[dfs3] response to Durham County Council survey on their climate change strategy

[mark]

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Hey all,

Thanks to everyone who gave input through various channels; I have
just submitted this to DCC. The main changes from the last draft are
in Q.14 if you want to skip to that.

Cheers,
Mark


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1. Do you think these objectives are appropriate

County Durham will reduce carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions by 40% by
2020 from 1990 levels, ensuring year on year reductions. We will
reduce the demand for energy, ensure homes and businesses are energy
efficient and will promote alternative low carbon forms of energy
generation.

NO

Comment:
In order to avoid catastrophic runaway climate change, defined as a
mean global temperature increase of 2 degrees centigrade or more, we
need to reduce our emissions by at least 80% from 1990 levels
immediately, with further reductions year on year. Anything less is
too little, too late.


County Durham will be a highly resilient place to live. We will build
upon the work of the Climate Change Strategy Group partners and ensure
that individuals and organisations are more prepared for the
challenges of a more extreme environment.

YES

****

2. The strategy has seven key themes. Are these the important areas
that the strategy should concentrate on? Is anything missing?

Public Sector Performance
Low Carbon Economy
Built Environment
Natural Environment
Transport and Infrastructure
Community Engagement
Impacts Beyond our Boundaries

- --all marked as "Yes, this is important"

***

3. Do you feel that the strategy should focus on reducing carbon
emissions or adapting to our changing climate?

A balanced approach

***

4. Some people tend to see the term 'climate change' as too technical
and off-putting. However, others find terms relating to the issues
such as 'energy efficiency', 'domestic energy bills' or 'severe
weather' are easier to understand. In material such as leaflets, is
the term 'climate change' useful or is it better to use words related
to the issues?

Use climate change and other technical terms, the reasons behind the
actions are important

***

5. How important or unimportant is work in each of the following areas?

Supporting energy efficiency / adaptation to a changing climate in
home / business /  community groups

 -- all marked as "very important"

***

6. Are you responding as...

Part of a community group

***

7. Do you own or manage any buildings or assets?

NO

***

8. How many active members do you have?

11-20

***

9. What are the main aims or priorities for your group?

[taken directly from https://network23.org/dfs3/about]

We are a group of people based in Durham, UK who have come together
with these aims:

- - To enable everyone to have access to an internet-connected computer
in their own home
- - To reduce unnecessary waste and consumption by re-using computer
equipment
- - To develop our own computer skills and share them with others
- - To do these things using Free Software because we want to have
control of our own systems

***

10. Are fuel or utility costs important to your group or business?

YES

***

11. Have you taken any steps to improve the energy performance of your
group or business?

YES

If yes, please provide details.

We consider energy performance to include the energy costs of
equipment using Life Cycle Analysis. Therefore, we are committed to
enabling each other and our communities to re-use computer equipment,
thereby reducing mineral extraction, distribution, manufacture and
disposal energy costs.

We also consider it important to use low-power hardware, where this is
appropriate in view of LCA. Therefore, we encourage people to measure
the energy consumption of their equipment and reduce it where possible.

***

12. Has your business taken any steps to be prepared for impacts from
climate change or extreme weather?

YES

We have discussed, and are looking into the development of community
wireless 802.11 networks powered by renewable sources, in order to
enable TCP/IP communication to continue in the event of
weather-related power or telecoms failures.

***

13. Looking at both reducing emissions and preparing for the future,
what are the key priorities for your business or community group?

To develop a network of co-educators and technicians who can spread
the skills required for green computing throughout our community.

***

14. What support does your group or business need to help reduce
carbon emissions and make your organisation more resilient?

1] We would benefit from free use of council premises to hold
volunteer-run training events, free of charge to attendees (i.e. the
public).

2] We would like DCC to adopt an ICT purchasing policy which considers
the lifecycle energy costs for all purchases, with particular
reference to the re-use potential of equipment, such that it can be
donated to the community after you have finished with it, hence
reducing the carbon footprint caused by unnecessary commodity
consumption and waste disposal.

3] In order to support the development of local re-use culture, as
well as reducing DCC's purchase costs, we would like DCC to stop all
future purchasing of proprietary software and switch all operations to
GNU/Linux based systems, as has succesfully been done in other cities
around the world.

4] Change existing education programmes to include a proper emphasis
on free software and green computing (we can provide materials, advice
and personnel.)

***

15. Are you aware of any climate change projects happening in your
area that we should include in future delivery plans?

We are one. https://network23.org/dfs3
Also consider Transition Durham    http://transitiondurham.org.uk/

***

16. Would you like additional advice on improving the energy
efficiency of your business or community group?

YES

***

17. Would you like your community group or business to be included in
any future consultations on climate change?

YES

***

18. If you would like advice or you would like to be included in
future consultations, please provide contact details.

email: dfs3 at riseup.net

***

19-23.

demographic questions not relevant for groups

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