In a bid to reduce Britain’s dependency on fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil the government has introduced its Renewable Energy Strategy.
Heavily weighed down by its promise to reduce CO2 emissions by 34% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, the government is poised to invest £100 billion into a renewable energy infrastructure, including 7,000 wind turbines by 2020.
All well and good, but the increased cost to the consumer could result in many households facing fuel poverty. It is anticipated that bills will have to rise by 20% to pay for this investment. The average household currently pays approximately £1,150 a year for electricity and gas, the cost of converting to renewable energy and modernising Britain’s power stations could add another £230 to this.
Too bitter a pill to swallow? Then be aware that in all likelihood, as things stand our energy prices will increase anyway, so it’s crucial to make a positive change before it’s too late.
Not only can Portland boast hosting the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic sailing events, but also in September of this year work will commence to create an eco-friendly, low carbon community.
This new development will be sited at the former Royal Navy Air Station’s Osprey Quay. The 77 new homes promise to reduce carbon emissions by more than half compared with conventional properties.
Features will include wood pellet boilers, rainwater harvesting systems, solar water heating and solar panels to generate electricity. In addition to this residents will have the opportunity to pay for access to an electric smart car which will be kept on site.
The developers are expecting the work to take two years to complete. Let’s hope it is successful and the first of many!
St Osmund’s Middle School in Dorchester is proud to be the first school in the South West region to have a wood fuel boiler fitted.
After the schools two 233KW gas boilers broke down it was time to consider an alternative. With the assistance from the Energy Team at Dorset County Council and the South West Bioheat Programme a renewable energy boiler was installed which is equipped to supply and meet all the energy needs of the school.
A biomass boiler uses wood fuel from sustainably managed woodland, biodegradable crops, wastes and residues. The head teacher is delighted as it will save costs in the long term, reduce carbon emissions and teach the children about alternative fuels.
St Osmund’s regard themselves as trailblazers as they are the first Dorset school to have a woodchip biomass boiler installed. The project has consolidated their position within ‘Eco Schools’, which is an award scheme where schools compete to achieve a high ranking in terms of their sustainability.
The south west currently has 30 MW of biomass heat installed, the highest number of biomass boilers in England and the second largest amount of woodland resources after the south east, which makes it ideally placed to grow this sector of renewable energy. Definitely something to be encouraged!
A plan to build six giant wind turbines in Silton the picturesque village near Gillingham, Dorset has been rejected.
Most people accept that there is a pressing need to find alternative sources of energy. However, when it’s on their doorstep, potentially blocking their view, it’s a whole different story!
When are we going to recognise the true gravity of both the global warming crisis and the decline in oil production?
Surely we should be striving to find solutions? The widespread opposition to wind farms is fundamentally down to their appearance, though other half-baked, inaccurate arguments are often deployed.
Let’s hope that the next application, wherever it may be, is better received and that we will have the sense and foresight to put necessity before the narrow-minded, self-centred view of a few people!
It has been one year since the biofuel eco-boat Earthrace won the round-the-world powerboat speed record. The previous record holder was conventionally fuelled Cable and Wireless Adventurer. Incredibly Earthrace took almost two weeks off their time.
The trimaran set off from Sagunto, Spain on 27th April 2008, travelling 23.497 nautical miles. It was fuelled entirely by 100% biofuel and took 60 days and 49 minutes to cross the finishing line back in Spain.
We all know the arguments against using biofuels: devastation of rainforest and wildlife rich wilderness areas, so in the interest of clarity, be assured that the fuel was derived from waste cooking oils or canola oil grown in Europe.
Peter Bethune, skipper and founder of Earthrace showed that it is possible for a marine craft fuelled on biofuels alone, to travel faster and more efficiently across the world’s oceans, than any vessel using conventional fuels.
Surely it time for global governments to start investing in funding further research into alternative and sustainable fuel production together with serious legislation that will limit the damage caused by conventional fuels?
Solar power has become more widespread over the past few years and here are the reasons why:
All our energy comes from the sun. The sun drives the weather systems that turn wind turbines and the water cycle, which power hydroelectric stations. Oil, coal and gas are the remnants of plants that grew thanks to photosynthesis. Generally, people refer to ‘solar energy’ as the technology that allows us to generate power from the sun.
Solar energy basically falls into two categories: solar photovoltaic, for generating electricity and thermal solar, for generating heat.
Solar photovoltaic are the panels that convert sunlight directly into electricity. They are located on the roofs of homes and offices at an installation cost of between £10,000 – £15,000.
Thermal solar panels capture the warmth of the sunlight and use it to heat water. Installation costs around £4,000 and cuts household emissions by around 8%.
Solar technology currently provides only a small proportion of the world’s electricity and heating energy. Hopefully this will change as the panels become cheaper and less energy-intensive to produce therefore becoming affordable as well as more environmentally beneficial.
