EVER dreamt of living the "good life" but find yourself unable to rear your own animals or grow fruit and veg?
A Notts farmer may just have the answer.
David Rose is inviting people to his Screveton farm near Bingham to pay to adopt a lamb, watch it grow and then have it butchered and delivered.
Or customers can adopt a tree and enjoy its fruits over the year as they ripen.
A community group could even rent an area of land to use to grow their own produce.
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These are just a few ideas the farmer has to get the community involved in farming and eating local produce.
Mr Rose said: "I've been involved in local food for the last 10 to 15 years. I understand what local food is all about and how important it is with the growing demand.
"The interest in local food has basically doubled in the last five years. I see this as another great opportunity to create a food system that gives food security to the people of Nottingham.
"I think it's something that could benefit the general public and the farming community."
Mr Rose also plans to build an eco building made from straw at the farm to serve as an educational base for students from across the county to visit.
Pupils aged 14 to 19 on a new diploma in environmental and land-based studies, offered at some Notts schools from September, could spend one day a week at Home Farm as part of the course.
The building could also be used by community groups and primary schools.
He says the straw building will last as long as a brick building and will be almost entirely self-insulating.
At the front of the building there will be a 5ft gap between triple glazed windows and a compressed earth wall. The sunlight will heat this space which will then be used to heat the rest of the building, using minimum oil and electricity.
The farm has been approved for the European Union's higher level stewardship scheme which means it will receive funding to improve environmental management and public access to the farm.
Wheat and oilseed rape are currently grown and lambs are reared but Mr Rose hopes to return to the farm's 1930s glory days when his grandfather grew more with a greater variety of food for locals.
He said: "There are a lot of people wanting to grow food, farms are struggling from moving from big farming systems to smaller local food systems. If they work with the community they'd have the drive and the labour force and new skills to create local food systems."
The farm will also host circular walks around the farm so people can bird watch or paint as well as lamb-birth visits in the spring.
Rushcliffe Borough Council will now decide whether to grant planning permission for the proposed building.
Mr Rose hopes to start work in the spring and meet with the community to discuss his ideas.
To get involved email Mr Rose at david@sustainweb.org.
Wednesday 24th February Nottingham Energy Experiment
Nottinghamshire's Energy Experiment takes place for a second time on Wednesday, 24 February, 2010.
The aim is to see how much energy can be saved in one night.
It is the idea of BBC Radio Nottingham breakfast presenter Andy Whittaker. He said: "It's about switching off things you're not actually using."
In the first experiment in February 2009 a total of 14,150 kilowatt hours of electricity were saved, the equivalent to 425,000 boiling kettles.
This year Andy Whittaker hopes the Energy Experiment will save even more power.
The radio presenter said: "I think you will be surprised if you go around your own house at night and see what you've left on that you actually shouldn't."
To take part, simply avoid using anything electrical between 9.00pm on Wednesday, 24 February and 6.00am the following morning, switching off appliances at the plug and turning off lights.
"It's not about sitting in the dark though, just try not to use anything electrical that you don't actually need for as much of the time period as you can," Andy Whittaker added.
Central Networks will monitor what difference is made in power consumption during the experiment and will reveal the statistics on Andy Whittaker's show at breakfast time on BBC Radio Nottingham at the beginning of March.
It is hoped that businesses, homes, schools, universities and councils will take part again.
Please fill in this form to tell us you are taking part.
Bike Trailer give away
To get more people to leave their cars at home and to make it easier for People in West Bridgford to shop and take children to school, Transition West Bridgford in conjunction with a local holiday centre gave away 30 bike trailers.
They came in various conditions, so before giving them away Karina and a local bike repair friend checked them and used a few trailers for spares to make up 25 very good trailers.
They came in various conditions, so before giving them away Karina and a local bike repair friend checked them and used a few trailers for spares to make up 25 very good trailers.
Feed in tarrif news!
1 February 2010 - Press Release - Cash Rewards for Low Carbon Electricity and Heating
* Feed-in tariff for small scale low carbon electricity finalised for 1 April introduction
* Power from solar panel could earn £900, on top of £140 reduction on household energy bill
* Blueprint published for world first incentive scheme for renewable heat
* Tariff levels index linked
* Micro combined heat and power piloted in the scheme to kickstart the industry in the UK
Households and communities who install generating technologies such as small wind turbines and solar panels will from April be entitled to claim payments for the low carbon electricity they produce.
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband today announced the feed-in tariff (FITs) levels and also published a blueprint for a similar scheme to be introduced in April 2011 to incentivise low carbon heating technologies. The renewable heat incentive (RHI) will be a world first.
The schemes are designed to bring about a significant increase in the amount of locally produced green energy, as a contribution to the wider shift of the energy mix to low carbon.
Ed Miliband said:
“The guarantee of getting an income on top of saving on energy bills will be an incentive to householders and communities wanting to make the move to low carbon living.
“The feed-in tariff will change the way householders and communities think about their future energy needs, making the payback for investment far shorter than in the past.
“It will also change the outlook for a range of industries, in particular those in the business of producing and installing small scale low carbon technology.”
From 1 April householders and communities who install low carbon electricity technology such as solar photovoltaic (pv) panels and wind turbines up to 5 megawatts will be paid for the electricity they generate, even if they use it themselves. The level of payment depends on the technology and is linked to inflation.
They will get a further payment for any electricity they feed into the grid. These payments will be in addition to benefiting from reduced bills as they reduce the need to buy electricity. The scheme will also apply to installations commissioned since July 2008 when the policy was announced.
A typical 2.5kW well sited solar pv installation could offer a homeowner a reward of up to £900 and save them £140 a year on their electricity bill.
