BLOG: Media needs to help UK go green

So as promoters what did we learn? First that Liverpool and the BT Convention Centre are terrific locations for a national green energy event. We were able to tell delegates that 2009 was Liverpool's Year of the Environment and that it is aiming to become the UK's most green friendly city. This helped set the tone for the day.
Moreover the venue itself was brilliant and, of course, it has impeccable green credentials. We were in the sumptuously soundproofed 'Drum', whose intimate acoustics were so good you could be heard without a microphone. And for those with rumbling tummies the splendid food from Heathcotes went down very well.
Second we learnt there is huge interest, from a broad range of industries and professions, in the practicalities of going green mainly because it is so complicated.
Our audience included academics, councils, the fire and police service, RSLs, businesses, architects and engineers. The GPF specifically focused on microgeneration technologies. These products are at the forefront of future power and include solar panels, heat pumps and green methods of ventilation, lighting and electricity generation.
The third key point we learnt is the formidable nature of the challenge ahead. Our speakers included the Government's most senior green energy adviser Hergen Haye. Haye described heat as the 'sleeping giant' of climate change action as it accounts for half UK energy use and half carbon emissions - hence the vital role of microgeneration products which provide a green alternative form of heating. Haye laid out the Government's plans and said it has set a target of renewables generating 12pc of UK heat by 2020 a rise of more than 11pc in around 11 years.
I spoke to a number of delegates about this target. Many felt it is already stalling with the take up of renewable energy products in the UK way behind France and Germany. And it is here that the Government, and the eco industry's, marketing effort behind green energy will be so vital.
Property owners will not be incentivised to convert to green energy unless they can see clear financial benefits.
Somehow the message needs to be driven home that it pays to go green. At the GPF we heard about generous Government grants to help pay for the purchase and installation of microgeneration products for commercial and residential properties. We also heard how green energy products can pay for themselves within a matter of years in saved oil and gas bills.
However, the reality is that this message is not registering with enough impact today. If the Government is to hit its 12pc target by 2020 the PR and marketing campaign will need to blow with the torrential power of a natural force for the next 10 years.
There will be other factors too of course, but the Government will need massive media support, like the Daily Post's 'It's Our World', to make the green dream a reality.
All GPF presentations and future events can be found at www.greenpowerforum.org.uk
While we were out celebrating the event, we were approached by a mysterious chap calling himself the 'Liverpool Poet'.
After much humouring he offered to write us a poem for the day. We were all surprised by how good it was, as it only seemed to take him five minutes! Here it is:

Green Power
Now is the hour
For renewable power
Recycle and restore
The balance of nature
Is a potent force
And you're the source
To live the dream
Covert others to green
And rechannel the energy
That currently goes to waste

Ben Pinnington is a director of Wirral based PR firm Artemis Media & Public Affairs