Showing posts with label Katharine Robinson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Katharine Robinson. Show all posts

Monday, 19 October 2009

Energy Saving Week 2009


Energy Saving Week is an annual event hosted by the Energy Saving Trust. This year the event runs from 19th – 25th October and will be important for our pockets as well as the planet.

In the spirit of the event, the EcoSearch team brings you their top tips for saving energy;

Debby Lloyd, Managing Director
“for all those with teenagers - outsource them to university and watch your electricity bills halve! If you have latch-key kids - when you arrive home from work to find they have used the "advance" heating button on the boiler and the thermostat is set on 30 degrees! Open your wall thermostats and set the stopper at 18 degrees - force them to use jumpers! Oh, and turn off the gas on the gas fire so they can't use that either. Use a slow cooker in the winter instead of the oven - Lakeland has a great little gadget called a Remoska that literally uses the energy from a light bulb to effectively cook food!”
Phillip Clement, Director
“Work longer hours - this has numerous energy saving benefits. You use the lights and heating at work not at home. Your drive into the office and home will be in less traffic so you will use less petrol. When you get home you're so knackered you'll want to go to bed without any dinner which means you won't use the cooker and you won't need to put the lights on and you have to get up so early you won't feel like breakfast and you can wait till you get to the office to have a cup of tea so you won't need to boil the kettle.”
Mark Sawyer, Senior Partner
I recommend taking the Home Energy Check questionnaire via the Energy Saving Trust website. Considering my home working, mother and child at home all day every day with the heating on, I was surprised to get the results back and find that on an A-G rating I am currently a C. I have currently done everything possible that they suggest in their report email to reduce my carbon footprint except for getting thicker loft insulation and changing some more light bulbs... A worthwhile use of 5 minutes, especially if you are very new to thinking about saving energy.”
Clare Buxton, Wind Energy Sector Lead
“Don’t leave appliances on Standby and remember not to leave laptops and mobiles phones on charge unnecessarily. I always find myself going around the house behind the rest of the family turning off the things they’re finished with like computers, the TV and games consoles.”
Katharine Robinson, Research Associate
“Don’t put on any laundry unless you have a full load – one full load uses a lot less energy that two half loads – it’s better to wait. I have never used a tumble dryer either. I try to dry as much clothes as possible outside on the washing line, or if it’s just too rainy use an indoor airer.”

We did a series of blog posts last year for Energy Saving Week – you may find there interesting too;
We hope you save lots of pennies this week

The EcoSearch team

Wednesday, 23 September 2009

Test Drivers Wanted for Mini's Prototype Electric Car



Drivers from South East England can volunteer, you just need to have a driving licence, be happy with a left hand drive car and have your own garage or carport for the charging unit to be installed in. The trial lasts for six months and kicks off in December.

You will have to rent the prototype, costing you £330 per month, but you will have up to 90% lower running costs, no maintenance charges, no tax or insurance to pay and the Mini-E is exempt from the London congestion charge. The free insurance, lack of maintenance bills and a cut of £220 per month to the lease cost comes thanks to funding from the Technology Strategy Board.

The Mini-E is a prototype and only 40 have been made. The research done in this trial will likely inform the development of all other 100% electric vehicles.

For more information and to apply, simply visit www.electricMINI.co.uk

By Katharine Robinson
Research Associate, EcoSearch

Monday, 3 August 2009

Green and Renewable Energy Events – September 2009



EcoSearch aims to bring you a comprehensive list of all the events happening across the Renewable Energy, Cleantech and Carbon Management sectors.

September is going to be a manic month for events, so be sure to do your homework and don’t miss out on the best ones for you.

If we’re missing a conference, please leave us a comment or drop us an email and we’ll update our list – it’s our way of helping you connect with the right people.

~*~*~
Featured Event:





~*~*~

Climate Camp 2009 - Free (donations requested)
27th August – 2nd September
Follow @ClimateCamp on twitter
London

BioEnergy 2009 – Sustainable Bioenergy Business
31st August – 4th September
Jyväskylä, Finland

LAWEA Wind Expo 2009 - Latin American Wind Power - International Conference & Exhibition
2nd – 4th September
Panama City, Panama

7th September
London

AWBriefing - Hybrid and Electric Vehicles Advanced Battery technology
8th September
London

National Energy Foundation - Introduction to Renewable Energy
8th September
Milton Keynes

Green Drinks – London – Free
8th September
London (Green Drinks events happen globally - more locations can be found on the website)

Cleantech Forum Boston
8th – 10th September
Boston, MA

Offshore Europe 2009 - Free
8th – 11th September 2009
Aberdeen, Scotland

The Energy Event 09 - Free
9th & 10th September
Birmingham

BWEA Connect - a networking evening exclusively for existing and potential members of BWEA
10th September
London

Southwest Renewable Energy Conference

10th & 11th September
Flagstaff, Arizona

EcoMo09 24-hour dev camp - Can you write green code? - Free
11th September
Follow @ecomo09 on Twitter
London

Carbon Capture and Sequestration Summit
14th & 15th September
Washington, DC

European Offshore Wind 2009 Conference & Exhibition
14th – 16th September
Stockholm, Sweden

UWIG Wind Integration Short Course
14th – 17th September
Charleston, SC

IMarEST Metocean Awareness course
15th – 17th September
London

Recycling & Waste Management 2009 - Free
15th – 17th September
Birmingham

The Heat and Energy Saving Strategy - reducing emissions from existing buildings
Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum
16th September
London

