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On 16th October 2010 delegates from the European Environment Agency, Good Energy and the Centre for Alternative Technology will lead a day of lectures, workshops and discussion on the most pressing issue of our time - the need for a transition to a zero carbon Britain.

Britain has the potential, skills and natural resources to lead the world in carbon reduction. Join in workshop discussions with Paul Allen (CAT), Eugenie Harvey (10:10), Prof. Peter Reason (University of Bath), Victor Anderson (WWF), Jean Boulton (Sustain), Mark Gater and others.

Become part of the solution. Put the date in your diary!

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by Rennie Telford



Several impressive looking Hawkmoths have been seen around site including the exotically named Hummingbird Hawkmoth, so called because of its habit of hovering in front of flowers to feed producing an audible hum. They are day flying moths and you can also sometimes see them hovering in front of walls on a sunny day but I’m not sure why they do this. Most species of Hawkmoth caterpillars are quite fearsome looking specimens, most have a curved horn-like appendage on their rear end and large flattened faces.



Which brings us to the quite miraculous subject of metamorphosis –one of the great marvels of the natural world. Caterpillars are so completely different in appearance from the adult form they will eventually develop into, it is difficult to believe they are the same creature –they are basically feeding machines (they spend around 12 hours a day feeding)– to fuel their adult form through the vital reproductive stage. When ready, they wrap themselves in a cocoon or bury themselves underground and this amazing transformation takes place where they sort of liquidise themselves and develop all the organs and features of the adult and emerge as a perfectly formed and beautiful moth or butterfly.




To get to grips with this amazing process, imagine that human babies were born looking like seals and spent their first 12 years in this form and then climbed into a sack, hung themselves from the ceiling, emerging a year later as a fully formed human! Mind you there have been times when it would have seemed an excellent idea to have stuck one of my children in a sack, hoping they might re-appear as fully formed adults (when they were around 15 or 16 I seem to recall).

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Two inspirational courses running at CAT this November explore the ideas, solutions and action needed to tackle climate change. The People Power course runs over the weekend 5th - 7th November and looks at the methods behind grassroots campaigning, taking your campaign ideas to the next level. The Climate Crisis course from November 9th to 14th provides in-depth understanding of the climate debate needed to develop coherant, sophisticated campaigns.

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This week we’ve been discussing the role land-use has in tackling climate change with the CPRE. The Campaign to Protect Rural England have criticsed the land-use suggestions we make in zerocarbonbritain2030. The Guardian have hosted the debate. You can read the CPRE’s initial criticisms here… and our response here

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The architectural story of the Centre for Alternative Technology from CATmedia on Vimeo.

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