European Energy Commissioner's visit to Cornwall
On 14 July 2006 CSEP hosted the first official visit to Cornwall by European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs. The visit was arranged by CSEP in conjunction with Cornwall County Council and the office of Graham Watson, Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament for South West England and Gibraltar.
During the visit Commissioner Piebalgs was accompanied by William Gillett, from the European Commission’s department for Transport and Energy, and Graham Watson MEP.
Whilst in Cornwall the group were driven in the 2005 European Car of the Year, the environmentally friendly Toyota Prius, a hybrid vehicle that combines a petrol engine with a powerful electric motor to save on fuel and reduce emissions. The car was kindly provided for the day by Toyota Europe.
On his arrival in Cornwall, Commissioner Piebalgs first visited CSEP and CEP’s new office at Tolvaddon Energy Park, where he met with the CSEP Steering Group along with various representatives of local and regional partners, including Cornwall County Council, the SW Regional Development Agency and Government Office for the South West. A lunch reception was then held for the Commissioner during which Jill Ferrett, Chair of the Trustees for Community Energy Plus, invited the Commissioner to make a speech and formally open the new office.
Commissioner Piebalgs, Ian Smith (CEP), Tim German (CSEP), David Whalley CC (Leader Cornwall County Council), Graham Watson MEP, Jill Ferrett (CEP Trustee) and Julia Goldsworthy MP celebrate the office opening.
The afternoon began with a visit to Penzance harbour where the Commissioner was shown bio-fuel research projects that are currently being undertaken by the University of Exeter. This included working prototypes of a bio-diesel production plant and a jet turbine that runs on bio-diesel. The Commissioner also boarded a fishing vessel which is being used to research how bio-diesel can be used as an alternative ‘green’ fuel for fishing fleets - part of a Defra project currently managed by the Seafish Authority.
The final part of the visit took place at a social housing scheme in Ludgvan, believed to be the first of its kind in Europe to retrofit ground source heat pumps into a small estate of pensioner’s housing. A brief tour of the 1960’s houses was given by Andy Moore, CEO of Penwith Housing Association, followed by a meeting with residents and project partners, GeoScience Earth Energy, Powergen and Penwith District Council at the village hall.
Following the visit, Commissioner Piebalgs said he was ‘hugely impressed’ by the work undertaken by the Public/Private Sector Partnership and that it is an ‘exemplar’ to other regions in Europe.
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