Change dot ie - Evolving?

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All - Change for Future

In my self-appointed role as an invigilator and provoker of Irish Government sustainable energy agencies, I was in contact with Change.ie to see how our money is being spent. Essentially, I was asking about web site statistics. My compliments to the lady I spoke with, I was very congenially assisted, and was assured that I would receive the answers to my questions by e-mail. And hey-presto they arrived today - as promised.

I made some suggestions in the course of that conversation, but the main idea I suggested was that perhaps Change.ie might publish a broad comparative list of services, materials and equipment. Essentially it would take on the role of listing energy efficient heating, lighting, insulation, and services etc. clearly showing prices and comparison charts, but not just comparing within Ireland but additionally listing some comparative prices in UK Germany etc. The suggestion was on the basis that another Irish Government agency lists Broadband providers and their rates and services, so a precedent for such listing has been established already by a Government agency.

That some comparisons be made with prices in the UK and Germany etc., is, I feel essential, because Ireland suffers badly, since Famine times, from "Gombeenism" and the national addiction to the severe application of "Paddy Tax" on almost every import. (Paddy Tax, for the information of non-Irish readers, refers to the national Irish pastime of price inflation) We badly need to get away from this tendency - most particularly in the area of National Security, and I believe that Energy is a National Security issue.

I am wondering just how seriously Change.ie will consider my suggestion.




Here is the e-mail from Change.ie:



Dear Tony,

Many thanks for your phone call on Friday and your continued interest in the Change campaign. As I mentioned we are delighted with the response we have had to date to our campaign. The following are some of the key web traffic statistics as of last Friday as requested.

* Basic Calculator completions 30072
* Average time on site: 6 minutes 01 seconds
* Unique site visitors: 50,869 (incremental activity since Friday 13th June + 4,125)
* Total page views: 316,812 (+ 24,757)

In relation to your comments on the accessibility of the calculator we are currently developing a paper calculator that will allow those with limited internet access to also calculate their carbon footprint.

The calculator is currently in phase 1 of development and we will be developing it further over the coming months. This development will include work on the 'my carbon plan' section of the calculator and will give more individual and specific advice. In the current phase of the campaign we are working to increase public awareness of the impact that they have on climate change by encouraging people to know their carbon number, the next phase of the campaign will focus on giving practical tips how on to reduce this number.

We are also working with communities and organisations and we are currently developing a carbon management tool for business. This will be a practical tool that will help businesses and organisations to measure and reduce their carbon footprint and will also facilitate benchmarking. We are also facilitating the sharing of information and we will be producing best practice guidelines and case studies.

The Change campaign is being run to compliment the work of Sustainable Energy Ireland rather than duplicate it. In regard to your feedback on renewable energy in Ireland and the setting of standards we are a campaign with a remit to inform people regarding standards but we do not have a remit to dictate standards. However I will certainly pass your feedback on this matter to SEI.

In regard to your suggestion that we develop something like the broadband Ireland site for renewable energy in Ireland it is a very interesting idea and as with the many other ideas and suggestions we get from members of the public we will certainly look into it further.

If you have any further suggestions or feedback please do let me know.

Kindest Regards

The Change Team



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