In 2012, Regen appointed a poet in residence – Matt Harvey to work with the Regen team, members and networks.

As a result of the residency, Matt wrote a number of poems which were illustrated and published in The Element in the Room – Poems inspired by renewable energy.

There are no copies of that first edition left now, (all 1500 copes have found happy homes) …….BUT the impact of this residency endures!

Most recently Chris Pritchett at Partner at the legal firm Foot Anstey referenced Matt’s influence on the sustainable energy sector when he introduced a poem he penned for Regen’s member’s forum (If you’re not already a member, you should be!)

Here is that poem! (Thanks Chris and Matt!)

Chris Pritchett’s poem on the state of the sustainable energy sector

The Emissions reduction plan has been much reduced, it would seem

to supporting international action on climate, said the Queen,

So we’re at a crossroads, in a bit of vacuum

And our new government has some worrying new friends, I presume

Who unlike a wind farm, aren’t the biggest of fans

of climate change science And the impact of man

 

But here we’re an industry of pride and innovation;

With a speed of technology outstripping the nation’s

Political quagmire, and when so much is a stake

The brains will get on with it, whatever it takes

 

But the opportunity’s here, the prospects are golden

To be Smart and look forward, not sit around beholden to

Endless debate about “it’s this” or “it’s that”

It’s warming up, quite frankly, and that’s where we’re at

 

But in this job I’ve the privilege of communing

with inspiring people

And the ideas are booming

like the sound of a cannon

The starting report as the Energy revolution gains worldwide support

 

Decentralised, digitised, flexible markets

Peer to peer trading by electron based start-ups

And witness the speed of the battery deployment;

Grid balancing, energy security, generating employment

 

So many smart people doing very smart things

Cleaning the air and making us kings

of our own energy kingdom

In our streets and our homes

So much divides us, but we all charge our phones

 

So law makers, law shakers, disrupters and visionaries

Trendsetters, go-getters, inventers and missionaries

It’s happening now, in our cities and communities

A shared energy vision, driving progress and unities

 

Let’s encourage the brains and the innovative types

Get the regulatory framework revised and done right

 

Let’s be smart to about costs, and fair to all folk

When a couple of quid on a bill is a joke

Because the tide is shifting and I think that we oughta

Know that fivers get wet if your home’s underwater

 

So, my indulgency here is coming to an end;

and I look forward not backwards For my means to an end

With the climate deniers and temperature raises

Please be all green, like the snooker table BEIS is.