Lynmouth Road appears unremarkable. It consists largely of redbrick Victorian terraces. There are similar streets throughout the area, in Walthamstow, northeast London. Some houses are pebble-dashed. Some have doors painted in contemporary grey. There are wind chimes, geraniums in boxes, wheelie bins and the occasional cat sitting on a gate post. The only unusual feature is the number of windows displaying an A4 poster with the words “Power Station” printed in the font used by polling stations.
Power, in the sense of the energy, is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Energy bills have reached record highs and are still rising, with the war in Ukraine highlighting how fragile energy supplies can be. This year’s Cop27 climate conference promised money to poorer countries to assist with damage caused by climate change, yet no agreement was reached on phasing out fossil fuels. The idea of cleaner power, generated closer to home, should feel like an obvious goal. But, at the moment, there are no large-scale programmes dedicated to making it happen. Instead, there are people like Dan Edelstyn and Hilary Powell.
