From left: Paul Flynn and John Ronan, Transition Town Tramore, Gene Hourihane, Sunstream Energy, Stan Nangle, TTT.
Tramore’s first Energy Show will be held at the local racecourse on Sunday, April 5 from 2.00 to 6.00pm. The show is being organised by Transition Town Tramore and is the fourth in a series of events organised by the group since last autumn.
The purpose is to provide a forum where local businesses that provide energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies can meet the public and showcase their products and services.
Paul Flynn, a founder member of the Transition Group says there is a situation where many people are thinking about making their homes more energy efficient so as to save money, and there are a number of different grant schemes that can help towards the cost, so the show is all about giving people the chance to meet and talk to the local businesses who provide the relevant services and to find out how much it will cost, how much they might save, and what grants might be available.
Most of the businesses that will be displaying at the show are based in the Tramore area, or have connections with the town and some of the businesses are coming at the issue from very interesting angles.
Lighting For Life, a company owned by local businessman Thomas Flavin, will display a range of energy efficient light fittings, whilst their neighbours on the Riverstown Industrial Park, Tara Blinds, will show a range of window coverings that can reduce by a significant amount the extent of heat loss through windows.
Gerry Costelloe from Butlerstown will be offering a service to retrofit insulation to older houses so as to bring them up to modern standards of warmth and comfort – and save the householder money in the long term.
Gene Hourihane of Sunstream Energy will be displaying his range of small and medium scale wind turbines. “The recent announcement of a 19c per unit feed in tariff for electricity means that small wind turbines now make commercial sense for homeowners, small businesses and particularly farmers” says Gene.
Information on the various grant schemes will be available on the stands, but to guarantee the impartiality of the information available to the public, the Waterford Energy Bureau will also be on hand to provide independent advice and guidance and to help people identify which products, services and grants best apply to them.
The show is sponsored by Tramore Credit Union.
Seeking answers
Tramore Transition Town Initiative is a community group seeking answers to the question: “How can our community respond to the challenges of Peak Oil and Climate Change?”
The initiative is based on the Transition Town model developed in Kinsale by Rob Hopkins and currently being implemented in more than 800 communities worldwide.
The Tramore steering committee is currently working to build awareness of the issues of Peak Oil and Climate Change in the community by running a series of public events and through direct contact with community groups, clubs and societies in Tramore. The Tramore Energy Show is organised by the Energy Subgroup of Transition Town Tramore. Other subgroups are organising events in the areas of food, transport, health, heart and soul, economics and livelihoods.
