian…
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Dealing with the heat, and ‘creating’ water
This morning it rained in Cardiff. A decent soaking. ‘Big deal’ you might think, but it’s been both (unseasonably) hot and dry for about a month. Hot and dry enough for small plants and grasses to have dried out, and for serious watering to be needed for most gardens. Hot and dry enough to make…
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Assessing the intangible; parallel challenges in evaluating culture and nature
This article was first published by the Design Commission for Wales, in their 20-year anniversary publication. Culture has a uniquely defined place within Wales’ statute, being defined as one of the Well-being Goals within the Well-being of Future Generations Act [1]: A Wales of Vibrant Culture and Thriving Welsh Language: A society that promotes and…
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A worthy infrastructure strategy for Wales
If I tell you that It’s not often I’ve found myself excited by a piece of infrastructure policy, I’m sure I’ll be in good company. Hold on to your hats; the just-published Wales Infrastructure Investment Strategy (WIIS) is about to smash your concept of what infrastructure policy can mean to the environment, well-being and social…
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Own a tiny piece of a wind turbine
I’ve had the privilege and pleasure of working for the renewable energy sector for more than fifteen years – much of that supporting onshore wind. Onshore wind is the cheapest form of electricity, and can be deployed relatively quickly. It is the perfect complement to solar, typically increasing its output during the winter months. And…
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A long road: 2021 targets for CO2 emissions in the EU
The European Environment Agency (EEA), my former employer, has published the latest in the series of reports about CO2 emissions for new vans and cars. As shown in the graph below, there is a big mismatch between the trendline and the 2021 target which requires a very substantial drop in average emissions. Perhaps the manufacturers…
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Reflections on renewables
I joined RenewableUK in June 2012 and left in March 2019. This blog post provides some reflections on my time with the organisation. To hear my thoughts on a wide range of issues, head to the Cardiff Podcast where I chat about climate change, feminism, the energy sector in Wales and my new venture, Afallen.…
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Swansea Tidal Lagoon; an unjust decision
“ If we burn our bridges on tidal lagoons, our future will be a little colder and a little darker”. I wrote these prescient words in August 2016 as Charles Hendry was carrying out his research into the viability of tidal lagoons in the UK. Fast forward two years, and we now know that Wales’…
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The Clubb Doctrine: presumed consent for community energy
I’ve been working in the renewable energy sector since 2004. Of the thousands of people I’ve met during that time, I’ve never encountered anyone who opposed community energy. Even the anti-wind die-hards don’t generally object to community energy — as long as it’s not wind, natch. You’d think that with widespread public, civic and political…