Local and District Heating
Heat networks
“Heat Networks” is the new name for district heating which became quite common in parts of Europe following the 1970s oil crisis. At that time most of the plants burned fossil fuels but today a variety of sources are used including geothermal energy, seawater, waste heat from datacentres, refuse incinerators, old mine-workings and underground railway tunnels. Though we lack these resources in The Grange, a large building or a group can make use of a communal ground source heat pump. Larger devices are more efficient than individual units and the management of the installation and maintenance is taken on by someone with expertise, eliminating the inevitable worry that members of the public have in engaging heating engineers. The installation in the individual house or flat is a relatively simple heat exchanger, water tank and insulated supply pipes. A downside is of course that to supply individual houses the road must be dug up to install the insulated hot water mains. Porty Community Energy is currently (November 2025) engaged in a consultation on a community heat network for Craigmillar, Niddrie and Portobello.
More information can be found at Clean Heat Edinburgh Forum
Community Solar PV
The Grange has newly built blocks of flats, 1930s terraces of flats and flatted villas and large Victorian houses which have been converted to flats. All these types of dwelling share a common roof. Systems are becoming available to share electricity generating PV panels and battery storage. An example of a company that claims to offer this is SolShare. Community solar PV is more common in the USA, using land for solar farms rather than rooftop installations.
Transport – Electric and Shared Vehicles and Bicycles
Electric Vehicles
Unlike a petrol or diesel engine (internal combustion engine or ICE), the motors in an electric vehicle (EV) operate at a very high efficiency right from a cold start, irrespective of the speed and traffic conditions. Even when the electricity to charge the car is generated by burning fossil fuels the overall efficiency can be higher. Together with lower maintenance costs, the high efficiency should make an electric vehicle cheaper to run than one powered by an ICE. However, from a European household energy price index, Britain currently (25/2/2026) has some of the most expensive electricity in Europe: average domestic prices are UK 0.36, EU average 0.26, Norway 0.13 €/kWh. There are many charging options with tariffs ranging from 7p to 80p per kWh. For impartial advice Which “How to use electric car charging points” is a good place to start.
Regarding air pollution, EVs produce no nitrogen dioxide (NO2) or exhaust particulates. However, the wear of tyres and brakes still generates tiny particles that are breathed in and cause respiratory problems and heart disease, leading to tens of thousands of premature deaths a year. EVs can be up to 50% heavier than their ICE equivalent – and so they may increase these particulates as well as causing more road wear.
The environmental impact of constructing EV batteries is significant. Mining of lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese, generates severe impacts on the environment. Currently only a small fraction of lithium-ion batteries is recycled. Electric cars: What will happen to all the dead batteries? – BBC News quotes a recycling rate of 5%.
A recent Which survey found that two-thirds of EV drivers thought that the public charging network is unfit for purpose. To find out where charging points are located there are phone apps and interactive maps online such as Charge Place Scotland.
At present there are two locations near The Grange:
Sciennes, EH9 1NJ – 2 standard 7kW chargers with 4 charging bays. 51p/kWh.
Thirlestane Road, EH9 1AY – 4 fast 22kW chargers with 8 charging bays. 56p/kWh.
“Edinburgh’s Electric Vehicle Action Plan”
Due to the trip hazard of cables spilling on to pavements Edinburgh council will not be using lampposts for EV charging points. Domestic charging using off-peak or PV panel electricity is the most economical solution. If you do not have a driveway but have good neighbours who do, then you may be able to share a charging point. Co-Charger is a company that brings together hosts who rent out their own charger with people wanting to charge their EV. In Edinburgh, the latter greatly outnumber the former and there are no hosts in The Grange. Home Energy Scotland may offer a grant for homeowners to install a charger. For those renting or in a flat with a parking space UK government has a grant scheme.
