It's been a busy start to 2009 in the Low Carbon Innovation Centre. Work continues with the redesign to the CRed system and we look forward to the re-launch in the summer. We've been much in the news recently with the BBC, The Times and Daily Mirror featuring Dr. Bruce Tofield's work with biofuels. There are several links to the story here: http://www.carbon-connections.org/ShowContent.aspx?intContentID=4

We also have a very busy event schedule with the most eagerly awaited being the forthcoming Carbon Connections conference, as sponsored by Co-operative bank. There are still a few tickets available for this exciting event which will feature presentations from the Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Bob Watson and Jonathon Porritt. We'll also be giving £12,500 away in our low carbon innovation competition.Conference programme

Thanks for your continued support at the start of this year. There’s a lot going on during 2009 and we look forward to sharing it with you.

Matt Dolan, Editor

Climate change has now achieved such a high level of visibility that many organisations have developed their own viewpoints and expertise base.

The Low Carbon Innovation Centre at UEA has seen a distinct upturn in calls for assistance in guiding organisations in how they should use this expertise to define their adaptation to a new low carbon economy, and more importantly, how success should be measured.

This work will be central to meeting the national and sector based targets set by governments on achieving measurable carbon reduction. Many of the targets set are ambitious and will require innovative solutions and creative thinking to achieve. The university sector continues to be one of the richest sources of creativity and our well established links ensure we have access to world leading strategists as well as data fresh from the latest research. We are always interested in hearing new ideas and creating the links to maximise their impact - we look forward to hearing from you.

Chris Harrison, CEO, LCIC

Carbon Connections conference

Tickets for the Carbon Connections conference are now on sale. 'Success through Innovation – Knowledge Transfer and the path to a low carbon economy' will take place on March 12th from 09.30 - 17.00 at the Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD and will serve to highlight some of the exciting and innovative low carbon projects that we have invested in as well as offer expert opinion on how the UK can meet its ambitious climate change targets.

This event will be of interest to academics, entrepreneurs and those working within the alternative energy and low carbon sphere.

We have a sparkling line-up of speakers for this year's conference and the event will also offer a high level of interactivity with each delegate able to offer opinion, suggestions and comments through a wireless handset. This will also ensure immediate feedback following each presentation.

We’re looking forward to giving more money away too. Carbon Connections along with our sponsors, Co-operative Bank have put £12,500 of prize money up in our low carbon innovation competition. The four short listed project groups will present at the conference and the audience will vote for their favourite. Full conference details appear on the Carbon Connections conference:

http://www.carbon-connections.org/Info.aspx?IntContentID=56

You can purchase tickets for this event online: http://www.keithprowse.com/tickets/slink.buy/e.UTE/natural-history

We hope to see you at this event.

All those in favour of low carbon, please show

LCIC will be bearing the University of East Anglia’s low carbon flag at an exhibition in the House of Commons from March 30th. For a week, the UEA’s carbon reduction activities will be on display to staff, MPs and peers in the House and we hope to raise the profile of the Norwich Business School’s Strategic Carbon Management MBA, the Combined Heat and Power gasifier currently under construction on campus. Once this has become operational, the university’s carbon emissions will have been reduced by 70% on a 1990 baseline.

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Emerging technologies

Dr. Zoe Wallage of LCIC is one of the UK’s leading authorities on biochar. Cited as a potential carbon sequestration method, biochar is one of the emerging technologies under observation within LCIC. Zoe answers some of our biochar questions:

What is biochar?
Biochar is the carbon-rich, charcoal-like, product that forms when biomass, such as wood, crop residues or manure, is heated in the absence of air. In more technical terms, biochar is produced by pyrolysis and gasification processes that involve the thermal decomposition of organic material under a limited oxygen supply, and at relatively low temperatures (~700°C).

Why is it useful?
The thermal conversion of biomass results in approximately 50% of the carbon in biomass being converted to biochar, which is highly resistant to biodegradation as the carbon is held in a far more stable form than the biomass it was derived from. Thus, carbon can be actively diverted from the rapid biological cycle into a far slower “biochar cycle”, and thus biochar amendments to soil can be considered a rapid means of sequestering atmospheric carbon, possibly for hundreds or thousands of years.

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Eco-development

LCIC are working with Barratt Strategic and Building Partnerships on the proposed Rackheath Eco-community. Rackheath, less than five miles from Norwich city centre, has a range of attributes ideal for an eco-community. Rackheath is perfectly located. It falls within local authority plans for the future growth of the Norwich area and is easily linked to the city and thereon to the rest of the country. Rackheath was recently identified in the Department for Communities and Local Government's Sustainability Appraisal (SA) as the only 'A-rated' (the highest rating) site, which the SA describes as ‘generally suitable for an eco-town’. LCIC have contributed expertise on carbon management and carbon trading to the proposal and indeed Dr. Chris Harrison appeared on The Politics Show East on Sunday 15th February.

The consultation period for the Rackheath eco-community extends until June 2009. Please Contact us to find out more after this time.

Carl Hedger, Project Co-ordinator, LCIC

Carbon Connections has funded a vast number of projects from a diversity of classifications, partnerships and sciences. The Agri-fibre insulation project is a unique and innovative new product that could replace, mineral fibre insulation, which is costly and involves high energy processes and compromises the ecological merit of the product, with a new technology that will enable the treatment of agri-fibres with a binder and a fire retardant in an in-line, low-energy, effluent free process. This could revolutionise the industry and may be considered an excellent investment.

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Carbon Management Process

LCIC’s Dr. Simon Gerrard discusses how to reduce your organisation’s energy consumption – vital to boost profit and loss figures and also essential in the fight to reduce carbon emissions.

Getting to grips with carbon requires consideration of many different aspects. It can often seem quite daunting - like learning a new language - but in essence it's quite straightforward when you get going. The first step is to commit to change. Recognise at the outset that things have to change and that change is for the best. Then start to work out your carbon footprint. This means gathering data on energy use from heating, lighting, powering equipment, transport fuel, even waste, water and consumables. Some of this may be easy to access; other bits might take more effort. But take your time with this. Your first target might be to set up appropriate data gathering processes for example by altering the way you record travel expenses.

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To discuss any aspect of energy consumption or reduction or to find out how LCIC can help your organisation meet the carbon reduction challenge please contact us at www.uea.ac.uk/lcic, mail Matt Dolan (m.dolan@uea.ac.uk) or call 01603 591358.

Do you have a suggestion for a topic for the next newsletter? Is there a subject you’d like to know more about or an industry figure you’d like us to question? Mail your feedback to Matt Dolan (m.dolan@uea.ac.uk)