Fourteen communities around the UK are competing in Brityish Gas’ Green Streets challenge that launched yesterday.

Cumbria has a representative in the competition, Casterton which is on the A683, one-mile northeast of Kirkby Lonsdale.

British Gas will be providing £2 million worth of energy efficiency and microgeneration measures to help the communities cut consumption and generate their own energy.

The community that proves the most successful will receive £100,000 to put towards a local environmental project.

The previous Green Streets initiative launched in 2008 challenged eight streets around the country to improve their energy efficiency, with the winning street in Leeds achieving a 35% cut in energy use.

This time around Casterton aims to tackle ‘hard to treat’ homes with solid wall insulation, as well as installing a biomass system for a local school.

Casterton's claim to fame is its school, 'the school for clergymen's daughters', mentioned in the novel Jane Eyre as Lowbridge school and based on Charlotte Bronte's experience as a pupil there.

The school was first sited at Cowan Bridge and still functions as an independent school for girls.

They will be up against plans to include a 7 kW micro hydro scheme to provide electricity to the Welsh village of Llangattock; a wind turbine for a community centre on the Scottish island of Eilean Eisdeal and the installation of heat pump and solar technology to heat an outdoor lido threatened with closure in Beccles, Suffolk.

A number of other projects in Tackley, Oxfordshire, southwest London and Nottingham plan to install solar technologies to power a village shop, local school and an ‘eco’ restaurant and cafe.

Richmond Council, meanwhile, plans to turn Ham and Petersham into a model village showcasing renewable technologies in action.

Bradford upon Avon wants to turn a range of local homes into ‘demonstration’ projects for insulation and green energy.

British Gas engineers will provide energy assessments of all the projects and make recommendations of the most suitable technologies.

“The communities involved in our new challenge will provide us with vital insight as we grow our locally-generated energy business and provide great new ideas for saving and generating energy,” says Gearoid Lane of British Gas.

The independent think-tank, the Institute of Public Policy Research (ippr), will monitor the projects and set the communities challenges.

For further information:
www.britishgas.co.uk/greenstreets
www.ippr.org.uk/

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