V2G (Vehicle to Grid) is a tariff that gives you free home charging in exchange for drawing power from your EV battery at peak periods. At the present time only Octopus energy appears to be offering this tariff. The principal conditions are:
- You have a smart meter
- You have a compatible battery electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid (not all EVs are suitable)
- You have a compatible bi-directional chargepoint (which may be more expensive than a simple unidirectional charger)
- You charge no more than 210 kWh each month (said to be equivalent to 625 miles)
- Your car plugged in and available for export to grid for a minimum of 20 plug-in sessions per month, for a minimum of 12 hours each session
- You give Octopus permission to integrate and connect with your low carbon technology (your heat pump, solar PV, battery system or electric vehicle etc.) influencing times of operation in line with previously agreed preferences.
For full T&Cs refer to the Octopus website
There is a recent feature in What car on V2G.
Shared vehicles
The best way to reduce your vehicle emissions is to not own a car. For shared vehicles there is the Car Club, owned by Enterprise. In Edinburgh membership cost £20 per annum and use of an EV £9/hour, a petrol-engine car £9/hr and a transit van £13/hr with mileage charges of 14p, 25p and 30p respectively. There are 8 locations in or near the Grange including Dick Place and Grange Loan. For a whole day conventional car hire may be cheaper, but with the Car Club there is no time wasted travelling to and from the city centre, queuing and in administration. For single journeys a taxi may be more economical, but the car club comes into its own if trips can be combined, e.g. to the recycling centre, a garden centre and the supermarket.
It is possible to share privately owned vehicles. Companies such as turo and hiyacar facilitate peer-peer car rental.
Electric bicycles
Recent Transport Scotland statistics show that most car journeys are short, the median distance being only 5.4km. Bicycles may be a good choice for journeys of this length and electric versions overcome the hills and headwinds. Currently new electric bikes can be purchased from around £1500, and the cheapest models have a range of about 30 miles.
Electric Cycle Hire
The scheme in Edinburgh is operated by Voi. There are about 600 bikes. The left hand map below (a screenshot from the Voi mobile phone app) shows the area within Edinburgh where the bikes can be used. Currently this is bounded by Myreside Road, Roseburn and Craigleith on the west and Cameron Toll and Lochend Road to the east. The numbers indicate bikes available within an area. Zooming in on the app, the right hand map displays the parking locations in The Grange.
Outside the area shown on the electric power cuts off and they are heavy to pedal! Voi bikes are also available in Glasgow and many towns in England, but the parking restrictions vary; in Edinburgh the bikes can only be picked up and left in designated parking places. Pay as you go hire costs 49p to unlock a bike to start a ride and 11p/minute until the bike is parked and released. Various subscription plans are available.
It is only possible to reserve a bike 10 minutes in advance, which may be just time to grab your cycle helmet (compulsory) and walk to the bike location so the bikes can only be used opportunistically. The picture below shows bikes parked on Blackford Avenue. There are two styles but both have a very limited luggage carrying capacity, just the small front baskets. The bikes cannot be locked while out on hire so you would have to take your own cycle lock if, for example, you wanted to go into a shop and you would be charged by the minute while the bike was stationary.
Cargo Bike Movement based in Tollcross provides electric cargo bikes for volunteers who collect surplus supermarket food to take to hostels and food banks. They also want to respond to the climate emergency and will let individuals and business owners try out cargo bikes for short periods without charge.
Banzai (Bruntsfield Area Net Zero Action Initiative) are launching a cargo bike library. Cargo bikes will be available for the community to borrow for free from Monday 4th November 2024.
Banzai’s ‘Tern Quick Haul’ pictured above is easy to ride, feeling just like a normal pedal cycle but with assistance. Bikes with a front cargo box like the ‘Riese & Müller Packster’ need some practice but Banzai and Cargo Movement both give a 30-45 minute induction to borrowers.
cyclinguk have a guide to cycle hire schemes. They state that none of the schemes offer 3-wheeled cargo bikes, though this information may be out of date.
Porty Cargo Bike Library have two electric cargo trikes, three 2-wheel electric cargo bikes, 4 normal e-bikes, two trailers and one folding bike. Porty Community Energy have been running the scheme for two years now funded by Paths For All and have 500 members. Typically they make 20 loans a week in the summer and half that number in winter. Cargo bikes are usually loaned for one day but the normal bikes for up to a month. There is no charge to borrow a bike but a donation of £10/day is recommended or £25/week, £80/month.