European Biodiesel 2009
16th & 17th
Prague, Czech Republic

AWEA Wind Power Health & Safety Workshop
16th & 17th September
Follow @AWEA on Twitter
Snowbird, UT

Coasts, Marine Structures and Breakwaters 2009
16th – 18th September
Follow @ICE_Engineers on Twitter
Edinburgh, Scotland

JetFin Green 2009 - For investors and managers in search of real returns from green investment
17th September
Geneva, Switzerland

European Smart Grid Strategies
17th & 18th September
Berlin, Germany

Irish Sustainable Buildings Show - Free
17th – 19th September
Dublin, Ireland

CANWEA - Canadian Wind Energy Association Annual Conference & Exhibition
20th – 23rd September
Toronto, Canada

21st & 22nd September
London

24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition
21st – 24th September
Hamburg, Germany

REA WATTS (Wave and Tidal Technology Symposium)2009
22nd September
Wirral, Merseyside

Heat & Energy 09
22nd September
London

Hargould EcoShowcase West London - Sustainable Building Product Exhibition
22nd September
Twickenham, London

Wind Power Expo 2009 - Free
22nd – 24th September
Zaragoza, Spain

Carbon capture and Storage World Summit
22nd – 24th September
Arlington, Virginia

Grove Fuel Cell Symposium
22nd – 24th September
London

Klimaenergy 09 - Renewable Energy Trade Fair and Conference
24th – 26th September
Bolzano, Italy

RENEXPO - 10th International Trade Fair for Renewable Energy & Energy Efficient Building and Renovation
24th – 27th September
Ausburg, Germany

Energy from Waste
28th & 29th September
London

Next Generation Biofuels
28th – 30th September
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The 2009 Energy Roundtable conference: A transatlantic energy partnership
29th September
London

The Carbon Show - The Exhibition for Trading, Reducing and managing carbon – Free (register before 25/09)
29th & 30th September
ondon

National Energy Foundation - Solar Thermal Training
30th September
Milton Keynes

AWEA Wind Resource & Project Energy Assessment Workshop
30th September & 1st October
Follow @AWEA on Twitter
Minneapolis, MN

Sustainable Cities & Communities
30th September & 1st October
Geneva, Switzerland

Eolica Expo Mediterranean 2009
30th September – 2nd October
Rome, Italy

GeoTech Expo 2009 - First Mediterranean Earth Industry Technology Exhibition
30th September – 2nd October
Rome, Italy

~*~*~

We will publish a similar list for October soon.

Click here for August’s Green and Renewable Energy Event List.

Click here to download a full list of Green and Renewable Energy events for the next 12 months from Scribd.com

Friday, 17 July 2009

UK Low Carbon Transition Plan

On Wednesday the Government announced its Low Carbon Transition Plan.

The plan covers everything from;
  • The power sector
  • Homes and communities
  • Workplaces and jobs
  • The transport system
  • Farms and managing land
  • Waste sustainability
So, here’s a round-up of all you need to know:

From the Government:
From the power utilities:


From the Press:

The Broadsheets:
The Green Press:
You may also find my list of 15 renewable energy news sources interesting.

If I have missed anything, don't hesitate to let me know.

By Katharine Robinson
Research Associate, EcoSearch



Tuesday, 26 May 2009

All-Energy ’09 Round-up

The EcoSearch team had a great time in Abredeen last week at the All-Energy ’09 conference and exhibition. Some of the team give their thoughts on this coming together of the Renewables community in 2009.


Debby Lloyd:
Managing Director
“This year's show was markedly different to last year’s - a broader range of technologies on show representing the maturing renewable energy markets. Many businesses were in attendance that are not in mainstream renewables but were clearly looking for an angle to come in on it. Now the "mighty" are throwing their weight behind technology development it will be interesting to see what happens. Interesting views from the Oil and Gas community, who in general were surprised at the "low tech" approaches encountered ... not surprising when oil and gas technology is priced for the BPs of the world - and that's clearly not been in the renewable energy budget to date!”

Clare Buxton:
Sector Lead for Wind Energy
“What a busy week! All-Energy was a stimulating and informative exhibition and conference with some interesting and considered presentations from industry experts. It was noteworthy that whilst some of the largest contributors to the (UK) industry and utility companies had chosen not to exhibit this year, many new (even potential) members of the renewable energy community were exhibiting for the first time. As observed by Adam Bruce of BWEA at the Connect networking event on Tuesday, the growing number of legal, marketing and recruitment organisations providing services into the sector are a sign of the sudden maturity of an industry that was only in its infancy five years ago.”

Steven Rogers:
Sector Lead for Carbon and Renewable Energy Engineering“All-Energy is always one of the busiest and most enjoyable weeks in my calendar and this year’s show proved to be as good as its predecessors.
Over the last few years it has been a real pleasure watching businesses grow from pre-development/‘model’ stage to where they are today, often at the technology deployment stage or business commercialisation stage. In simple terms we have gone from small scale models to these amazing technologies being in existence and use. My lasting impression is that real and quantifiable progress is being made in the renewable energy industry and that it is set to continue.”

Katharine Robinson:
Research Associate and Global Information Management
“My mission for this year’s All-Energy conference was to demonstrate the power of Twitter for building relationships in the Renewable Energy industry. All-Energy had taken me up on my suggestion to run a twitter account and managed to gain 120 followers in the run up to the event. I had managed to build a list of 30 twitter users, other than the folks at EcoSearch, which would be attending the show. The first person I met at All-Energy was a tweeter Clare and I have been following for several months. He came up and introduced himself right as the exhibition started on Wednesday morning. The team and I had some great chats with folks we had connected with via twitter and it was great to see the show covered on this additional layer.”

