Crawley Public Green Energy Initiative

For a long time the country has - for the most part - relied on fossil fuels to power our houses, businesses and transportation. These fossil fuels are becoming harder and harder to pull from the earth and the effects are devastating. Not to mention the fuels we are now receiving are severely reduced in quality - what is known as "dirty fuel." Our government spends billions in subsidies on the polluting fuel sources, a market that is drastically unsustainable.

Crawley is a constantly developing town. The past five years have seen the town move from having thirteen districts to fourteen and the outskirts, once fields and forest land, are now developing communities. It is clear more people are seeing the geographical benefits of the town, nestled between London and Brighton. Not only this, Gatwick Airport offers a variety of jobs and links to myriad destinations around the globe.

This is where I see the importance of this initiative. As more and more people move into the area, large-scale developments are taking place. Our carbon footprint is growing, as are the prices we pay for energy.

The Public Green Energy Initiative aims to move people away from relying on corporations ownership of our energy so that we, as consumers, are no longer under the threat of dramatically increasing energy prices. Not only would moving to green energy be sustainable for the future, it gives people an opportunity to reduce costs and feed energy back into the grid. This lowers our prices and helps us build a local economy in green energy infrastructure.

Gatwick Airport (LGW) has already started its own initiative by changing all of its bulbs to LED's (runway included) and plans to become the worlds first entirely LED lit airport. If the surrounding town of Crawley joins in turning to renewable sources of energy, the town and conjoined airport could become a model for the country.

The extra added benefit - if we turn to become a green energy town, there is a huge opportunity for a total change in town, transport and community planning. Bus routes could be added and subsidized by local council in order to reduce the need for cars for small journeys. This means that areas of the town would be more accessible for workers, the elderly and the youth. Cycle routes would be improved and cycle initiatives, such as the cycle to work scheme, could be promoted through local companies.

By making the energy public, the public get the vote on where their energy comes from and therefore gain independence and pride in taking part in something large-scale.