Energy policy is at a crossroads. Attempts to meet targets for carbon emissions, energy security and affordable energy for vulnerable households are all on a trajectory to failure. Aggressive ambitions to roll out huge off-shore wind, nuclear and clean coal plants are proposed, but without any clear plans on how funds will be mobilized, or transmission and distribution infrastructure developed. In this book Prashant Vaze and Stephen Tindale ask politicians and regulators to consider a different path. Using abundant examples of small scale local solutions Repowering Communities examines how cities, communities and local authorities from across Europe and North America have driven reductions in energy use and rolled out small scale, community level solutions. Among the issues examined are the drivers behind behavioural change, the methods used to secure necessary investment and what government and civil society can do to foster such action on a wide scale. Based on extensive first-hand research and drawing on the latest global energy data the authors provide essential information and inspiration for readers who wish to drive the policies that encourage community-level energy development.

Energy policy is at a crossroads. Attempts to meet targets for carbon emissions, energy security and affordable energy for vulnerable households are all on a trajectory to failure. Aggressive ambitions to roll out huge off-shore wind, nuclear and clean coal plants are proposed, but without any clear plans on how funds will be mobilized, or transmission and distribution infrastructure developed. In this book Prashant Vaze and Stephen Tindale ask politicians and regulators to consider a different path. Using abundant examples of small scale local solutions Repowering Communities examines how cities, communities and local authorities from across Europe and North America have driven reductions in energy use and rolled out small scale, community level solutions. Among the issues examined are the drivers behind behavioural change, the methods used to secure necessary investment and what government and civil society can do to foster such action on a wide scale. Based on extensive first-hand research and drawing on the latest global energy data the authors provide essential information and inspiration for readers who wish to drive the policies that encourage community-level energy development.

Reducing your carbon emissions in an economic down-turn can be challenging, but saving the planet doesn't have to cost you more. Tough economic times need not relegate concerns for the planet to the back burner. The author is an environmental economist trying to live a low-carbon life in London. He worked for 15 years in the UK's Office of Climate Change, the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit and the Department of the Environment. So far so good. But he has kids. A family to visit in India. A hectic job. In distilling and building on his own experience of trying to live a low carbon life, he helps us navigate the choices that confront us all - families, singletons, pensioners - when making decisions about what to eat, what to buy, how to travel and how to keep warm in the era of climate change and economic turmoil. He works out the sums and lets us know which choices will make the biggest difference, and which are false savings. His book is an irreverent but seriously rigorous reference guide to low-cost, low-carbon living for everyone - in any location - in tough times. It's brimming with up-to-date information on current and future technologies, tips and ideas for every budget on how to spend the least for the biggest carbon reduction gain and insight from the experiences of people trying to live low-carbon lives.