Recent Press Releases
Camp Energy – Survival of the physicists
Helen MacBain
PR19(06)
Wed, 7 June 2006
How much carbon dioxide is produced from the energy you use in a week and how does this contribute to the problems of global warming and climate change? How can physics help? How many students can you fit into a tent?
This month at the Cheltenham Science Festival, Camp Energy – Survival of the Physicists will answer these questions. Four physics students have been challenged by the Institute of Physics to camp out at the festival from 7 to 11 June and live as carbon neutrally as they can. They will use their knowledge of physics to generate energy that produces as little carbon dioxide as possible.
Anthea Cain, one of the students taking part in the camp said “We’re hoping that, unlike Big Brother, our camp won’t have any walk outs or evictions! However, like the fourteen contestants in the house, we will be living in a closed environment and facing daily challenges set for us by our own Big Brother, the Institute of Physics.”
The challenges are designed to show how physics can help to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released in basic everyday activities. The tasks will cover the key areas of food, travel, entertainment and wellbeing, as follows:
- Day 1: building and using a solar cooker
- Day 2: making bio-diesel from chip fat
- Day 3: making a crystal radio and being entertained by a bicycle-powered sound system
- Day 4: building a hot tub using an old bath, radiator and coppiced charcoal
Festival visitors also have the chance to make a difference themselves at Camp Energy by signing pledge cards to promise changes in behaviour to reduce emissions. For example people can promise to not leave electric appliances on stand-by or switch to a renewable energy source for their electricity supply.
If the students can survive life at Camp Energy – and each other! – they will get to spend the final afternoon with the BBC’s Quentin Cooper (presenter of Radio 4’s science programme, Material World) at a panel discussion of the week’s activities answering audience questions about how to reduce carbon dioxide emissions without going to the same lengths.
Caitlin Watson, project manager at the Institute of Physics, said: “Where we get our energy from is currently a very hot topic but how many of us know how to make a difference? With Camp Energy, we are going to an extreme in order to highlight that physics is part of the solution in both reducing demand and developing alternative supplies.”
Dr Wendy Buckley, a physicist at Carbon Footprint, the company who helped develop the pledge cards said “The average amount of carbon dioxide produced by four people over the course of a week is 770kg, enough to fill 1.8 million balloons. The students are aiming to reduce that as much as possible and show that physics can affect all our lives in a very real and important way.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
For more information or images please contact:
Helen MacBain, Press Officer,
Institute of Physics, 76 Portland Place, London. W1B 1NT
Telephone 020 7470 4815 or 07946 321473.
E-mail:helen.macbain@iop.org
Dee Rossi, mission21
Telephone 0208 392 5714
E-mail dee.rossi@mission-21.com
Camp Energy forms part of this year’s Cheltenham Science Festival, taking place from the 7 to 11 of June.
Biographies of the students can be found at www.physics.org
The Institute of Physics
The Institute of Physics is a scientific membership organisation devoted to increasing the understanding and application of physics. It has an extensive worldwide membership (currently over 35,000) and is a leading communicator of physics with all audiences from specialists through government to the general public. Its publishing company, Institute of Physics Publishing, is a world leader in scientific publishing and the electronic dissemination of physics.
Carbon Footprint
The Camp Energy pledge cards were developed by Carbon Footprint (www.carbonfootprint.com), a company that aims to provide practical advice for busy people and companies wanting to 'do their bit' to preserve the environment.
A Carbon Footprintis a measure of the impact that human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of green house gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide.
Camp Energy – Survival of the Physicists, the panel discussion
Sunday 11 June, 4–5pm Town Hall £5 (£4) £8 (£7)
A group of physics students will spend the Festival roughing it behind the Town Hall, finding out how much energy is required for a comfortable existence. Quentin Cooper joins them to see whether they managed to survive with only a wind turbine and some solar cells to heat their cups of tea. Don’t forget to pay them a visit outside the Town Hall during the rest of the Festival!
The Cheltenham Science Festival
As Cheltenham Science Festival approaches its 5th Birthday the programme re-examines some of the major issues of modern science alongside the Festival theme: Relationships. Stars of the scientific scene Robert Winston, Adam Hart-Davis and Kathy Sykes will all return to Cheltenham to join in debate and discussions around serious subjects such as genetics, energy and cloning, as well as lighter topics like the science of laughter, fashion and rock and roll. A free interactive area the Discover Zone returns and the ExperiTent, a new educational arena, makes its Festival debut.
Booking Hotline: 01242 227979
Brochure Hotline: 01242 237377
Website: www.cheltenhamfestivals.com <http://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/>
For further media information including images / interviews / review tickets / promotional opportunities etc please contact Ian or Amy in the Press Office below.
Cheltenham Festivals Press Office
Ian George - Press & Marketing Manager T: 01242 775851
Email: ian.george@cheltenham.gov.uk
Amy Hulyer - Press Co-ordinator T: 01242 775856
Email: amy.hulyer@cheltenham.gov.uk
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