Work on 30 turbines, each 400ft tall, at Scarweather Sands off Porthcawl, was due to start in 2006.
But developers E.ON UK and Energi E2 said on Monday that the project was currently not financially viable.
Technorati tag: Wind Power
Nuclear power may have to be embraced in a bid to combat climate change even though it is not a “sustainable” energy source, Margaret Beckett has admitted.
The environment secretary said she was very reluctant to build new nuclear power stations, but that she had “accepted that it could happen”.
But Mrs Beckett said any investment in nuclear must not be at the expense of renewable energy sources.
I don’t know. I just think there’s a lack of imagination from the Government. They can only think in terms of big fixes, building more power stations to take up the increase in demand rather than thinking about cutting the demand. Higher energy efficiency standards for new homes and increased grants for people installing solar and wind systems should be considered well ahead of building any new nuclear, (clean) coal or oil power stations.
Technorati tag: EcoHouse
The vcertical wind turbine built by Terra Moya Aqua is, they claim, capable of producing up to 80% more power than propeller turbines. They are also quieter, less dangerous for birds and more compact.
Technorati tag: Wind Power
A two-day meeting of energy and environment ministers from 20 nations opens in London on Tuesday.
The focus will be on curbing climate change through technology rather than binding international agreements.
The British government, which hosts the talks as the current holder of the G8 presidency, may unveil a new domestic initiative on biofuels.
The biofuels initiative is good, but I bet they concentrate on the technological solution of building more nuclear power stations rather than truly innovative stuff like micro-grids or the truly revolutionary move of giving everyone the ability- through solar or mini wind turbines- to reduce their own drain on the power grid.
Manchester City’s stadium will, if plans go ahead, be fully powered by wind, using the country’s largest land based turbine, as designed by Sir Norman Foster. They also reckon they’ll be able to provide power to 4,000 local homes.
via Treehugger
Technorati tag: Wind Power, Manchester
Anti-nuclear activists have replied to advocates of nuclear power with a comprehensively damning report, “Nuclear power – no solution to climate change”.
[….]
The report says that a doubling of nuclear power output by 2050 would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by just 5%, while increasing the hazards of potential nuclear accidents, terrorism, nuclear proliferation and the still unsolved problem of waste storage. The report outlines that the solutions to greenhouse gas emissions from energy production lie in energy efficiency and renewable energy generation, such as in wind, bio-energy, solar and tidal power.
Pretty much what I’ve been saying.
More at Gigajoules
Technorati tag: Nuclear Power
It seems that builders of wind farms etc. are getting more money in subsidies than they require to break even. Personally I’d rather see my money go into future-proofing the energy supply than further fiascos like Iraq.
Technorati tag: Wind Power
Every building with a solar, wind or geothermal element of energy production is another step away from Big Power and towards Decentralised Energy. Greenpeace like this idea and have released a report on how and why it should be achieved.
via Worldchanging
Technorati tag: Decentralised Energy
For those times when you don’t need a lot of wind power, such as aerating a pond or powering a small motor, you could build a Savonius wind turbine. The shape of this little windmill looks familiar to me because Dad and the Alternative Energy group he was involved with in the eighties built a larger scale version using sawn up oil drums as the scoops. I used to sit in one of the top drums and spin round and round, but that’s another story.
via Treehugger
Technorati tag: Wind Power, Savonius
It’s already been announced that the CIS tower in Manchester is getting solar panels, but there are also going to be mini wind turbines on the top to generate even more power on site. The turbines should generate about five percent of the tower’s power needs and pay for themselves within three years.
Ken Lewis, CFS resources director, said: “As an insurer, CIS is already experiencing the reality of climate change impacts. Over the past decade, CIS has seen claims arising from environmental flooding increase almost 500 per cent and these now total more than £1.5m per annum.
“About 40 per cent of Europe’s energy use is associated with buildings. This turbine project, with the solar CIS Tower work, demonstrates these piles of steel and concrete have tremendous potential for future energy generation.”
Technorati tag: Wind Power, CIS Tower, Manchester
via Wind Energy News
Technorati tag: Wind Power, Gigawatt
Another option for rooftop micro wind generation. Swift turbines are reputedly the quietest available, have won awards for innovation and can be used to heat water, top up batteries or feed juice back to suppliers when not actively powering your home.
via hippyshopper
Technorati tag: Wind Power
I’ve been pondering a question for a few days. One that is just a little heretical
Is George W Bush going to save the World?