Phillip Clement:
Director
“Great to see an increasing number of companies dipping their toe into the market - bringing their own flavour and adaptation of their existing services, this is a step change in attitude and acceptance that "it's here to stay" and not a fad. As an engineer and investment manager I am however amazed at the number of Heath Robinson contraptions that are still being presented, perhaps the big boys will make a difference and finally put some weight and money behind some realistic and serious R&D.”

Did you attend the conference? What were your lasting impressions?

Tuesday, 5 May 2009

Two Week Countdown to All-Energy

In just two weeks the EcoSearch team will be heading off to Aberdeen to exhibit at their third All-Energy show.
Picture from All-Energy '08
The team reflect on why it’s such a great events and so valuable to our business.

Clare Buxton
“All-Energy is a great opportunity to learn more about the latest developments and projects in the UK Wind Energy space. I'm hoping to catch some of the seminars focused on the Offshore Wind sector. As well, of course, as meet up with some familiar faces!”

Martin Grady:
“I am looking forward to being able to launch EcoSearch Interim and Contracting Limited. I would like to talk to any potential clients and contractors who may be interested in our services in the future.”

Debby Lloyd:
“As always All-Energy affords a chance to catch up with businesses operating across the whole spectrum of the renewable space and their operating challenges, especially given the current climate - and a chance to assess the future contenders from a ‘whose ripe for M&A activity’".

Mark Sawyer:
“Wow - All Energy 09 looks to be a belter, bigger and better than before, more technologies, more companies, better opportunities to network. I really am excited about this year's show. Having sent out invitations to a number of key industry figures/leaders who have/are seeking Ecosearch's expertise and who have responded positively, we really are going to be busy. I just hope we have time to meet new faces and contacts.”

Katharine Robinson:
“This year, I am running All-Energy’s presence on the social network Twitter. I am excited about talking to the conference goers about the service and find out who is ‘following’ the show online. I am also looking forward to using the medium to raise awareness of the conference and the exciting world of Renewable Energy.”

Steven Rogers:
“All Energy offers the opportunity for us to raise our heads, get out hands on technology and understand what the trends are in our industry. I'm looking forward to finding out what is happening within built environment and what is next for increasing energy efficiency. Also, there is a lot a noise around Carbon Capture and Storage - I'm keen to learn what is going on and if this is a viable solution for our carbon emissions. I'll be at stand E15 and always keen to talk - please feel free to come and say hello”

What are you looking forward to at All-Energy this year?

Tuesday, 14 April 2009

15 Online News Sources For Renewable Energy And The Carbon Markets

Our work requires us to stay ahead of the game when it comes to news in the Renewable Energy Space.

As I was putting together a list of essential news services for new employees, I thought the resource was too good not to share with everyone.

So here, in alphabetical order, are EcoSearch’s top 15 online sources for green news.

Alternative Energy – Alternative energy news and information resources about renewable energy technologies. RSS. Twitter

All-Energy – The Renewables Show, held annually in Aberdeen, aggregates all of the top new stories on its website.

BBC Science & Environment - Get the latest BBC Science and Environment News: breaking news, analysis and debate on science and nature in the UK and around the world.RSS. Twitter

Carbon Finance - A a monthly newsletter and e-mail update service providing in-depth coverage of the global markets in greenhouse gas emissions. RSS

Edie - Officially Europe's biggest environmental website, Edie combines an unparalleled directory of products and services from thousands of specialised companies with an online news service reporting on the latest environmental stories as they break. RSS. Twitter

Financial Times Energy Source Blog - The FT’s specialist writers offer their insight into energy markets, companies and policy, plus commentary on the latest market-moving news. RSS. Twitter

GreenTechMedia – A fully integrated online-media company comprised of cutting-edge news, in-depth market research, and focused industry events. RSS. Twitter

Guardian Energy - The Guardian newspaper, of which guardian.co.uk is its online presence, was founded in 1821 and has a long history of editorial and political independence. RSS.

McKinsey Quarterly (Energy, Resources and Materials) - The McKinsey Quarterly is the business journal of McKinsey & Company.RSS. Twitter

New Energy Focus - A daily news service for the UK energy sector, dedicated to the professionals working towards sustainable energy in the UK. RSS

Point Carbon - A world-leading provider of independent news, analysis and consulting services for European and global power, gas and carbon markets. Point Carbon provides market-moving information through monitoring fundamental information, key market players and business and policy developments. RSS

Renewable Energy World - RenewableEnergyWorld.com was started in 1998 by a group of Renewable Energy professionals who wanted their work to relate to their passion for renewable energy. RSS

Reuters Environment – Reuters is a world leading source of intelligent information for business and professionals. RSS. Twitter

Telegraph Earth - Earth is your source for environmental and green news, with information on global warming, pollution, green living and recycling, as well as tips on how to cut your contribution to climate change. RSS.

TreeHugger - TreeHugger is a fast-growing web magazine, dedicated to everything that has a modern aesthetic yet is environmentally responsible. Check out the latest news, reviews and recommendations for modern yet green products and services. RSS. Twitter

Do you have another source of online green news that you would recommend?

