As a Devon resident it's great news to hear that our county council has won a prestigious award for its efforts to support renewable energy and boost a green rural regeneration.

Devon County Council won the second local authority prize in the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy earlier this month. In these days where jobs are rather thinner on the ground than we'd like them to be, its Renewable Energy for Devon (RE4D) scheme has created 55 jobs, and safeguarded another 16.

That's not all, the renewable energy installations it's supported in small businesses, community organisations and homes have a total capacity of more than 2MW, which avoids about 1,300 tonnes a year of carbon dioxide emissions.

One of the things I like about RE4D is that it supports both suppliers and people interested in installing renewable energy. If you go to the link above, you can watch a video which includes YouGen's solar hot water expert, Gabriel Wondrausch of SunGift Solar talking about the difference the support he has received from RE4D has made.

Suppliers are entitled to free training courses, as well as business development grants, which they must match fund.

One of the things that the RE4D project demonstrates is that renewable energy can bring economic benefit to a region, and that green measures do contribute to sustainable business. The hope is that the success of this project - and the extra publicity it will get from winning this prize - will act as a catalyst for similar projects in other areas.