EXCITEMENT around Frome’s fossil fuel-free future grew even more last weekend as the town heard from renewable energy experts and pioneers at the ‘Switch to a Renewable Future’ seminar and conference.
Councillors have praised the success of the weekend, which saw experts from at home and abroad explore ways of fighting climate change at a local level. The event was held just weeks after Frome Town Council announced plans to make the town fossil fuel-free by 2046, and become the first town in the UK to do so.
Town councillor Pippa Goldfinger who chaired the event said, “The weekend went well and it was definitely the best event of its kind that we’ve held. It was a great new way of using twinning, too, to learn good practices from our twin towns who are way ahead of us in the game.
“In France and Germany the central governments give a lot more support for renewable energy initiatives. Frome may be limited by investment and infrastructure in comparison, but we just need to be more inventive with the smaller changes we can make as a town. It really feels like people are pulling in the same direction and we had some great feedback; I hope we can keep this exchange of ideas up in the future.
“By hosting the event we heard about things happening close to home, too – one of my personal highlights was the talk from Lucy Francis from Wyke Farms in Bruton. The farm uses food waste to generate electricity; it’s something that I had no idea was going on and it’s such a good example of things other farms in the area could be doing.”
Speakers and audience members travelled for the weekend from Frome’s twin towns Chateau-Gontier, France; Murrhardt, Germany; and Rabka Zdroj, Poland. Topics covered at the two events included how finance and culture relate to renewable energy, low carbon building, food waste, river power, and electric vehicles.
Speakers included author and solar expert Professor Keith Barnham; Camille Dressler of the Isle of Eigg, which produces all of its energy renewably; and chair of Frome’s own Renewable Energy Co-op (FReco), Anna Francis.
Leader of Frome Town Council and founding member of FRECO, Peter Macfadyen, said the events were encouraging in light of the town’s plans to become fossil fuel-free in 30 years.
Cllr Macfadyen said, “I thought it was a brilliant weekend and we had a fantastic turnout. There was a real sense of excitement about what we’re trying to do in Frome, and in some ways a feeling that we should be more ambitious and that it could be done sooner!
“We’ll be sticking to our original plans for now, but it absolutely has boosted our hopes for the fossil fuel-free project.
“It’s really important to share ideas with other communities and find out what has worked for them. The town council is very conscious that it needs to address things that matter to people in Frome, and I hope events like this will help us to tackle local issues using global examples.”