By Katharine Robinson
Research Associate, EcoSearch

Wikipedia Links: Learn more about RSS feeds and Twitter



Monday, 23 March 2009

Cast Your Vote for Planet Earth on Saturday at 20:30

I am talking about Earth Hour of course.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007 as one city making a powerful statement about the urgency of climate change action by turning out their lights. In 2008 Earth Hour went global.



The concept is to use your light switch to cast a vote.
  • Leave your lights on and you vote for climate change
  • Switch your lights off and you vote for planet earth
We hope that you will be turning your lights off on Saturday 28th March 2009 at 20:30 and casting your vote for planet earth.

Wednesday, 18 March 2009

Using Twitter to get the most out of Conference Networking

Now that we are in the age of Blackberries and web 2.0, is it any wonder that the way we approach networking is evolving?

Most of us manage our contacts using a service like LinkedIn or Xing. This can help us stay in touch, find new and interesting people and discuss all manner of business.

Some people are starting to realise the benefits of using Twitter (a young and rapidly growing networking site) to give industry events an extra depth. The service has, until recently been the play ground of geeks and techies and is only just starting to show its immense power for Business. Here are just a few benefits of “tweeting” at a conference.
Discovery of new people and organisations:

This week the European Wind Energy Conference is taking place in Marseille. Twitter’s immediacy means that you can find out what’s happening right now. The image below is taken from a twitter search to show who is talking about the event.

You can use twitter search in the early stages of an event to find out who else is there so you can start following them and receiving their updates.

Maximise Learning:

It isn’t possible to attend every single session at a conference or visit every single stand. Attendees often twitter live from lecture and panel sessions as they are happening to let their network know the juiciest insights and the biggest revelations they are being privy to.

Of course some conferences are tweeted more extensively, and using more sophisticated techniques, than others. It all depends on how many attendees are using the service. I was at the Social Networking World Forum in London last week and found the event to be very thoroughly covered by the ‘twittersphere’.


I have highlighted my use of a Hashtag in the above tweet. Hashtags are an informal way of making it easier to search for the tweets you want to find. If everyone at the event put #snwf somewhere in their tweets, I would only have to search for those four letters in order to see everything that was happening.

Never feel left out again:

It’s not always possible to attend every conference in your niche. Now you can “listen” to what’s happening by simply running a twitter search even if you are unable to attend. It doesn’t stop there, sometimes people are nice enough to tweet links to photos so that you can see what’s happening. The twitpic service makes this really easy.

Keep listening and get more value after the event:

Sometimes it would be nice to know what everyone else thought of the conference in more than 140 characters! After conferences, a lot of people write blog posts and articles about their experiences and what they learned. These posts and articles are often linked to with tweets in the days following a conference, so don’t stop listening just because the event is over.

How to get in on the action:
  • Set up a twitter account for free 
  • Use the search function to find some people with similar interests to follow. You can follow anyone you find interesting on twitter, it’s all about discovery
  • If you are going to be attending an event make sure you tweet about it and search for others that might be doing the same. 
The next big event that EcoSearch will be attending is All-Energy ’09 in Aberdeen on 20th & 21st May. The hashtag for this event should be #AE09.

You can learn more about Twitter on Wikipedia.

By Katharine Robinson,
Research Associate
Twitter: @EcoSearch



Tuesday, 3 February 2009

University Challenge – St John’s College Cambridge asked to identify Renewable Energy Projects

Last night on University Challenge St John’s College Cambridge, the eventual winners, were given questions on Renewable Energy Generation around the UK. They did not get on too well, only getting one out of three questions correct.

How would you have done in their place?

Name the form of Alternate Energy Generation used at the following sites in the UK
  1. Scroby Sands off the coast of Great Yarmouth
  2. Ffestiniog in North Wales
  3. Lynmouth in North Devon
You can watch the show on BBC iplayer


Answers: 1. Wind, 2. Hydro, 3. Tidal

Friday, 30 January 2009

The Future of Online Recruitment

Yesterday Katharine Robinson and Phillip Clement attended Enhance Media’s Online Recruitment conference “The Year Ahead”. Katharine gives her thoughts below.

I was particularly interested to hear what Facebook, YouTube, PWC, Workcircle and the rest had to say. The conference was aimed mainly at the job board market and corporate recruiters, but when your job is to manage a recruitment company’s digital footprint, it’s somewhere you just have to be.

I was a little surprised that the day seemed to have no clearly defined objectives – I don’t know whether it’s because I used to be in teaching, but I like to have a clear Idea of what I am supposed to be learning so that I know whether or not I have been successful. There was not even an Agenda provided before the event.

We kicked off the day by hearing from YouTube. There was a whole plethora of incredible stats. Most notable from an energy perspective was the fact that YouTube might only be three years old, but it accounts for 10% of the bandwidth being used on the internet at any one time. As there are 1.2 billion minutes of video uploaded every month, this must be being stored somewhere. These data centres must account for massive energy usage and have quite a carbon footprint. Probably most interesting from a recruitment perspective was that video can help in the selling process – pictures add credibility when you buy something so moving pictures add even more. I was inspired by the notion of creating some short snippets of video, demonstrating the opportunities we are working on, having an EcoSearch YouTube channel and putting some of these clips on our site.

I was looking forward to hearing from Facebook. If you are interested in such things, you will know that EcoSearch already has a Facebook Page where you can become a fan. I wanted to see what more I could do with it. I was a little disappointed to find myself on the receiving end of a sales pitch for their targeted advertising. We were told about pages, and shown a couple of the best ones (that I had already investigated when creating ours). I was also disappointed to find that the speaker couldn’t answer my question about our page’s analytics.

