Communities with their own energy co-ordinators, a tourist bus running on fuel produced from used frying fats and street lights with dimmer controls — these are some of the environmental initiatives a North Tawton man came across during an inspiring visit to Salzburg.

Although Paul Baker from the North Tawton Environmental Trust has been researching renewable energy (RE) technologies for three years, this was his first opportunity to see real live schemes in operation.

The trip was organised by Devon County Council and involved five representatives from community RE projects in Devon meeting counterparts in Salzburg.

Mr Baker, who is the RE project leader for the environmental trust in North Tawton, said projects in Austria often involved a variety of power-generating methods working together in exactly the same way as was being proposed in North Tawton. Whole communities took great pride in their energy saving and energy producing activities.

'Their political system is very different of course with 'town councils' having greater responsibilities and financial control,' he said.

'This seems to lead to more long-term planning and determination to obtain real value for money.

'Naturally, the closer the decision makers are to the "victims" of their decisions, the more responsibility they feel and the more important these factors become.'

He said the capital for projects came from local authority and private sources and not EU funding as would be supposed.

Communities had their own, paid, energy co-ordinators and 50 per cent of all new homes had solar heating.

Mr Baker said West Devon Borough Council might consider itself environmentally aware by signing up to a sustainability policy and supporting Agenda 21 principals, but such things such as passive solar design, solar heating or biomass district heating were given little or no consideration in new housing schemes.

'In Austria, it is the norm even in low-cost housing,' he said. 'Tenants and purchasers now demand these standards and with total heating bills (water plus space heating) of only £30-£40 per year, in a colder climate than Britain, it is hardly surprising.'

As an example of innovative approaches, Mr Baker said one small provincial community of 450 people had converted a tourist/hikers' bus, which journeyed through a mountainous National Park area, to run on biodiesel fuel. The fuel, which was cheaper than normal diesel, was produced from used frying fats which were collected from restaurants and homes in three neighbouring communities.

The street lights in this area had dimmer controls to save energy and the town hall was heated by geothermal energy.

Mr Baker said talking to the consultant at one particular scheme revealed that the type of integrated community-owned RE scheme which the North Tawton Environmental Trust's research had recommended for North Tawton was just the kind of thing envisaged as their next development.

'Having done the feasibility work already we are currently leading the European field in this particular area,' he said.

'With the right kind of support, such as local authority action, Government backing and appropriate funding we could stay that way and be a model for others.'