In the penultimate episode of Ours To Protect, students from Gaelscoil Osraí, Kilkenny, Bunscoil McAuley Rice, Callan, Co. Kilkenny, St. Brigid’s National School, Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow and School of the Holy Spirit, Kilkenny have focused their attention on the subject of travel and transport along with energy.
The students have been asking questions such as where does our electricity come from, and is it good or bad for the planet? Is there a way to stop using too much fossil fuels? And should we have more buses and trains serving rural areas?
Alex Hamilton, Senior Engineer at South East Energy Agency, joins Edwina, to answer the children’s questions and provide insights into where our energy sources come from, where we are using it, and how we reduce our energy use. She also talks about the use of fossil fuels and where we use them most in our everyday lives and gives tips on how we can reduce their use. Alex talks to Edwina about generating electricity locally, how we can bring it to our towns and communities, and we learn about the resilience of the grid.
Alex also discusses the cost of solar panels and electric vehicles as well as highlighting the importance of the small changes that each of us can make.
Pádraig O’Gorman, Director of Services with responsibility for Transportation, Environment and Climate Action with Carlow County Council spoke to Edwina about public transport for rural areas and the work that has been done over the last number of years to address the need for public transport. Pádraig also chats to Edwina about sustainable travel with the active travel programme, and with Carlow selected as a pilot site for a mobility hub under Government’s Climate Action Fund Pádraig tells us more about this.
For more on climate change – listen in to KCLR on the last Thursday of each month as we’ll be chatting all things climate action & change with the children within our communities.
Listen: Episode 5 – Transport, Travel, Energy
Ours to Protect is funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television Licence Fee and is a partnership between KCLR and the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland.
You can also listen back to the entire series on the move in the podcasts section of the KCLR app.