Blogs were also a big topic of the day. In my opinion the most important thing about blogging is communication and interaction with your audience. As a recruitment company I am often concerned that people will not wish to comment as they don’t want anyone to assume they are on the market for a job (either rightly or wrongly). I have nothing against this and at EcoSearch we are committed to privacy and ensuring that our clients and candidates are ensured the highest discretion. The only suggestion from the speakers at the event was to give people the ability to comment anonymously.

Here on dot.green anonymous comments have always been allowed – so don’t worry about commenting on the blog – we encourage you to have your say.

Monday, 19 January 2009

Our hopes as Barack Obama takes office

As the world waits with baited breath - there has been a little brain storming in the EcoSearch office today...

Photo by dcJohn
Debby Lloyd
I'm hopeful that the USA positioning will change. Look at the Scots and how they see their in-country resources ... they could easily close the borders when the lights go out elsewhere in the country and their energy supply will be secure. If the USA invests in the natural resources available in their own country it equals less of a reliance on Oil and perhaps they will no longer have to be so aggressive around the protection of Oil resources (some may say flimsy excuses for entry into countries that have oil resources). So I hope the emphasis moves to one of "in country self sufficiency on energy supply". Let's phrase it ... Mobilised in a more positive way they can achieve and lead the world. Perhaps in a more positive way than they are seen by the rest of the world today. Good luck Obama, yes you can is my opinion.

Steven Rogers
I was pleased to see the news on Thursday that the US Senate will allow Obama to sign a UN pact to fight global warming late in '09, even if US climate laws are not in place by then.

Mark Sawyer
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has turned down the request to regulate carbon by the most populous state. Obama, however, can direct the agency to reverse course.

Clare Buxton
Obama will double wind power capacity in the next three years, which will mean continued growth in the US onshore market for wind turbine manufacturers, but will that mean that the European offshore market will lose out? Will the Turbine Manufacturers have the same incentive to develop new offshore technologies?

Katharine Robinson
I was impressed by how Obama has approached communication with the public during his campaign by using new media and embracing tools like Facebook and Twitter. I think his attitude has pushed many others to embrace new ways of communicating. I was pleased this week to notice some British MPs using these tools too – Our leaders need to be brought into the 21st century and encouraged to use the communication tools that have become mainstream in the last five years. I hope that as President we see more of this from Barack Obama.


You can follow the inauguration tomorrow on the BBC News website, with live text updates from 1500 GMT and streaming video from 1600 GMT.

Wednesday, 7 January 2009

Boost your career in 2009 with LinkedIn

In my post on Looking for a ‘good’ green job I promised to write about using LinkedIn. LinkedIn.com has become the online business network of choice for many. It allows you to create an online profile and make it as visible as you wish. Apart from anything else it is a great place to keep contact details for all the key players in your network. You never know when you might leave that battered old filo-fax in the back of a taxi.

You might be asking “Why do I need a LinkedIn Profile?”

Are you legitimate? - If you call someone with a business proposition, they may well look you up on LinkedIn to find out more about you. It certainly happens a lot here at EcoSearch when we are looking for service providers to partner with.
Take a look at my LinkedIn profile and you will see how long I have been working at EcoSearch, what other experience I have and my educational background, as well as a whole wealth of other information.
Not only does it allow you to be found by those you already know, but people with potential opportunities can find you just by doing a search.

Growing your career – LinkedIn is now widely used by head hunters to identify individuals with the right profile to match senior level opportunities with companies they represent. Whilst being on LinkedIn will not guarantee that you will be approached by a head hunter, it will increase your chances of being noticed by people who can help you to progress your career at the right time for you.

Strengthening a connection - If you meet someone at an industry event or even on the train and they work in your niche, it can be easy to let that meeting be forgotten. Down the line potential opportunities for collaboration can be lost. If however you have a philosophy of connecting to everyone you meet on LinkedIn, you never lose their business card, or forget their name or which company they represent.
LinkedIn is reaching the point where the majority of savvy business people are signed up. There is no excuse for not using it to keep up to date with and to grow your network.

Wider networking - LinkedIn groups (discussion forums about a specific topic) have undergone a lot of change recently. Despite the number of groups you can join being capped at 50; I think most of these changes have been for the better. You can now search for relevant groups, start discussions and share ideas without leaving the site. This is a great way to interact with likeminded folks that you are not connected to. Often these can lead you to an external networking website with previously untapped potential.

Creating your profile

LinkedIn has acquired many more features recently so creating your profile may seem a little more daunting than it would have done six months ago. Let me assure you though, the new features make for a much more useful experience. Having a profile is worth the time investment.
Go along and hit the sign up button, the site is very user friendly and talks you through creating your profile. You can include as much or as little information about yourself as you like.

I would encourage you to think about a few key words that should be included in your profile. Try to include your job title (and any other ways your function might be described) as well as the sector you work in. If somebody is searching for a person like you, what keywords might they type into a search box?

Once you have a profile, start looking for people you know (you will probably be surprised by how many people are already there). Invite them to connect, and watch your network grow. Once you have a small network of contacts, you will have a pool to search and find useful folks that work in your field.

From there you can go on to join groups, ask questions or just network with your new community.

For great information straight from LinkedIn, check out their article Start 2009 Strong with LinkedIn. Let me know how you get on creating your profile and any benefits that come of it.

