Some changes are afoot with Renew and NATTA, so here’s a short update, along with a retrospective account of their long history. The normal Renew extra weekly news service will return with the next issue.
In 1976, along with colleagues from the Open University Faculty of Technology, I helped organise a conference on alternative energy held at Cranfield University. It attracted about over 50 people from around the UK and led to the establishment of NATTA- the Network for Alternative Technology and Technology Assessment, which I then led.
Alternative Technology- what’s that? Basically, it means wind, solar, and other sources of renewable energy - then something of a novelty but now commonplace. And NATTA played a role it making that happen. It started out by organising follow up conferences around the country and, in 1979, setting up a bimonthly membership newsletter. That expanded and became ‘Renew’ which I have run bimonthly, in various formats, to this day.
The income from Renew subscriptions grew, at peak over 600 people subscribing to the printed version, and that enabled NATTA to employ series of co-ordinators, to deal with the admin, mail Renew out and answer queries. They were based initially in the Alternative Technology Group at the Open University (OU) in Milton Keynes. ATG later became EERU, the Energy and Environment Research Unit, with NATTA in effect becoming its Info/outreach group. However, NATTA /Renew stayed formally independent of the OU, with its funding still coming mostly from Renew subscriptions and donations. But its base in EERU meant that the OU met some overhead costs e.g. postage, reprographic and office costs, and it could bid for OU grants for specific projects.
NATTA also benefitted from having two placement students allocated each year during the 1980s from what was then Middlesex Polytechnic. They worked at the OU on NATTA projects often producing booklets or reports on AT topics e.g. ‘Solar Houses in London’, as a follow up to the ‘Solar Houses in Milton Keynes’ leaflet NATTA had already produced. Some of them returned to the OU later as post grads. It was a very productive arrangement. So too was the link with EERU- new ideas flowed two ways, with many publications emerging. It certainly has helped me to write books, journal papers and OU course units - having to produce Renew regularly meant I was very up to date on developments, with the collected back issues acting as a valuable easily searchable info filing system.
Externally, NATTA and Renew have had an impact beyond the formal NATTA membership. In the years before the internet it provided a valuable point of contact in the emerging renewable energy field, particularly for students, and its conferences were always topical and well attended. One celebrated one, on tidal power, was held aptly on the end of Birnbeck Pier in Weston Super Mare. NATTAs extensive series of reports were also very well received, as was Renew, leading to invitations to give talks around the country. I won the 1996 Annual Schumacher Society Award for contributions to renewable energy outreach via Renew and NATTA.
It was clear that there was a growing need for coverage of this area beyond what was available from the media, and NATTA was able to draw on the expertise and experience of its members, many of whom were active in the green power field. Grass roots led ‘community energy’ projects were pushed hard, but all scales and types of renewable energy and energy saving project were covered and subjects to careful assessment- the ‘TA ‘ in NATTA’s name was a key focus. For example, NATTA looked at local wind farm impact issues and public reactions to renewables generally, including to large tidal power schemes. The early concept of AT was as an alternative to nuclear power, not just fossil fuels, and NATTA has maintained a critical approach to it: nuclear is not seen as a sustainable energy option. More recently, the idea of capturing and storing carbon dioxide to allow for the continued use of fossil fuel has been viewed similarly - as a diversion from renewables. Instead NATTA pushed hard for renewables - although always with a critical edge.
As renewables developed and spread, University courses began to emerge at the OU and elsewhere and Renew and NATTA sought to provide a service to students and researchers, proving up to date critical commentary, drawing increasingly on Information from trade journals and academic papers. It also started producing videos for youtube and set up a web site to pull all its offerings, including its annual technology review and its various Blogs, together. As the internet grew in importance, versions of Renew have gone on line, with, at one stage, the Institute of Physics running a weekly ‘Renew your energy’ blog, which later became part of its physics world offering. That link has ended, but, as indicated below, Renew has continued in various online formats.
Overall, as can be seen, over the years, NATTA has had an influence beyond its size. Its success was in no small measure due to the support it got from the OU and from many people and groups around the UK, too many to list here, although it’s worth noting that at one stage there was separate London Natta group and also a NATTA-linked London Energy Group, supported by the Greater London Council. Mention should also of course be made to the NATTA co-ordinators working over the years at the OU, including Alexi Clarke, Judy Collins, Clive Fetter, Chris Thomas and, finally, Tam Dougan, who became an EERU research assistant.
In 2009 Renew went fully electronic and, with my retirement from the OU, along with NATTA co-ordinator and EERU researcher Tam Dougan, NATTA went independent of the OU, although I and Tam still produced a 10k word e-version of Renew for use by students on OU energy courses (e.g. T313), funded via an OU contract. That arrangement continued until mid 2026, at Renew issue 282, when Tam decided to move on to other things- including her own blog. But Renew still exists in the form of the free 5-6 k word bimonthly ‘Renew on line’, now at issue 182, and also this weekly 1k word ‘Renew extra’, both of which I hope to continue producing as long as I am able. They still seem to meet a need for critical up to date coverage of this fast expanding field. At least until AI takes over everything!
David Elliott, Emeritus OU Prof. of Technology Policy
Comments on NATTA’s output, past, present and future, would be very welcome: d.a.elliott@open.ac.uk
Archives Back issues of Renew Online are at https://renewonlinearchive.wordpress.com/
Back issues of the printed versions of the full Renew have been donated to the Mills Archive in Reading. Back issue of the subsequent digital version of Renew produced until recently for OU students will be available from Oct via the NATTA web site. The annual Renew review is also there. Renew extra weekly also has an archive. Working with Terry Cook, NATTA also produced a series of videos, including short ones on wind and tidal power.
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