“Just then they came in sight of thirty or forty windmills that rise from that plain. And no sooner did Don Quixote see them than he said to his squire, ‘…I intend to do battle with them and slay them. With their spoils we shall begin to be rich for this is a righteous war...’

‘Take care, sir,’ cried Sancho Panza. ‘Those over there are not giants but windmills. Those things that seem to be their arms are sails which, when they are whirled around by the wind, turn the…

Background

Generally Hackney is a typical inner London Borough with limited scope for cavity wall insulation because so many of the homes have pre-1919 solid walls. While working as a paid surveyor on the Mayor of London’s RENEW programme I realised that this was not the case for homes originally built by Hackney Council. There is a band of estates scattered across Hackney built in the late 1970s easily identified by their non-standard bricks which were built with cavities. Most have…

Friends of the Earth are running an exciting new campaign (alongside the Bees!) about energy - Clean British Energy. (www.cleanbritishenergy.com). It's about Government action to support more UK renewable energy, and also encouraging people to switch their own suppliers.

We're also looking at renewables in Hackney, and at the recent Greener Hackney event (12 May) I agree to try and draw together people who were interested in…

Following feedback from residents at the Greener Hackney event, we have pulled together planning guidance on a range of energy efficiency and renewable energy measures into a single page.

http://www.hackney.gov.uk/greenerliving-green-homes.htm

We hope that this will provide useful information to homeowners on whether a measure is likely to be suitable, and whether it is likely to need…

DECC has announced changes to the feed-in tariff for solar PV which will give some clarity for the future:

• The next tariff reduction has been delayed until 1st August, giving wavering householders another month to install and qualify for the current tariff of 21p/unit.  Installers have been offering discounts to stimulate householders to make up their minds after the uncertainty of…

Hackney is in danger of losing out under the "Green Deal" and we need to warm up our communities in preparation for next year's launch if we are to get our fair share of the funding available.

A presentation from ACE (Association for the Conservation of Energy) at the Greener Hackney event on 15th October outlined details of how the "Green Deal" is expected to work from 2012.

The "Green Deal" which is currently going through parliament will enable private firms to…