By Katharine Robinson
Research Associate at EcoSearch

Monday, 8 December 2008

The Monster is evolving...

Internet job boards came on the scene in the mid nineties and revolutionised the way we look for a new job.

No longer do we wait for Thursday’s newspaper and head to the opportunities section with our red marker pen, ready to circle whatever looks interesting.

Now I can look for jobs on any day of the week, without even leaving my house to go to the news agent. I could wake up in the middle of the night, wondering what others doing a role like mine are earning and get an approximation in just minutes by switching on my computer.

If I feel tempted, and have my CV ready, I can apply with just a few clicks of my mouse. No need to worry about having nice paper to print on or ink in my printer. I don’t need to buy an envelope or even a stamp.

Searching on the internet for a job allows us to find opportunities in companies that we have not heard of or companies that we might not have thought to send our CV to otherwise. I could even add my CV to a database and then do NOTHING – just wait for the right job to come and find me while I get on with my life.

It sounds pretty nifty to me already. So when Monster says that it’s all about to change, you have to take notice! Monster’s CEO and Chairman, Sal Iannuzzi says that the new website will be almost a 100% rebuild. There will be new features and functionality unique in the industry. Debby Lloyd and I attended a launch breakfast for the new site at Altitude on the 29th floor of the Milbank Tower in London Last Monday. The full extent of the rebuild was confirmed when we were shown just how different the site will look and feel for both candidates and recruiters.

A lot of other job boards have recently gone through overhauls and then spent a lot of money on advertising. I was approached by fish4jobs.com following their re-launch earlier this year. I had, of course, seen their new advertisements on E4 (just before Scrubs) and so was unconsciously aware that something was going on in that world. But was it fish4jobs or totaljobs or could it have been jobsite? It’s really hard to say. I wonder how these other job boards will react to their already much more recognisable competitor coming in and trouncing them all with a career management revolution.

How can it get any better?

Monster has not done anything by half measures. They have spent many millions of dollars on THE BEST search tools that money can buy to analyse their industry leading CV database (I don’t even know if I’m allowed to tell you how many CVs that is). This means they can provide job seekers with information regarding likely future career moves based upon their previous experience, or allow someone to input their career goals to find out what they need to do to get there.

When you go to the homepage of New Monster, it won’t look the same for any two people. New Monster goes beyond the Niche Job Board provision – it is a 100% personal and customisable job board. You see what you tell it you want to see, and the most relevant jobs will find you. I don’t know anywhere else I can get that.

On a more logistical level, the sign up process has been streamlined. It will now only take 50% of the time to create your profile (My Monster) and upload your CV (but only if you want to). This gives job seekers more time to be focusing on their career rather than plodding through the dull sign-up process getting bored and frustrated.

This new stage of evolution will allow the job seeker to not only have control over their job search, but their entire career path. The aim is for you to be able to look at your present experience and compare with others, see possible future career paths and how to effectively take the next steps. You will also come back to the site regularly, just to see that you are still going in the right direction, this might allow you to see an opportunity for faster progression you might otherwise have missed.

I can’t wait to see it working!

New monster goes live on Saturday 10th January 2009.

By Katharine Robinson
Research Associate

Monday, 1 December 2008

Our Favourites to follow on Twitter for Green News

If you are already using Twitter then this needs no introduction.

If you are new to this fast growing social media phenomenon then I suggest you take a look at signing up. It takes a couple of minutes and appears oddly simple and a little pointless at first. If you keep using it though, its power soon becomes evident.

This was inspired by a fantastic post by Darren Rowse (@problogger) on his twitter tips blog, TwiTip. If you would like to learn more about twitter, this is a great place to get ideas and find out who you should be following.

For those of you looking for interesting green folks to follow, here are few favourites from the EcoSearch office:

  1. @BBC _Earth – for all things nature, eco and energy

  2. @BigGreenSwitch – Energy saving tips ever day

  3. @CEBUX – our very own Clare Buxton brings you wind industry news and interesting updates from the EcoSearch blog

  4. @EcoWales – Eco and Green from a Welsh perspective, fed from the Cardiff School of Journalism

  5. @Glaci3r - environmental news, reviews, and media

  6. @GreatGreen – for green shopping tips

  7. @Greenpep – Interesting sites, blog posts and retweets

  8. @Greenprofs – for blog posts and news from Green Professionals

  9. @Novogreen – blog posts and news articles

  10. @UN_ClimateTalks – Get the news straight from the talks taking place 1st – 12th December.

We would be delighted to know who you enjoying following for your fix of green news and views, please make suggestions in the comments.

By Katharine Robinson
@TheSourceress

You may also find interesting:
15 Online News Sources For Renewable Energy and The Carbon Markets

Tuesday, 4 November 2008

A new Monster is coming...

Monster is launching its all new site on 10th January 2009. Debby Lloyd and I have been invited to a launch breakfast in London on December 1st 2008.


As the one of the initial players in the online recruitment game, it is ok for them to change the rules.

But what exactly are they planning to make online job hunting a better experience? A more personalised and customised service for job seekers is the main focus.

I am excited to find out exactly what this will mean for EcoSearch and for those seeking Green Jobs.

Look out for more news on the new Monster as soon as we get it.

Katharine Robinson,
Research Associate

Wednesday, 29 October 2008

Green your Halloween

Katharine Robinson considers a night in telling ghost stories a great way to be green.

