robert llewellyn: how i inspired a green revolution in my cotswold village

Guting Temple is a classic English village in many ways. There are 60-
Strange house, a primary school, a church and a country hall.
A wide range of income（
Despite the small diversity of cultures)
Too many horses and a gentle, leisurely pace of life. I love it.
So I decided to try to change it completely.
Twenty-five years ago, my wife and I moved from London to this small settlement in Gloucestershire.
We send our children to local schools, participate in rural activities, and gradually become more active in tension. -knit community.
Then, when I was filming a TV Series in eastern Germany a few years ago, I noticed something strange.
In many beautiful towns and villages, beside farmhouses or in open spaces, wind turbines hum gently, presumably to power nearby homes.
After further investigation, I found that these towns and villages thought they were kind to the planet and saved a little money. (
At least in the long run)
Joint investment in renewable energy for all.
The concept has a name: community. -
Have renewable energy.
\"Well,\" I thought.
\"I wonder if we can do something similar in the singing hall?
\"I decided to find out.
This will be an arduous task.
Guiting in Temple（
And many other English villages)
The radical changes are full of doubts.
This includes, of course, anything that forces residents to invest their money in renewable energy, which many people know little about.
So we had a BBC documentary crew on board and filmed a film about it, The Green Crusade of the Big Village, which was broadcast on Thursday.
But I still want the local people to stand aside.
I initially put forward this plan in 2013 and applied it to various roles around the picture. -postcard lanes.
Most people here know that I\'m interested in green technology: I\'ve been installing solar panels on my roof for six years, and I own two electric cars.
I often talk about it on TV and radio.
But when I announced that I was going to change the plan for the village, people raised their eyebrows.
I assure them that I don\'t want the temple to lead out of the grid. We have to keep in touch, especially considering the small size of the village.
I don\'t advocate myself either. -sufficiency.
I just think that if we are committed to long-term work, we can save a lot of money, help the environment and cooperate. -
Green Energy Project.
It will only take a few years, but it may last for decades. (
Some turbines and solar panels in Germany have lasted for more than 30 years. )
I have no face.
At best, a few of our friends can be said to be \"moderate environmental awareness\", so they are my immediate allies.
Of course, there are no enthusiastic supporters of the Green Party -- or at least no public supporters -- so most locals look at me as if I were speaking Dutch.
Others came to the crazy conclusion that I had to plan to install an 18-foot wind turbine on the church roof or cover every house with solar panels.
But I don\'t want to hate eyes any more than they do.
Instead, it is suggested that we find a place outside the village where we can install something and share the profits.
Ultimately, the economic debate broke through: if we produce our own energy and sell it locally, we can make thousands of dollars a year for the community.
Slowly, but surely, the community joined in.
Every village has an important influence, and if they provide support, they are usually wavering, sort of like the Mafia in green shoe hunting.
Once these key people are with us, more people will take us seriously.
However, this is only the first step.
Next we need to figure out what to do.
There are many options: we\'re considering building a windmill on the top of a hill and a small turbine in a stream, but soon we\'ll see that solar energy is a viable way to install it at a low cost.
If we can buy panels and batteries and find a place to put them in, it will take only a few months to produce our own energy.
We get inspiration from other places.
Near Fromm, thousands of people in the town own large amounts of solar panels.
Brixton, in southern London, also has a community solar project.
Strangely, however, it was Las Vegas that modeled it.
Its neon lights shine on the gallery, huge 24-hour casinos and-
Stop and \"stop\" the culture, this place is absolutely devouring energy.
However, it also intends to become the first American city to rely entirely on renewable energy.
So let\'s see how they did it.
The answer seems to be huge solar farms, LED streetlights, giant curved mirror stations -- and tremendous changes in attitudes.
Admittedly, they have some advantages.
Thousands of hectares of desert around them make things a little easier, and so do their budgets, but we have learned a valuable lesson: if Las Vegas can do that, of course, small-scale Temple guidance can.
After months of searching, we found a place on a local farm where a farmer was willing to buy the electricity generated by the panels.
Community is invaluable in solving problems.
There was a man in the village who was an oil and gas engineer, so he knew logistics and delivered a lot of projects on time.
Another is corporate accounting, which means he can read spreadsheets without screaming like I do.
The skills boasted by our small village mean that we have a lot of hidden expertise, not the kind you can recognize from the annual village question-and-answer night.
We are now installing 20 kilowatt solar panels in the barns there, which use electricity.
The village costs between 15,000 and 2,000 pounds, but the money has returned to us.
In addition to some local houses, the village now sells electricity from roofs to farmers.
Soon, the local community\'s annual electricity revenue will reach around 1500 pounds, a figure that will rise in the next 15 years. It is a long-
It will only get better on a regular basis.
We\'re going to the Guiting Temple.
For a while, it seemed impossible to achieve this project, but with a little teamwork and a steep learning curve, we have a beautiful, shiny solar roof, which we should be proud of.
And, whisper, I might even turn some people into mild environmentalists.
I have always said that the ancient temple is the epitome of this country in many ways.
Now, I hope, we will inspire other villages across the UK.
The Great Village Green Campaign is at 9 p. m. on Thursday, the 4th of the British Broadcasting Corporation. Telegraph Media Group Ltd. Need help in 2019?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.