like the radio, its a scandal that oxford uni is even considering this...

Mat is starting to sound just like a politico... keep up the good work (:

for peopul whonting to get involved in radio stuff the is one being setup as part of the OCSET/indymedia project in East Oxford. Might be more info here:

 http://ocset.blogspot.com/

Can someone explain how they got all this energy from renewable sources? I haven't noticed lots of windmills or watermills around the university or OUP, though I suppose there might be some on roofs and on the Cherwell. If so, what is the advantage to them of buying it from the national grid instead ?

Can someone explain how they got all this energy from renewable sources? I haven't noticed lots of windmills or watermills around the university or OUP, though I suppose there might be some on roofs and on the Cherwell. If so, what is the advantage to them of buying it from the national grid instead ?

Can someone explain how they got all this energy from renewable sources? I haven't noticed lots of windmills or watermills around the university or OUP, though I suppose there might be some on roofs and on the Cherwell. If so, what is the advantage to them of buying it from the national grid instead ?

Bloody hell, no-one told me they were recording me for radio - how embarassing! I'll make efforts to be less politico-like next time...:)

As for the details of the green contract, basically Oxford Uni currently purchases 100% of its electricity from Scottish and Southern's hydropower plants, based up in Scotland. Obviously these feed into the national grid, so it's not as good as having new, on-site renewable energy (which we are also pushing for) - but it does prove a demand for
green electricity, it pushes the energy companies to construct more renewable energy
capacity, and it does mean (through a scheme of certificiation that ensures that for every unit of electricity the Uni uses one unit of green electricity is being generated) that Oxford's energy use is currently pretty close to carbon neutral.

In the long-term of course we would want Oxford to be providing on site renewable energy on all of its new developments, as well as retrofitting its old buildings with solar
and wind energy - that is by far the best way to ensure sustainability in the long-term.
It's a difficult task however - as this campaign shows, even getting the Uni to stick
with the approach that they are currently taking is an uphill struggle. Greens are hoping
to use the planning system (especially Oxford's new 'Local Plan') to force big institutions and developers like the University to make their new developments 'zero-emission' - but it remains to be seen if the political will exists through the rest of the Council to make that happen.

Matt

Scotland used to produce a lot of electricity from water power even before it became fashionable. I wonder if “Scottish and Southern” might now be theoretically sending this to the south, while making less choosy local people theoretically use ordinary electricity from the south ? A neat piece of marketing if so.

May we please have the free/open-source format Ogg Vorbis rather than mp3, please? I will upload some of my own photographs later. Cheers!

Cllr Sid Phelps, Cllr Matthew Sellwood (both Oxford City Council), and Jacob Sanders (Green Party prospective parliamentary candidate for Oxford East) were there!

Under matters arising, the President of OUSU raised the issue of the renewal of the University's "green electricity" contract. Contrary to recent press reports, the University has as yet made no formal decision on this matter, but Council will have the opportunity to discuss the advice of the relevant committees in due course.

Mr Tai is wasting our time and money, as well as electricity. The original photographs here are approx 60KB each, but his are well over 600B each. This is totally unnecessary, and indeed mainly ensures that most people will never bother to look at them.

I know virtually nothing about computers.

Blueprint
24 February 2005 The newsletter of the University of Oxford
Vol. 5 Issue 7
"Oxford stays 'green' for electricity supply
Oxford University is to continue purchasing 'green' carbon emission free electricity for its major supply of power when the current contract expires at the end of March."

 http://www.ox.ac.uk/blueprint/2004-05/2402/04.shtml

No mention of the student involvement, though.