Image by Eti Swiford

Inspired when I came across GreenHalloween.org, I thought you would like a few ideas on how to make this pester-power heavy day into something a little less destructive to the planet.

Imagine... a small group of friends gather for a Halloween party. There are no lights on, the TV and radio lay abandoned for the night. The room is lit only by a solitary jack-o-lantern, carved lovingly from a home-grown pumpkin the day before.

The group sit in a circle; perhaps a little local cider is on offer to warm them through...They begin to tell ghost stories.

You can’t get an evening much greener than that!

Here’s the usual list of tips to help you make Halloween that little bit greener:

  • Source your pumpkin locally, or consider growing your own next year.

  • Give out sweets to trick-or-treaters bought locally or home made from local ingredients.

  • Consider costume swapping with friends, especially good for children that may have grown out of last year’s costume.

  • If you can’t costume swap, try not to buy something new, but consider trawling charity shops for that illusive bowler hat or old bed sheet to cut two holes in

  • When buying candles, make sure they are the eco-friendly variety, soy wax is a good alternative to the usual paraffin products

  • If you decide to illuminate your face with a torch while telling ghost stories (a method popular in movies, especially when our cast are sat in a dark tree-house), use re-chargeable batteries to reduce your waste

Any other suggestions for a green Halloween, please leave them below in the comments...

Wednesday, 22 October 2008

Energy Saving Week – Greener Shopping

Shopping hides all manner of CO2 emitting sins. As a girl who loves shopping, Katharine Robinson is always looking for ways to make her favourite pass time a little greener. All this week she has been looking at various ways to reduce your CO2 emissions as part of a series for The Energy Saving Trust’s Energy Saving Week, running from October 20th – 26th.

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Everything we buy has to get from raw material to our doors one way or another. Whether it’s bananas coming from the West Indies, a turkey coming from a farm in Norfolk, or your t-shirt that was made in Bangladesh, green house gases are probably emitted somewhere along the line.

It’s not just transporting the turkey either. It’s the food it has eaten, the miles driven by the farmer in maintaining his farm and the power used to light barns and run slaughter houses too. At every stage of production, our food and all other consumer goods use up more energy.

How can we reduce our carbon shopping print?

Local:

Farm Shops and Farmers Markets are great places to find locally produced food. Finding locally produced food in your area isn’t all that hard, Big Barn lets you look at local producers in your area from Farmers’ Markets and Pick-Your-Own to Restaurants and Bakeries.

There are some clothes manufacturers based in Britain, a quick search on the internet soon turned up Frank & Faith, a Dorset based, socially conscious clothing label launched in 2006. So if you are determined to make your fashion as guilt-free as you can, it is possible.

Seasonal:

Looking for food that is in season now will help you not only stay local but also ensure that you are not eating fruit and vegetables that have been kept in an energy-guzzling cold store for months. There is also the option of growing our own too of course.

For example, main crop potatoes, apples, most traditional game birds and sea bass are all in season right now.


Photo by Maigi

Seasonal food can also be cheaper as we do not have to pay a premium due to scarcity or for the higher transportation cost of bringing the food from abroad.

Seasonal food is also fresher and so tastes better and is better for us.

Second Hand:

This option doesn’t really work for food! Clothes, Consumer electronics and just about everything else we bring into our homes can be found pre-owned somewhere.

Charity shops are a great way of reducing waste and green house gas emissions as well as helping a good cause at the same time.

eBay can be great for making yourself a little extra cash and also picking up something you want, like a CD or a book for a fraction of the price and saving the carbon-heavy production of a new one. I would recommend caution though and always check the feedback a seller has received before purchasing. It’s also worth checking how far an item will have to travel to get to you. eBay offers you the option to search for items locally, use this and you might be able to get on your bike and collect your new purchase.

Second hand shops still exist in most towns, especially for the likes of computer or video games and consoles. Check out this second hand shop directory for more ideas than you thought possible.

Online Shopping:

If you prefer to get everything from one place, all the big supermarkets offer a shop online service. If you can manage to get your head around one large weekly shop and order it online, you could save yourself time, money and green house gas emissions.

Online shopping means your goods get to you, and several other households, from the shop in just one van. If you can get everything at once it will also save you lots of little trips. Most retailers also offer schemes that cut down on plastic bag waste, either by delivering your shopping without bags or taking away your old ones to be recycled.

Christmas:

Perhaps consider making this Christmas a green Christmas? I plan to make all my gifts eco-friendly in some way. Perhaps I could blog about it and let you know how it goes...


If you have any other Green shopping advice that you can add to this post, please leave a comment.

Tuesday, 21 October 2008

Energy Saving Week – Greener Driving

Today Katharine Robinson aims to give you some EcoDriving tips to save fuel, money and needless CO2 emissions. This post is part of a series for The Energy Saving Trust’s Energy Saving Week, running from October 20th – 26th.

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Many employees commute to work. The days when everyone worked within walking distance from their home have been gone for a long time.

From www.freeimages.co.uk

The talent shortage plaguing the Renewable Energy industry often means that talent has to be tempted from far and wide. This may mean colleagues at your company commute a long way to the office or the projects they are working on. This can prove very costly, in terms of money and emissions.

We heard a couple of weeks ago that the driving test is to include a nod to green concerns. At this stage, instructors will only be offering feedback on how green the new motorist’s driving technique is. This news coincides with an announcement from the DfT that they will be putting an extra £3m into promoting greener driving techniques. According to statistics from the DfT, a month or more of fuel can be saved each year by following the techniques outlined in its Act On CO2 campaign.

