Blog: Taking local action in anxious times

by chair of Avalon Community Energy, Stewart Crocker

We’re living in anxious times, that’s for sure. News reports from around the world connect us to devastating floods, wildfires and hurricanes. Lest we allow ourselves to distance ourselves from the impact of these events, the rapid spread of the Covid 19 virus is a constant reminder of the interconnectedness of our world. 

Against this backdrop, we must all be hoping that the outcome from the COP26 conference in Glasgow will commit our political leaders to Nationally Determined Contributions which will take us firmly on a route to a carbon-neutral future. This is critical because only by means of a rapid transition away from fossil fuels to harness clean energy, such as solar and wind power, can future generations, and indeed all life on earth, have any realistic prospect of a sustainable future.   

Let’s face it, our current reliance on oil and gas is not doing us any favours. The immediate concern for many is how to cope with the disruptions to supplies. Energy companies are going bust. The fact that gas prices are soaring is deeply worrying, most especially for the 5,000 households across Mendip who are already living in fuel poverty. 

Although resolving these anxieties at a policy level is beyond our direct influence, we can all respond in a practical way by doing whatever we can to drive down our own carbon emissions. For example, more of us are switching to a green energy tariff or installing solar PV or a heat pump. At Avalon Community Energy, we seek to empower local involvement in a just transition to a zero carbon energy system. We achieve this by solar energy generation projects and by providing grants through our Community Benefit Fund. This fund is already helping Mendip residents in greatest need to keep warm and reduce their fuel bills, through loft insulation, curtains, draft excluders and dehumidifiers. 

We’re a small but mighty organisation and welcome new members as well as expressions of interest in joining both our board of volunteer directors and committee members for our Community Benefit Fund.  While worldwide policy is debated and hopefully, agreed on for a carbon-neutral future, here in mid-Somerset we’ll continue to chip away at our emissions for more sustainable prospects. 

For more information, please visit: https://avaloncommunityenergy.org.uk/membership-join/

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