PEPESEC Project » Andrew Cooke

AGMA approves climate change agency

Andrew Cooke — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:48:40 +0000

The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) has approved the establishment of a Greater Manchester Climate Change Agency. The decision comes in response to the city’s “Mini-Stern Report,” which identified that the cost to the city region of not making interventions could cost an estimated £20bn over the next 12 years. Steve Turner, head of carbon economy at the Commission for the New Economy will lead in the development of the agency.

Genoa Study Visit concluded

Andrew Cooke — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:16:11 +0000

The Genoa Study Visit took place on the 14th and 15th of May 2009.

The whole event was a succes with all of the partners who attended able to learn how Genoa is implementing energy planning to their local area.

This study visit also marks the end of the Study visits that are scheduled for the PEPESEC partners with just work package leader meetings in Brussel during October.

Katowice concludes with great delight!

Andrew Cooke — Mon, 11 May 2009 10:58:46 +0000

The Katowice Study Visit took place on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th of April 2009. The PEPESEC partners found this study tour extremely eye opening and productive with particular attention being paid to the Ground source Heating system that is currently being trialled there. The Katowice study tour can be viewed in due course via the PEPESEC Knowledge Base.

Environment 2.0

Andrew Cooke — Thu, 07 May 2009 10:25:05 +0000

The connections between the environment and information technology have never been more important. A key strand of this year’s Futuresonic festival in Manchester, looks at Environment 2.0.

There will be a range of speakers from different disciplines discussing throughout the Social Technologies Summit, as well as a number of fascinating mass participation projects.

Climate Bubbles is a bubble blowing game that “enables people across the city of Manchester to test air flow circulation, and by sharing the results online, enable the Met Office to get a snapshot of the Urban Heat Island phenomenon”, whilst Biotagging Manchester creates an opportunity “to discover and map the city’s urban wildlife in new ways.”

On Saturday 16^th May, an Environment 2.0 “unConference” provides an open forum for discussions and debates about the interface between environment and information technology.

One of the work packages on the PEPESEC project is concerned with how “intelligent systems” can help provide better information and better engagement around environmental and energy efficiency issues within cities. The Environment 2.0 strand at Futuresonic will give some useful and imaginative pointers to how Web 2.0 tools and techniques can help achieve a more energy efficient city.

The Futuresonic festival and conference runs from 13^th-16^th May, and even if you can’t attend, follow what’s going on via their website www.futuresonic.com or by searching for the Twitter hashtag #futr09

Amaroussion Accomplished!!!

Andrew Cooke — Fri, 01 May 2009 11:21:53 +0000

The 18th to the 20th March saw the accomplishment of another PEPESEC study tour in the Greek suburb, Amaroussion. The first day involved a very constructive meeting where all partners gave a progress update of their specified work package with the inclusion of energy planning within their municipality. The second day was a chance to experience energy planning Greek style as projects througout Amaroussion were shared among the partners to share learning and promote new ideas.

To get a feel of Greek style energy planning please visit the link below:-

Amaroussion Study Visit

The Municipality of Amaroussion has also provided photos from around the city.

Amaroussion’s photos

Amaroussion’s famous potteries
Amaroussion has a wide transportation transit substructure
The City Hall of Amaroussion
The opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics 2004 held in Amaroussion
Syggrou Forest in Amaroussion
The Municipal swimming pool
“Iroon” square in the center of Amaroussion
Athletic infrastructure of Olympic Stadium in Amaroussion
“Karella” land

PEPESEC prepares for Katowice

Andrew Cooke — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:24:38 +0000

With the Katowice study tour just around the corner, PEPESEC partners get themselves prepared to travel.

The event will taking place on 22nd to 24th April where the PEPESEC project meeting will occur giving partners the chance to exchange thoughts and discuss progress with regards to their specified work package. In addition, a study tour will take place across Katowice city to share Polish learning.

Friday will give the partners a chance to attend a conference organised by the Polish Foundation of Energy Efficiency (FEWE)
“How the climate change policy affects local energy planning process“.

Please stay tuned with regards to the outcome of this event.

PEPESEC Knowledge Base Update

Andrew Cooke — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 11:39:28 +0000

The PEPESEC Knowledge Base Website is now soon to be uploaded. It currently hosts over 150 energy case studies from all around Europe.

Below is a taster of what the website will look like:-

Screenshot of Knowledge Base beta

PEPESEC Knowledge Base Website

Andrew Cooke — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:10:18 +0000

Since the launch of the project, the PEPESEC partners have been busy collating existing learning on energy projects within their municipalities. These will in the form of case studies which will be uploaded onto a purposely built knowledge base. The first stage of this will be taking place in the week beginning the 15th December 2008. A link to this website will be available as soon.

PEPESEC Murcia welcomes partners

Andrew Cooke — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:39:01 +0000

On the 16th and 17th October 2008 PEPESEC Partners were welcomed to Murcia, South Spain.

The Partners were here to view the Energy Planning Projects in the region. The Study tour was started with presentations on Sustainable Urban Mobility, Strategy for Public Transport, Bio-diesel Project, Introduction of Cycling as an Alternative to motorized Transport, along with a presentation of programs promoting renewable energy in the town of Murcia.

The partners were then taken on a site tour. The Tour included going to The University of Murcia to see a solar cooling system for a building along with their trials of wind Power Energy, then a trip to a Bioclimatic building which has been built into the hillside which uses the land and natural wind to regulate temperature all year round. A visit to a Solid waste plant showed how they are harvesting the gases to make Biogas for use in electrical production, with a visit to a sewage treatment plant showing how harvested gases from the process are turned into bio gas to power cars.

On the second day of the visit the Partners went to the Agencia de Desarrollo Local del Excmo in Murcia for a project meeting. After the meeting there was also a second Energy Planning clinic for the Project, where the partners could talk through their issues in regards to the project with other partners.

The next study visit is proposed to take place in Genoa in March 2009.

PEPESEC prepares for Murcia

Andrew Cooke — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 12:58:31 +0000

The next partners meeting and study visit has been scheduled for Thursday 16th and Friday 17th of October 2008 in Murcia, Spain. This will give the PEPESEC partners a chance to find what sustainable/renewable energy initiatives are ocurring in Murica. Adding to this will be a project partners meeting, along with a project workshop with a questions and answers session.