Running from 31st May to 8th June the event is the UK’s first week-long public festival dedicated purely to climate change and sustainability issues. Throughout the nine days a wide variety of free entertainment, exhibitions events and seminars will take place across Birmingham to highlight the issue of climate change and challenge local people and businesses to act to protect the future.
E.ON, one of the UK’s leading power and gas companies and a key sponsor, is utilising its partnership with Dame Ellen to support communities which are tackling climate change. Ellen MacArthur will be taking part in the Festival’s activities on World Environment Day - Thursday 5th June.
Ellen MacArthur, said: “I’m very excited to be involved with The Birmingham Climate Change Festival. I see it, and what it stands for, as a significant step towards encouraging businesses and community groups to embrace the issues of sustainability and to take action."
“I’m passionate about learning all I can about how we can live and work having a lesser impact on our planet. Working with E.ON is a major facilitator in the learning process, and gives more scope to really make a difference. I’m looking forward to meeting some of the local businesses, schools and people who are already taking the vital steps towards a greener, cleaner Birmingham.”
Councillor Paul Tilsley, Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council, added; “I am pleased that Dame Ellen MacArthur is joining us to take part in the city’s first ever Climate Change event. Birmingham is committed to respond to the challenges it faces and we hope she will be inspired by the citizens of Birmingham she will meet throughout the day.”
For further information please contact:
Marcia Wynter, Birmingham City Council press office on 0121 303 3501 or email Marcia.wynter@birmingham.gov.uk or Louise Nottage at E.ON on 02476 181942 or louise.nottage@eonenergy.com
Notes to Editors:
• E.ON is one of the UK’s leading power and gas companies – generating and distributing electricity, and retailing power and gas – and is part of the E.ON group, the world's largest investor-owned power and gas company. We employ around 16,000 people in the UK;
• E.ON is the new name for Powergen. Our retail business is a leading energy supplier in the UK, with around 8 million electricity and gas customer accounts, covering domestic, SME and industrial. E.ON offers central heating and boiler care through its Home Energy Services business;
• The generation business produces enough electricity to cater for the needs of around eight million homes from a portfolio of world-class gas, coal and oil fired power stations;
• We’re one of the leading green generators in the UK, with 21 wind farms located from Cornwall to Northern Ireland. We also burn biomass material mixed with coal in two of our power stations and are currently building one of the UK’s largest dedicated biomass power stations at Lockerbie. Combined, our renewable portfolio generates enough green energy to power the homes in a city the size of Manchester;
• Our green development portfolio could power over a million homes and displace the emission of almost two million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year by building new onshore and offshore wind farms, biomass power stations, and tidal stream and wave power schemes;
• Our target is to cut the carbon released by each kW of electricity we generate by 10% between 2005-2012, having already reduced it by 20% since 1990;
• We have 1,300MW of renewable capacity under development;
• We invested £53 million in energy efficiency in 2006. These measures included loft and cavity wall insulation, installation of energy efficient boilers and smart metering, a technology we are investing a further £12 million in over the next two years.;
• Our non-operational carbon intensity dropped by 15.5% per employee in 2006;
• We are investing £50 million in new technologies and approaches over the next 5 years, through the Energy Technologies institute;
• We have Biodiversity Action Plans at many of our sites which align us with the UK target of significantly reducing biodiversity loss;
• E.ON Group has announced it intends to reduced the carbon intensity of its generation by 50% by 2030 (on 1990 levels);
• E.ON Group aims to spend €6bn on green generation by the end of 2010.