Before the wailing and gnashing of teeth begins let me state that it’s not something I expect him to do on purpose. Call it ecological blowback- the unforeseen consequence of policies that seem designed to do the exact opposite.
The US is, per capita, the world’s biggest consumer of energy. It particularly has a penchant for oil and President Texas Tea is the logical last emperor of the kingdom that petrol built. If the US doesn’t slow down its consumption it’s due a big crash, one that could easily take the rest of us with it.
So it’s for the best that the weak dollar, unrest in the Middle East and whatever other horrible things Dubya’s caused means that petrol is now $3 a gallon. When you factor in the exchange rate that doesn’t sound like much to us but to a population that has never really had to face up to the true expense of its greed it’s quite harsh. Suddenly that SUV is revealed as the wasteful, useless penis extension the rest of us always knew it was.
Every day more and more US citizens are coming to their senses and opting out of the petrol bacchanal. Biofuel- both vegetable oil and ethanol- is being produced in greater amounts. Wired recently reported on what they called the hygrid movement- ordinary citizens protecting their energy supply with home solar or wind.
These aren’t the folks on the fringe any more. The new breed of Green is resolutely middle of the road in so many other ways. As Bush’s policies continue to hit the middle class we can only expect this constituency to grow and grow.
Even the man himself has paid lip service to biodiesel and fuel cells. But these are a politician’s words- from a man other politicians consider untrustworthy- so we shouldn’t expect him to really do anything.
In the long term as well Bush’s tenure could leave a positive mark. As more cities, and then states, adopt their own Kyoto plans the possibility of a green president becomes stronger. As solar and other renewable technologies become cheaper and more widespread, mor epeople will understand why they should vote for a green president. The oil companies and corporate interests that fund the Bush school of politicians will find their incomes and influence waning. The smart ones will adopt the policies they’ve spent so many years campaigning against and the dumb ones will die. Foreign oil will become less and less important, bring about the change in the Middle East that force and bribery have failed to create. And the cleaner, greener, nicer United States won’t be hated by everyone.
Yes, this is an extremely optimistic vision, but it’s not impossible. The only down side will be the revisionists. Much as Reagan is now the man who single handedly brought down Communism- rather than being the guy who was there when it happened- in twenty or thirty years, just as the new Golden Green age is really beginning, we’ll have to put up with being told that Dubya did it all on purpose.
Technorati tag: Dubya, Future, Sustainable Development
That’s been one of the cries of the wind power naysayers- migrating birds will be sliced into pate by those horrible razor sharp windmill blades. In fact, they either avoid wind farms altogether or steer a course between the turbines.
Technorati tag: Wind power, Birds
Shell is proposing a massive windfarm in the Thames Estuary that could power the equivalent of all the houses in Kent and East Sussex.
The full development, costing up to £1.5bn, will require up to 270 wind turbines to generate 1,000 megawatts and would connect into the National Grid’s transmission system in Kent. The turbines would be located in the outer Thames Estuary, more than 20 kilometres offshore and equidistant from the coasts of Essex and Kent. Due to the distance of the wind farm from the shore, there is expected to be little visual impact from the coastline.
via TriplePundit
Technorati tag: Wind Power
I may have to temper my lingering hatred of British Gas with today’s news that they’re to sell mini wind turbines to householders. About the size of, and far less ugly than, a satellite dish, the mini turbines produce a peak output of 1kw. They probably work best on detached or semi detached houses, but I’d love to see rows of them pop up on the terraces around here.
via city hippy
Technorati tag: wind power, microgeneration
The argument put forward for nuclear as the magic CO2 bullet is that energy sources such as wind power are intermittent and would therefore need to be backed up by coal or nuclear anyway. However, research at Oxford University has produced a plan for using these supposedly unreliable generation systems. A combination of wind, micro Combined Heat and Power and solar produces an overlapping and always on set of supplies (the wind blows the most at the times of year, and even the times of day, when it’s most needed and the heating’s on most at the same time as light is required). Throw tidal and wave energy into the mix and you’re heading for a perfect solution.
Technorati tag: Wind Power, Renewable Energy