Paul David Hopewell

I am a 37 year old Chartered Engineer, active in renewable power for over fifteen years, including two years abroad. Almost half of this has been spent researching the integration of renewable electricity to the grid and on sources of 'green hydrogen'.

I am currently leading the electrical design of a pioneering tidal turbine, but in the past I was responsible for designing the electrical architecture of an offshore wind farm. This challenging project gave me first hand experience of the processes involved in planning and executing a large renewable power scheme and the multi-agency negotiations this entails.

I first became a Phone Co-op member in 2001. This is the second year that I have stood for election because I believe in The Phone Co-op's strong ethical values and the excellent customer service. If elected, my experience of managing the introduction of new, sustainable technologies could be of relevance to The Phone Co-op's future development.

Outside my career, I am involved with many professional and community projects. Since 2001 I have been associated with the IET's Professional Network, Engineering for a Sustainable Future, serving as chair in 2003. In 2005 I became a committee member and am now the Secretary of my local Village Hall Trust which is dedicated to the restoration and community usage of this wonderful old building.

This is varied work, ranging from fundraising to the hard graft of building maintenance! As a rural dweller I am familiar with 'information deprivation' as broadband arrived in our village only last year and access remains slow. However this gives me more time to plant, nurture, saw and chop firewood from a small woodland I have established to give my family a sustainable, carbon neutral supply of firewood.

The qualities I offer the Board are:

• experience of working collaboratively in professional and voluntary organisations.
• professional knowledge of sustainable development and renewable power.
• curious and enthusiastic personality, with independence and pragmatism in equal measures.
• creativity and imagination, coupled with realism.
• strong desire to become more involved with the Phone Co-op.