I have been out looking for precise tips that you can easily follow, this is what I have found;

  1. Clear all the junk out of your car! Hauling extra weight around is using up more fuel. When you get home tonight, empty out the boot before you even go inside. Start saving immediately before even changing any driving habits.


  2. Decrease drag
    a. Take the roof rack off – the drag it (and anything tied to it) creates is epic. Only put on a roof rack when you are using it or, even better, don’t use it at all.
    b. Wind up the windows. Do you really need to be gangsta-leaning down the road? It’s a lot greener and more professional to arrive with your hair-do intact.


  3. Pump up your tyres. I always wondered why my granddad uses less fuel than me. It turns out that he gives his motor a weekly service. This involves checking his tyre pressures. The engine has to work a lot harder to propel you along the road if your tyres are a little squiffy – so get out your manual, check what is optimum and get the foot pump out. It’s good exercise too!


  4. No Electrical Gadgets! Are you always bombing along with the air-con fighting the open window, your ipod or phone charging in the cigarette lighter socket and the in-car sat-nav telling you to turn left even though you know exactly where you are going? Stop it! Turn it all off. Only use the sat-nav if you get lost (saving you miles of fuel), get a little solar charger for your ipod and wind up the window. You will be pleased to know that the power used by the radio is negligible and therefore has no real effect on the engine performance.
Now onto some tips that require a little thought when you are behind the wheel.

  1. Keep your revs low. Changing gear a little earlier ensures that your revs and fuel consumption stay low and you don’t guzzle fuel. The AA’s Drive Smart advice recommends that you change up at approx 2500 rpm in a petrol car and 2000 rpm in a diesel. My little Renault Clio is perfectly happy to make changes even earlier than this. It reduces engine ware too.


  2. Stick to the speed limit! This is good advice anyway – you can save money in speeding tickets too. The faster you drive the thirstier your car is for fuel. 70mph uses 9% more fuel than 60mph and as much as 15% more than 50mph.


  3. Keep moving. It will probably mean slowing down sooner, but the stopped traffic will have started moving again before you get there. The more you start and stop the more fuel you use, so try to keep creeping along.


  4. Leave the car in gear. When you coast modern cars still use fuel to prevent stalling. So stay in gear with your foot off the accelerator and get metres for free!


  5. Plan your journey. Got several chores to do? Try not to go out more than once but plan your journey to have the shortest route. Not only will you save time but you will use less fuel and save your car from unnecessary wear and tear.


You may recall a very entertaining Top-Gear challenge from a few years ago. It seems Jeremy discovered a number of the same tips when he drove from London to Edinburgh and back again on just one tank of fuel! If you have not seen it, I managed to track it down on Youtube.



I hope that you have managed to take something away from these tips and that you will now go a little further for your £1.

If you have anything to add, feel free to leave a comment.

Monday, 20 October 2008

Energy Saving Week – Saving energy around the office & home

Today Katharine Robinson aims to give you some Energy Saving tips to reduce energy usage, save money and needless CO2 emissions. This post is part of a series for The Energy Saving Trust’s Energy Saving Week, running from October 20th – 26th.

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It’s very easy to be complacent about using Energy, especially in the office where those using the energy are not the ones paying for it.

Today I have been looking for things that we can all try either at home or in the office to cut our CO2 emissions.

Image by Christopher Hall

At home:


  1. When was the last time you defrosted the freezer? If you can’t remember then Energy Saving Week is just the reminder you need. Defrosting our fridges and freezers keeps them working at peak efficiency.

  2. Next time you go to switch on the light and the bulb goes, replace it with an energy saving one. An energy saving light bulb lasts 10 times as long as a regular one and uses just 20% of the energy. Get some when you go shopping this week so next time you are prepared.

  3. Whether you are washing clothes or dishes, make sure you have a full load. This will cut down on the number of times your machine runs a cycle, extending its life and cutting your energy usage.

  4. Dry your washing outside on the line instead of using a tumble dryer. This gets more difficult as winter draws in, so get some dryer balls to cut down on the length of time clothes need to be in the dryer.

  5. Consider switching to a green energy tariff. If this is too expensive an option, most utility providers will offer you a paperless or online service. You get your bills and do your metre readings via the internet, saving on paper and the travel cost of a metre reader visiting your home. This can sometimes be a cheaper option too.

In the office:


  1. When leaving the office, make sure you have not only fully shut down your computer but that monitors and printers are switched off too. This can be easy to forget, but quickly adds up to big savings.

  2. Keep an eye on the lighting in the office. If everyone in a particular department is in a meeting today – do they need their desk area lit up? Could blinds be opened to make the most of natural light?

At home and in the office:

  1. Turn down your thermostat by just one degree. This is hardly noticeable in temperature and could save up to 10% on heating bills. Even better – wear a big fluffy jumper!

  2. Boiling Water! When making hot drinks, only boil the water you need. When cooking, if you can boil water in the kettle first, then transfers it to the pan, this will save energy. The heat transfer in a kettle is more efficient as the element is in direct contact with the water.

  3. When charging mobile devices like phones, PDAs and portable games consoles, make sure you don’t leave the charges plugged in and switched on 24/7. Most will keep using energy even when your device if fully charged. If you need reminding, set an alarm on your phone when you plug it in

Tune in the rest of this week as I will be offering some green driving and green shopping tips as well.