Alyth is to lead the energy cut

Nov 20 2008 by Johnathon Menzies, Blairgowrie Advertiser

AN EAST Perthshire town is cutting its carbon footprint down to size with a host of energy-saving initiatives.

Scottish Hydro Electric (SHE) has challenged the residents of Alyth to reduce their energy consumption by 10 per cent by the end of next year, part of the town’s Climate Action Town project (ACAT).

If successful, a lump sum of £20,000 will be awarded to invest in community projects.

In addition, Scottish and Southern Energy are also offering a one-off payment from the Drumderg Windfarm to act as a further incentive.

Around 270 of SHE’s ‘smart meters’ have been snapped up by the town’s residents as part of the scheme.

The two-year initiative – which reached the halfway point earlier this month – is one of a trio of projects designed to encourage Alyth’s 2500-strong population to lower their energy consumption.

The other two are tied in with the Scottish Government’s £300,000 Climate Challenge Fund, launched in Comrie by the cabinet secretary for rural affairs and the environment, Richard Lochhead, last week.

These are designed to focus on improved home insulation and cutting transport levels and are separate from the ACAT project.

A similar programme has been put in place in the Letham area of Perth.

Clive Bowman, chair of the Alyth environmental group, said that the smart meters can help reduce energy emissions relatively simply.

“At this stage we don’t know if the smart meters have made a difference, because all the data has not been gathered yet, but it will be interesting to see if we have.

“The meters are fitted into people’s homes and allow you to monitor your energy use.

“You can pull up charts and graphs and compare energy use in one time period with that in another.

“What is perhaps the most interesting is monitoring the difference that the little things make.

“If you swap all the regular lightbulbs in a room with energy-saving ones the difference in the readings is surprisingly large.

“Obviously people cannot be completely energy efficient, because everybody has to wash their clothes or vacuum their living rooms, but the smallest changes can have the biggest impact. It’s a case of thinking locally and acting globally.

“With ACAT, the transport feasibility study, and the home insulation project we’re running in conjunction with the Scottish government, we’re really busy at the moment.