EWB UWE_Bardsey Bird and Field Observatory Audit Report_2013-2014

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Engineers Without Borders UWE Bardsey Bird and Field Observatory Audit Report 2013/14 EWB // UWE Trip

Centre for Alternative Technology, Coed y Brening mountain biking centre & Dinorwig power station

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s a first year Architecture and Environmental Engineering student I have never had such eye opening and hands on experience with relation to sustainability, vegetarian food & hydroelectricity as was offered at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT). Nor had I seen such a vast and impressive engineering project such as Electric Mountain, Dinorwig. The EWB weekend trip was highly structured and showed careful planning; architecture, engineering and

sustainability were key themes which clearly ran through the weekend: from the restaurant on the first evening which had been carefully chosen for its interior architecture, the wisely thought out design to CAT’s community led eco structures and its new prestigious WISE building to finally the monstrous pumped storage facility at Dinorwig. CAT gave us three highly informative tours, workshops and talks on topics ranging from zero carbon economies to do it yourself renewable technologies.

The ‘Zero Carbon Britain’ talk gave an insight into CAT’s vision on dealing with the current environmental situation. The talk covered what systems and cultural shifts would be required to meet such a challenging goal and the associated positives and negatives of each were highlighted giving a balanced and informed argument. The theme of hydroelectricity ran throughout the trip: a hands-on workshop on the first day gave an opportunity to understand some simple concepts on hydroelectric power generation.

The hydro showstopper came on the second day with a trip to the ‘Electric Mountain’. The group were given a talk and a tour of the massive cavern that housed the pumped storage power station. Through all the team building tasks (willingly under taken by all), social activities and one epic game of sardines a real sense of EWB membership was formed. James.

Andy Elliot • Fred Hagley • Anna Sturtivant • Jack Gorman • Michaela Mallia • Will Webb • Adnani Fazal • Harley Felts • Kareem Cheng • Gwyn Stacey • John Holdich • Josh Frend • Keir Sweeney • Tom Gravell • Alec Litchfield • Nik Trowles • Cameron Halpin

The EWB UWE Team

Checking out Coed Y Brenin

How to wear a hair net with style

Hydro Workshop

1 Sustainable construction materials

Dinorwig pumped storage power station


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