TRANSITION Kerry is holding an exhibition on renewable energy from October 27 to 31 at the Kerry County Library.
This is combined with the launch of a new Kerry Sustainable Energy Co-operative to be launched at the library at noon on Saturday October 31.
The exhibition will include: public talks a film “Drop in the Ocean? Ireland and Climate Change” presentations from schools and some fun interactive activities.
Evening events will be held at 6.30pm on Tuesday and Thursday and the exhibition is open during library hours each day. There will also be an opportunity during the week for interested people to sign up to membership of the new Kerry Sustainable Energy co-op.
Currently €470m leaves Kerry every year because we buy imported energy, €227m of that sum is spent by the residential sector.
We could stem some of this outflow of money by becoming more energy self-reliant as a county. Wood energy, district heating systems, solar energy etc are all steps towards such self-sufficiency. A recent study has shown we have the potential to produce 10 times the current county energy demand through renewables.
The Co-op will source and purchase good quality wood fuel, from within the county and make this available for members to purchase. To promote energy awareness and energy efficiency, the Co-op will supply electricity monitors which can be hired out from the library by library members.
The monitors will allow householders to monitor their electricity use and to learn which appliances are heavy and light users of energy. Future projects include: forming energy clusters to retrofit houses and sourcing small pockets of unused ground for fuel energy allotments where people can grow their own wood fuel.
The Kerry Sustainable Energy Co-op will be launched at 12pm on Saturday 31st October and will be followed by two presentations from pupils from two schools in the county. For more information look up www.transitionkerry.org or find us on Facebook.
For more details contact: Niamh Ní Dhúill on 086 7247066 or Mary Shanahan on 086 0832631