Mr Miliband was speaking as he visited low income homes in Dagenham being helped by eaga’s Clean Energy for Social Housing project to make the move to microgeneration. The scheme offers free clean energy technology to tenants in social housing which will lower their electricity bills and carbon emissions.
John Swinney, eaga Director of Strategy and Corporate Services, said:
“By utilising the feed-in tariff initiative and installing free solar technology this programme can cut energy bills for those most in need. We are also recruiting and training renewable energy engineers directly from the local communities where the green technology is being installed.
“This innovative development can be offered right across the UK. We expect thousands of households to benefit in the first few years and up to 300 additional green energy jobs could be created as part of this programme.”
The Department of Energy and Climate Change also published today plans for a scheme to incentivise renewable heat generation at all scales. This will come into effect in April 2011 and guarantee payments for those who install technologies such as ground source heat pumps, biomass boilers and air source heat pumps.
Under the proposed tariffs the installation of a ground source heat pump in an average semi-detached house with adequate insulation levels could be rewarded with £1,000 a year and lead to savings of £200 per year if used instead of heating oil.
The heat incentive could help thousands of consumers who are off the gas network lower their fuel bills and gain a cash reward for greening their heating supply.
Details of funding for the scheme will be published in the Budget 2010.
Notes for editors
Ofgem will administer the feed-in tariff scheme and suppliers will be responsible to paying the reward to their customers.
The renewable heat incentive will start operating in April 2011. Ofgem will be responsible for making payments direct to large heat generators.
Householders and communities can apply for the feed-in tariff from their electricity supplier from April 2010.
Current figures for renewables:
The UK currently gets around 5.5% of electricity from renewable sources and that will need to increase to around 30% to meet the 15% 2020 target for all energy.
Modelling show that small scale renewable installations could meet 2% of electricity demand in 2020.
The UK currently gets less than 1% of heat from renewable sources. This this will need to rise to around 12% in order to meet the 15% 2020 target for all energy.
* Feed-in tariff for small scale low carbon electricity finalised for 1 April introduction
* Power from solar panel could earn £900, on top of £140 reduction on household energy bill
* Blueprint published for world first incentive scheme for renewable heat
* Tariff levels index linked
* Micro combined heat and power piloted in the scheme to kickstart the industry in the UK
Households and communities who install generating technologies such as small wind turbines and solar panels will from April be entitled to claim payments for the low carbon electricity they produce.
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband today announced the feed-in tariff (FITs) levels and also published a blueprint for a similar scheme to be introduced in April 2011 to incentivise low carbon heating technologies. The renewable heat incentive (RHI) will be a world first.
The schemes are designed to bring about a significant increase in the amount of locally produced green energy, as a contribution to the wider shift of the energy mix to low carbon.
Ed Miliband said:
“The guarantee of getting an income on top of saving on energy bills will be an incentive to householders and communities wanting to make the move to low carbon living.
“The feed-in tariff will change the way householders and communities think about their future energy needs, making the payback for investment far shorter than in the past.
“It will also change the outlook for a range of industries, in particular those in the business of producing and installing small scale low carbon technology.”
From 1 April householders and communities who install low carbon electricity technology such as solar photovoltaic (pv) panels and wind turbines up to 5 megawatts will be paid for the electricity they generate, even if they use it themselves. The level of payment depends on the technology and is linked to inflation.
They will get a further payment for any electricity they feed into the grid. These payments will be in addition to benefiting from reduced bills as they reduce the need to buy electricity. The scheme will also apply to installations commissioned since July 2008 when the policy was announced.
A typical 2.5kW well sited solar pv installation could offer a homeowner a reward of up to £900 and save them £140 a year on their electricity bill.
Mr Miliband was speaking as he visited low income homes in Dagenham being helped by eaga’s Clean Energy for Social Housing project to make the move to microgeneration. The scheme offers free clean energy technology to tenants in social housing which will lower their electricity bills and carbon emissions.
John Swinney, eaga Director of Strategy and Corporate Services, said:
“By utilising the feed-in tariff initiative and installing free solar technology this programme can cut energy bills for those most in need. We are also recruiting and training renewable energy engineers directly from the local communities where the green technology is being installed.
“This innovative development can be offered right across the UK. We expect thousands of households to benefit in the first few years and up to 300 additional green energy jobs could be created as part of this programme.”
The Department of Energy and Climate Change also published today plans for a scheme to incentivise renewable heat generation at all scales. This will come into effect in April 2011 and guarantee payments for those who install technologies such as ground source heat pumps, biomass boilers and air source heat pumps.
Under the proposed tariffs the installation of a ground source heat pump in an average semi-detached house with adequate insulation levels could be rewarded with £1,000 a year and lead to savings of £200 per year if used instead of heating oil.
The heat incentive could help thousands of consumers who are off the gas network lower their fuel bills and gain a cash reward for greening their heating supply.
Details of funding for the scheme will be published in the Budget 2010.
Notes for editors
Ofgem will administer the feed-in tariff scheme and suppliers will be responsible to paying the reward to their customers.
The renewable heat incentive will start operating in April 2011. Ofgem will be responsible for making payments direct to large heat generators.
Householders and communities can apply for the feed-in tariff from their electricity supplier from April 2010.
Current figures for renewables:
The UK currently gets around 5.5% of electricity from renewable sources and that will need to increase to around 30% to meet the 15% 2020 target for all energy.
Modelling show that small scale renewable installations could meet 2% of electricity demand in 2020.
The UK currently gets less than 1% of heat from renewable sources. This this will need to rise to around 12% in order to meet the 15% 2020 target for all energy.
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