Green-minded Ian abandons gas and oil in energy drive

WITH global warming experts painting a bleak picture of the planet's future and the crisis of depleting natural energy resources only now beginning to be taken seriously, the individual could be forgiven for feeling hamstrung over the difference they can make.

But a man from the Sevenoaks area is determined to raise the profile of alternative sources of fuel that are less damaging to the environment and to highlight a few simple changes that all households can make to save energy.

Weald resident Ian Smith has turned his back on oil and gas in favour of more sustainable sources of energy.

He has spent around £15,500 on insulating his Scabharbour Road home and kitting it out with state-of-the-art equipment such as solar panels on his roof, a wood-pellet burner and a wood stove.

The 56-year-old has even installed a sun tube which radiates light from a clear plastic dome on his roof, down a reflective cylinder and through the ceiling at the end of the corridor in his bungalow.

The LED bulbs that give off additional light use just 1.8W of electricity each – a fraction of the energy used in a conventional 100W light bulb.

He said: "With people changing their light bulbs, every little bit counts, but there's a feeling that I've done my bit.

"If you only do a little bit you only achieve a little, and we need to achieve a lot."

Mr Smith believes it is essential people realise the true implications of declining stocks of natural resources, oil in particular, and the importance of diversification.

He believes biomass – animal waste and plants – could provide one answer to the problem. These sources are as near to carbon zero as you are likely to get.

In the case of wood, pollutants may be created in felling and transporting it, but the carbon released through burning will be consumed by the next generation of trees that are grown.

Mr Smith replaced his traditional open fire with a wood stove, claiming it was far more efficient. The glass frontage, if kept properly clean, will radiate heat around the room.

With an open fire the heat travels upwards and does not achieve the same amount of distribution. Heat is also lost from the room through the chimney when the fire is not alight, whereas a wood stove which is attached to its own metal pipe running up the chimney can be closed.

In a separate outbuilding Mr Smith holds up to six tonnes of wood pellets – compacted sawdust – which he burns in a stove to heat his home and water. The cost of running the wood-pellet burner is roughly the same as oil, according to Mr Smith.

With demand for oil set to increase in the future, he believes eventually it could work out cheaper. But storage takes up a lot of room.

He said: "There are solutions, but what I've done is not a solution for most houses in urban environments."

Yet while biomass appears to be an option that needs looking at, that alone will not solve the pending energy crisis and people are still going to have to make difficult choices.

Mr Smith said: "We don't have enough biomass to support space heating and travel. People have to accept they're going to have to change the way they live."

Two Chinese-made solar panels on the roof of his home provide an additional source of hot water. Water passing through these is heated up and stored in the same tank heated by his wood-pellet burner.

The trouble is it is not economically viable for a residential home to install the equipment needed to store the energy created, meaning the solar panels are only effective during daylight hours, preferably when it is sunny.

The quest to find alternative sources of fuel has resulted in unforeseen consequences too.

Increasing the production of maize for use as biofuel, for example, has led to a shortage of food crops such as wheat.

Mr Smith, who is a vegetarian and rears his own chickens for eggs, says this has driven the cost of food up on a global basis and has placed developing countries under increasing strain.

Mr Smith argued it is essential that individuals and communities do what they can to lessen the effect of this alarming situation and start to diversify the types of energy sources they use before it is too late.

The discovery of new oil fields peaked in 1966 and demand looks set to outstrip supply within a matter of years.

He said: "Some people may say we're already there, others say 10 to 15 years. The consensus crystallising is that it will be in the next two to three years."

He added: "We're currently consuming oil at a rate of five times more than we're producing it."

In the end, Mr Smith, said the simple changes are the ones people need to consider first.

These include lagging pipes and boilers, properly insulating walls, lofts and, where possible, floors.

Double glazing should be fitted and draughts excluded, although even here some homes should be left alone.

Older buildings, for example, rely on draughts to prevent damp.

But with 25 per cent of household energy spent on heating, Mr Smith is certain there is room for everybody to save a little bit more.

Mr Smith is a member of Sevenoaks Transition Towns – a voluntary action group dedicated to looking at climate change and finding ways of diversifying energy sources.