NEWS

The latest news and updates from Low Carbon Hub

  • A collage of pictures of Low Carbon Hub grant funded projects.
    News story

    Low Carbon Hub Community Grants Fund 2024 – 2025 

    4 June 2025
    It takes commitment, creativity, and hard work to run a thriving community group, but it’s inspiring and rewarding to witness the breadth of exciting events and programmes created by our community groups to reduce the effects of climate change. Low Carbon Hub’s vibrant community groups are at the heart of our work, and we are…
  • A collage of pictures of Low Carbon Hub grant funded projects.

    Low Carbon Hub Community Grants Fund 2024 – 2025 

    It takes commitment, creativity, and hard work to run a thriving community group, but it’s inspiring and rewarding to witness the breadth of exciting events and programmes created by our community groups to reduce the effects of climate change. Low Carbon Hub’s vibrant community groups are at the heart of our work, and we are…
    4 June 2025
  • Sandford Hydro gets an upgrade

    Upgrades to our pioneering Sandford Hydro installation have increased its generation by over 17% in 2024/25. To address reduced generation during periods of low river flow when the screws cannot operate, we have covered the whole south-facing part of the plant in solar PV panels. This ensures the site can generate clean energy even when…
    30 May 2025
  • A large group of people around a table discussing community energy.

    Community Energy – Challenges and Solutions Event

    Community groups are taking the lead by putting people at the heart of their vision for a just energy transition, exploring options to develop community scale energy projects that benefit everyone in their area. This year community energy has been a particular focus for four of our community groups who have successfully applied for grant…
    12 May 2025
  • Blenheim: A legacy of leadership

    Our Make Botley West Solar Farm Fair campaign is urging Blenheim Estate, the principal land owner of the proposed Botley West Solar Farm, one of the UK’s largest planned solar developments, to use their influence to push for a fairer community benefit deal from the project developers. In a public document and open letter that…
    6 May 2025
  • Petition: Tell Blenheim Estate to make Botley West Solar Farm Fair

    Why Botley West matters to the whole UK

    Our Make Botley West Solar Farm Fair campaign is focused on ensuring that the UK’s largest proposed solar farm delivers real and lasting benefits to the local communities that will host it. But this isn’t just an Oxfordshire issue, it’s a national one. Across the UK, many more large-scale solar developments are in the pipeline.…
    30 April 2025
  • At Low Carbon Hub, we don’t usually run campaigns. But just this once, we felt we had to.

    We’ve launched our first campaign. Here’s why it matters.

    Low Carbon Hub isn’t a campaigning organisation. Except – we are, just this once. We’ve launched Make Botley West Solar Farm Fair, a petition calling for a much stronger community benefits package from the developers of the proposed Botley West Solar Farm in Oxfordshire. We’re not campaigning for or against the project itself. We know there are a…
    3 April 2025
  • A group of stall holders at the Sustainable Wantage Clean Heat & Free Cake event.

    Clean Heat and Free Cake

    Can homemade cake and a small grant from Low Carbon Hub play a part in developing a zero-carbon future energy system?  The answer is yes! As demonstrated by Sustainable Wantage, who used a small grant from Low Carbon Hub to stage their ‘Clean Heat and Free Cake’ event on Saturday, 8 March at the Beacon…
    13 March 2025
  • A modern housing complex with solar panels on the roof.

    What is the Grid Edge?

    The ‘grid edge’ is, simply, where we all live, work and play – where the physical infrastructure of our energy system reaches us in our day-to-day lives. We often talk about the grid edge at Low Carbon Hub, but why is it so important? And why is the grid edge changing? Life at the edge…
    10 March 2025
  • A wide view of Ray Valley Solar park with sheep in the foreground.

    Community Energy Fund: powering up local energy

    When you invest in the Community Energy Fund, you’re helping to create a cleaner, fairer energy future. Your investment supports community-owned renewable energy projects that cut carbon emissions, lower energy bills for schools and organisations, and reinvest profits into local climate action. In the latest round of the Community Energy Fund, we raised £636,473 towards…
    6 March 2025
  • Moving a new build off gas with the help of a government grant and Octopus Energy

    When buying their home in the Hanborough Gate development, the owner was already thinking of its potential to add solar panels and a heat pump: what was the house and driveway’s orientation? How far away was it from the next property? Starting with an already well-insulated home Built only around five years ago, the house…
    5 March 2025
  • The Market Garden: cultivating sustainability in the heart of the community

    Energy Solutions Oxfordshire (ESOx) provide expert energy assessments for businesses in Oxfordshire, as part of our community benefit projects. The expert team at ESOx provide businesses with the tools and advice they need to reduce their energy costs, cut carbon emissions and demostrate their commitment to fighting climate change. The Market Garden is one such…
    4 March 2025