Events-wise, the Tuesday of Switch Off Week saw the Environment and Energy team continue with the successes of its Monday launch.
Staff and students from across Cambridge joined in with the Roadshow’s Energy Bike Challenge, this time on the Downing Site – seeing how long they could power the Energy Bike’s selection of electrical items, including an iPod, lightbulb, and display screen. The winner was an unforeseen 30 minutes by James from Plant Sciences, apparently the longest even the Ambassadors from partner organisation Global Action Plan have seen! Nearly 80 people stopped to chat with members of E&E, with many entering the Pledge Photo competition. E&E will be putting up the top photos on its Facebook page – tag yourself or your friends throughout the week to be entered into a prize draw for a large selection of chocolates: www.facebook.com/CUenvironment
The Cambridge University Eco Racing (CUER) team delivered a great presentation about their work with an internationally-racing solar powered car. The racing cars showcase cutting-edge sustainable engineering and demonstrate the incredible potential of electric vehicle technologies. For further details: www.cuer.co.uk
Chris Goodall, Guardian columnist and energy blogger, delivered a Keynote talk that challenged the audience to consider the bigger picture of UK energy security. By deconstructing energy use hour by hour on the day of UK peak demand, he illustrated the impact a range of technologies would have in shaving peak demand, pointing out ways that we as individuals, as well as institutionally, could help reduce energy use.
Remember: tomorrow is Thermal Thursday. Email your photo entry to environment@admin.cam.ac.uk to be in with a chance of winning a hamper of edible eco goodies! Find out more: http://www.environment.admin.cam.ac.uk/switch-off-week/competitions
Thursday will also see a great seminar with graduate student society GreenBRIDGE, ‘Teaching sustainability to Engineering students’ (http://www.environment.admin.cam.ac.uk/files/20141311_-_teaching_sustain...), and the return of the touring Roadshow to the Centre for Mathematical Sciences (CMS) café from 10-2.30. Find the E&E team to enter the Roadshow competitions, pick up key information and take-home items, and to learn how you can improve your personal energy use performance by up to 10%.