1970s 1980s 1990s

1973: CAT is founded as the Society for Environmental Improvement and is established in Llwyngwern Quarry – a disused slate works near Machynlleth, Mid Wales.

• CAT’s education programmes expand, with more schools visits, education packs and short residential courses.

• CAT’s Free Information Service is launched, providing impartial advice on a wide range of topics relating to sustainability.

• The CAT site expands with new teaching spaces and new exhibitions.

1991: Water-balanced cliff railway is installed. First electricity grid connection.

1974: First volunteers arrive at the quarry, including engineers, architects, builders and growers. At first the site has no electricity supply, and people work by candlelight and hurricane lamp. Within a few months the first hydro turbine is installed, with excess electricity used to charge an electric truck for local transport.

1975: CAT opens to the public, with the aim of showing people alternatives to fossil fuels and how we might live in ways that reduce our environmental impact.

• A range of small wind turbines are installed on the hills above CAT.

• CAT works with Wates Construction to build the UK’s most insulated house on the CAT site, testing and showcasing insulation techniques and heat recovery systems that result in a building that takes very little energy to heat.

• Successful businesses and projects are incubated and ‘spun off’ from CAT. Examples include the Urban Centre for Appropriate Technology, now known as the Centre for Sustainable Energy, an independent energy advice charity, and pioneering renewables company Dulas Ltd. Dulas’s solar-powered vaccine fridges, the prototype of which was invented at CAT, help save lives in off-grid locations around the world.

1984: Polenko wind turbine installed, providing additional electricity for the site.

1977: ‘An Alternative Energy Strategy for the UK’ is published by CAT and presented to the UK Government Energy Ministry, showing ways of reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Solar panel test monitoring is undertaken.

1988: Eco Cabins are built to create an immersive learning environment for residential schools visits.