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Green Wadebridge in the running for an award |
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3 May 2013, 6:12 PM
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Last week marked a milestone for small yet energy-smart Wadebridge in Cornwall, which is in the running for a national green award after the market town was selected as a finalist in the run up to the 2013 Ashden Awards.
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But that wasn't all the excitement for The Wadebridge Renewable Energy Network (WREN). First it was selected as a finalist for the 2013 Ashden Awards, the UK’s leading green award. Winners will be announced at a ceremony in London on 20 June. And secondly the WREN Energy Shop was visited on Friday 25th April by Greg Barker, Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change.
Now in their 13th year, the Ashden Awards champion practical, local energy solutions that cut carbon, reduce poverty and improve people’s lives in the UK and developing world.
Professor Stephen Frankel, Chair of the WREN Board, said "We are obviously delighted to be Ashden finalists. WREN, like many other groups, is determined to show the benefits to every village, town and neighbourhood of taking more control over their own energy, and turn energy from an individual cost to a collective asset. That does rather mean that we have to swim against the tide of the UK's centralised arrangements. So it is hugely encouraging that a critical examination of our work by Ashden suggests that we might be going in the right direction."
Sarah Butler-Sloss, Ashden Founder Director said: “Key to achieving our low-carbon vision will be to teach communities how they can generate their own energy and use it more efficiently. WREN has achieved remarkable results in a very short space of time. By demonstrating the tangible financial, environmental and social benefits involved in moving to a low-carbon economy, WREN makes a persuasive case for other towns to get energy smart.”
The Minister is visiting as Wadebridge is gaining a reputation as a town taking responsibility for reducing its energy consumption. The Department of Energy and Climate Change is now working on a community energy strategy, and the approach being taken in Wadebridge to help people keep energy costs down by insulating their houses, changing their heating systems, using renewable energy sources, alleviating fuel poverty, moving towards electric transport and helping businesses take advantage of new opportunities, is increasingly seen as a model for other towns.
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