'INCREDIBLE ENERGY' has a long and exciting history.

In 2007, when Pam and Mary launched 'Incredible Edible' in Todmorden, a sister company 'Incredible Energy' was registered at Companies House. The idea was that developing renewable energy sources in the community would go hand-in-hand with promoting the IE philosophy of encouraging people to grow their own food, in dilapidated and ignored corners, then make the edibles available to share. Well, we all know what happened next. 'Incredible Edibles' grew to a world-wide movement. Unfortunately, 'Energy' lagged behind.

The next step forward, though, was thanks to Westminster. In 2010 the exiting Labour government set up the 'Feed-In Tariff' for community energy groups, adding a financial incentive to local people to work on their own solar schemes and small-scale wind power. In the same year, the 'Ordsall Energy Alliance' was launched in Ordsall by Salford's Mayor, Councillor George Wilson. IN Salford a further boost was added to the mix when exploratory fracking began on Barton Moss in 2013. People in Irlam and Cadishead, near to the proposed drilling site, began looking around to see if there were alternatives to the extraction of shale gas and oil in their neighbourhood. They set up 'Moss Community Energy', with the help of friends from Manchester and further afield, and were happy to spend a weekend making their own solar panels, guided by experienced campaigners from Bristol (photo above).

Moss Community Energy entered into a Partnership Agreement with Salford City Council and began working with local schools to fit solar panels on their roofs. They identified a good site at Fiddlers Lane Primary School, but the paperwork and bureaucracy involved in fundraising proved too much for them, and 'Moss' eventually merged with Manchester-based 'Greater Manchester Community Renewables' (GMCR), who have successfully installed three waves of solar panels on schools in Salford since 2016, with the support of the City Mayor.

'Incredible Energy' is being launched in 2019 with the involvement and backing of people from all these initiatives, with the express aim of looking for new, innovative ways of bringing renewable energy generation to the community, using all existing forms and methods, and boldly exploring new and barely established ideas.

We know that wind and wave, solar and hydro work. The question is: what else is there?