Yes 2 Benington Wind Farm

We already knew that Germany and Denmark were way ahead of us in terms of rolling out renewables. Now it seems we can add Portugal to that list too. This week (18 Feb 2008), BBC Two’s Working Lunch programme has been airing a series of reports from Portugal entitled ‘The Green West Coast of Europe’. Here they are already generating 39% of electricity from renewables, handsomely beating the UK which currently manages only 5%. They’re not stopping there though, their target for 2010 is 45%.

Portugese communities, the programme reports, actively compete to get wind farms built because of the incentives that are on offer. Why, in this country, must we always wait for others to show the way ?

BBC Two Working Lunch : Portugese Power Series

Chris S

‘Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence’ was a phrase the late Dr Carl Sagan liked to use. It certainly seems appropriate in relation to Deeping St Nicholas wind farm given the extraordinary complaints from what appears to be only one local resident.

The most recent statement from the Deeping St Nicholas developer, Wind Prospect, reveals the investigation work undertaken by South Holland District Council and the operator Fenland Windfarms Ltd, detailing the results obtained so far. It is important to note that the effort by Fenland Windfarms is ongoing. Click the link below to download the Wind Prospect statement and draw your own conclusions.

wp_statement_18_01_08.pdf

Note: The above file is in Adobe Acrobat format. To download the Adobe Acrobat Reader, click here.

Chris S

New Scientist magazine recently (19 Jan 2008) ran an article by peak oil expert David Strahan, entitled ‘The Great Coal Hole’ [1]. Many people are aware of the concept of peak oil and we have all started to feel the pain when filling up our cars. However, Coal has long been presumed to be different, the conventional wisdom being that reserves are sufficient for 200 - 300 years. Strahan isn’t so sure and cites a group called Energy Watch that claims coal production could actually peak as early as 2025 [2].

The lesson here is that any energy source that is not renewable will by definition eventually run out. As Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity, notes ‘Renewable Energy is the only energy source that we can use once and then use again and again’. And guess what ? Wind power is currently the only renewable energy source ready to roll out on a large scale.

An economy not based on renewable power is one ultimately doomed to fail. Gas and even Uranium are other peak supply stories waiting to unfold [3]. Given the terrifying social and economic costs of not making a large scale switch to renewables, projects such as Benington Wind Farm should command our wholehearted support. The transition to renewables will take time and we need to start now, here in Benington. In the long term, can we in all honesty say that we have so many other attractive options?

Chris S

[1] http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/energy-fuels/mg19726391.800-coal-bleak-outlook-for-the-black-stuff.html

[2] http://www.energywatchgroup.org/fileadmin/global/pdf/EWG-Coalreport_10_07_2007.pdf

[3] http://www.energywatchgroup.org/fileadmin/global/pdf/EWG_Press_Uranium_29-11-2006.pdf