Civil society groups back community energy projects

Green energy projects run by communities across the UK have received the backing of a number of civil society groups.

The group, which was put together by The Co-operative Group, and includes the National Trust, Women's Institute, Campaign to Protect Rural England and the Church of England wants to see more assistance provided to communities to enable them to play a greater role in generating renewable energy in the UK.

Patrick Begg, director of rural enterprise at the National Trust, said about 20 per cent of Germany's electricity comes from renewable sources, a quarter of which are run by communities. He said in Britain, less than 1 per cent of our electricity comes from community-run green energy projects.

A report by The Guardian newspaper said officials from the civil society coalition, which represents 12 million people in the UK, spoke to energy secretary Chris Huhne yesterday in a bid to persuade the government to support more community-run green energy schemes.

Paul Monaghan, Head of Social Goals at The Co-operative, says: "We want nothing less than a clean energy revolution, with communities controlling and benefiting from their own renewable energy.

"Talk of a new dash for gas shales, which could see up to 3,000 wells installed across the UK, highlights the choices we face – more and dirtier sources of fossil fuels or clean energy owned and controlled by communities."

The Co-operative also launched its Community Energy Challenge, which will result in six communities across the UK being supported to develop their own renewable energy projects. To find out more go to http://www.co-operative.coop/energychallenge

Please note, the contents of this news story are not supported or endorsed by The Co-operative Group.