{"id":10,"date":"2011-08-25T10:53:17","date_gmt":"2011-08-25T10:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/?p=10"},"modified":"2011-08-25T10:53:17","modified_gmt":"2011-08-25T10:53:17","slug":"can-solar-panels-really-save-the-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/can-solar-panels-really-save-the-planet\/","title":{"rendered":"Can solar panels really save the planet?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nRenewable energy company Greenenviro Energy Systems Ltd (GES) opened
\nits doors for business ten months ago.\u00a0 During that time its founding directors Marc Linch, David Lawrence and Richard Swords have seen it grow from a standing start with one office in Marks Tey, to sixacross the country and a staff of 50. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The company has been busy installing solar panels all over Great Britain as homeowners and
\nbusinesses take advantage of the Government\u2019s Feed-in Tariff scheme.\u00a0 This scheme, which rewards those generating electricity from a renewable energy source such as the sun, with an annual index-linked, tax free sum, was launched in April 2010 and runs for 25 years.<\/p>\n

To discuss GES\u2019s progress, contribution to the UK\u2019s renewable energy targets and plans for the future, the company invited opinion formers and green thinkers from the county, including Priti
\nPatel MP; the Mayor of Colchester, Councillor Helen Chuah; representatives from Colchester Borough Council; Essex Chambers of Commerce and Colchester Institute, to its Head Office in Marks Tey on Friday 24 June.\u00a0 The theme was: \u201cCan solar panels really save the planet?\u201d<\/p>\n

What was so great about the day is that everyone who attended felt a responsibility to do something.\u00a0 No, not just about the appalling rise in energy bills, but about the environment too.\u00a0 Talk of which, Marc Linch, director of GES, had some fairly interesting information on how the UK compares to other countries \u2013 and it\u2019s not great: <\/strong>\u201cWe all know that the main greenhouse gas responsible for climate change is carbon dioxide, and that the countries responsible for producing the most are China, USA, Russia, India and Japan.\u00a0 But the UK is 8th, after Canada and Germany, which is fairly depressing given the size of those countries in comparison to ours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marc pointed out that 43% of our carbon dioxide emissions come from the energy we use in our everyday activities at home.\u00a0 The installation of solar panels will provide, on average, around 40% of a household\u2019s electricity, and drastically cut down emissions.\u00a0 Being more \u2018electricity aware\u2019 has another beneficial side-effect, households tend to become even more energy efficient.<\/p>\n

Priti Patel, MP for Witham, followed on with some rather damning
\nstatistics too: <\/strong>\u201cThe country is committed to producing 15% of its total energy needs from renewable sources by 2020 and around a third of all electricity production from renewables by 2020. But the legacy the current Government has inherited is one where just 6.7% of electricity
\ngenerated comes from renewable sources, despite hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers\u2019 money being poured into various schemes and programmes.\u00a0 Other countries have moved ahead of Britain and against this backdrop, this makes your success even more admirable.\u00a0 In fact, we need more businesses like these to get a foothold into the market so that Britain can once again be at the forefront of innovation and technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Expansion is a double-edged sword; as GES grows, so do the number of miles its installers cover.\u00a0 The company decided it needed to grow trees to offset these emissions and approached
\nBob Penny, Parks & Recreation manager at Colchester Borough Council, with its \u2018Make my parish green\u2019 scheme.\u00a0 As a result, in the Autumn GES will provide the funding for Colchester Borough Council to provide trees to town and parish councils.\u00a0 This scheme will roll out to other councils to match the GES installation programme in the New Year.<\/p>\n

Bob Penny, Parks & Recreation Manager, Colchester Borough Council,
\nactually loves tress, and is more than happy for GES to beome involved in
\nplanting more of them:<\/strong> \u201cThrough the \u2018Make my Parish Green\u2019 scheme and the support from GES we have the unique opportunity for Town and Parish Councils to work with local residents in creating a lasting legacy. Community tree planting not only helps deliver environmental benefits but participation is extremely rewarding and allows current and future generations to have ownership of the features they have created. Through partnerships such as these we can all <\/strong>benefit from a greener future.”<\/p>\n

GES believes in giving something back to the community too and is also working with the Colchester Institute to develop its very first solar PV apprenticeship scheme, to give young people a start in one of the most dynamic industries around.<\/p>\n

Rick Swords, managing director GES, said<\/strong>: \u201cWe all know that on its own, any environmental practice can only make a dent in the reduction of greenhouse gases.\u00a0 To be truly effective, it has to work as part of a concerted effort, and that effort has to be consistent. We have to change, we have to make a difference and, frankly, there\u2019s no time like the present.\u201d<\/p>\n

So can solar panels really save the planet?\u00a0 The answer is no, not on their own, but it\u2019s a start.\u00a0 It will reduce carbon dioxide emissions while delivering a 6-9% return on investment.\u00a0 This is one of the few instances where homeowners and businesses alike are faced with a win-win situation.<\/p>\n

Congratulating GES, Priti Patel MP said:<\/strong> \u201cEssex is the County of Entrepreneurs
\nand nowhere is this more accurately demonstrated than in the growth of this business. In just eight months, you have expanded to employ 50 staff, providing much needed and welcome local jobs.\u00a0 I therefore applaud everyone at Greenenviro Energy Systems for the steps you are taking to protect the environment, create jobs and support economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before you get too excited, not all buildings will be suitable for Solar PV, but if your property is facing south, west or east it probably is; to know for sure, call GES on 0800 064 6014 or visit www.greenenviroenergy.co.uk<\/a><\/em>. <\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Renewable energy company Greenenviro Energy Systems Ltd (GES) opened its doors for business ten months ago.\u00a0 During that time its founding directors Marc Linch, David Lawrence and Richard Swords have seen it grow from a standing start with one office in Marks Tey, to sixacross the country and a staff of 50. The company has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10\/revisions\/14"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}