CO2 level hits historic high
More bad news this week following fresh research that atmospheric CO2 levels have hit 400 ppm (parts per million) for the first time in over 4 million years.
While "climate deniers' are often keen to point out the Earth's natural warming and cooling cycles, they generally ignore the fact that
- Such cycles operate over thousands of years, not decades as we're seeing now
- The last time such high levels of CO2 were thought to have been present, the average global temperature was 3 or 4 degrees higher than today. In fact the temperature 'lag' provides a very strong hint at where global temperatures are headed.
Following the news, scientists around the world have today called for world leaders to take action. Sadly for the UK our Government is trying its hardest to undermine the entire renewables industry and in particular wind, and instead kicking off a new dash for gas, proposing to rip up the countryside with fracking and generally adopting some fairly worrying policies.
The answer is so startlingly obvious a child could surely see it - invest massively in renewable energy infrastructure projects NOW. Large infrastructure projects are often seen as a valid tool for kick-starting troubled economies. Combine this with projects that will not only reduce CO2 emissions but reduce imports of foreign gas and oil, improve the balance of payments, create thousands of new jobs and provide a solid and sustainable foundation for the UK's energy needs for decades to come.
But dont just take our word for it...
Climate milestone is a moment of symbolic significance on road of idiocy. George Monbiot
Climate change 'will make hundreds of millions homeless. The Guardain
Life on Earth under threat from CO2 levels, say scientists. The Independant
Climate Milestone: Earth’s CO2 Level Passes 400 ppm. National Geographic
Ignoring climate change turns world into 'dying patient', says Prince Charles. The Telegraph
Carbon dioxide levels reach all-time high prompting new warnings about climate change. Daily Mail
Wind hits 10% of UK power demands
According to gridwatch, wind power is supplying 10% of UK electricity needs (at around 5GW) this morning! Nuclear 8GW, Coal 14GW, Gas 10GW.
Follow the link to gridwatch here.
UK facing black-outs?
The BBC seems to think so. We'd tend to agree given the schizophrenic planning system in this country.
Happy Gigawatt Day
Some time last week while no-one was watching and without any fanfare, we generated our 1,000,000'th kilowatt-hour of clean, green electricity.. so to put this right we would like to wish everyone a very....
Is UK nuclear dead?
UPDATE (08/02/2013) - Caroline Lucas, writing in the Guardian makes the case for the UK not needing nuclear to meet reduced CO2 emissions and keep the lights on.
George Monbiot seems to think it is. In his latest article he points to:
- Cumbria rejecting plans to create a nuclear dump site to hold radioactive waste
- Centrica announcing it does not intend to bid for new nuclear plant contracts
He then points to Germany and Japan where the scrapping of existing and new plant is expected to result in many millions of tonnes of additional greenhouse gases being released new coal and gas power stations.
In the UK the second dash-for-gas seems to be well under way, although where all this gas will come from is anyone's guess - fracking certainly isn't the answer. Rewnewables of all types are now subject to slashed incentives, vague planning policy and NIMBY backbenchers.
So will we see a return to dirty coal fired electricity generation here in the UK as well?
Media bullsh**t on green energy deal
The Telegraph today boldly proclaims:
"WIND FARMS TO INCREASE ENERGY BILLS BY £178 A YEAR"
Err, hang on a minute....
The Government has agreed to invest £7.6 billion pounds a year towards meeting our 2020 targets.. by investing in new nuclear, renewables and carbon capture and storage. The Telegraph article goes on to say:
"Bills will go up over the next two decades by an estimated £178 a year under all the Government’s green and fuel poverty policies, with the contribution to nuclear and renewables making up £95 by 2020."
So of the £178 headline figure claimed to be solely because of wind farms...actually only £95 is from renewables at all - and even that figure includes expensive new nuclear power stations.
Many followers of the nuclear debate will already know that much of the UK's ageing nuclear infrastructure is at or beyond its life expectancy and companies such as EDF have been asking for huge subsidies to roll out new stations.
In fact DECC (the Department of Energy & Climate Change) say that 20% of the UKs entire current generation capacity of 82 gigawatts requires replacement this decade. DECC also point out that 250,000 new jobs will be created and that an over-dependence on gas would lead to higher annual energy bills - perhaps as much as £250.
So really, just how much of the £95 figure will go to nuclear verses all other forms of renewables, of which wind is just a single component? In September the Telegraph reported that new nuclear would add £70 to annual energy bills.
Even a dumbed-down 16 year old with GCSE maths can calculate that 95 - 70 = 25.
So the likely increase in annual bills (by 2020) resulting from all forms of non-nuclear renewable energy is £25.
Greenpeace attack "Toxic Tories"
Greenpeace yesterday revealed undercover investigations and interviews with Conservative ministers who are actively planning to water down the legally binding Climate Change Act and undermine energy secretary Ed Davey. In a scandal labelled as "energygate" Greenpeace claims:
Our investigation shows how leading Tories have launched an attack on the Climate Change Act, saying they have the blessing of George Osborne. We also reveal that David Cameron’s campaign manager for the Corby by-election was secretly behind the campaign of a rival candidate who ran against the Conservatives on an anti-clean energy platform.
John Sauven, Greenpeace executive director, claimed that their investigation revealed how..
Britain's energy future is at risk of being hijacked by a militant faction of climate-sceptic and anti-wind MPs on the radical right of the parliamentary Conservative party.
Shadow Energy and Climate Change Minister Caroline Flint condemned Tory energy minister John Hayes for undermining energy investor confidence for the second time in a month:
Onshore wind power is the cheapest and most developed form of clean energy, with the potential to create thousands of badly-needed new jobs in Britain
But government splits are undermining this key growth industry and putting Britain's energy security at risk.
David Cameron promised to lead the 'greenest government ever' but his failure to control his own ministers and MPs is scaring away investors and job-creators in the clean energy industry.
Visit the Greenpeace site and watch their video here.
Landmark Farm given the go-ahead
Mendip District Council has given the proposals for a 500kW turbine at Landmark Farm the all-clear.
In granting full planning permission for the turbine, to be located just outside Wanstrow village in Somerset, planning officers concluded that the environmental benefits of the proposals far outweighed any possible impacts.
Distributed Generation MD, John Zamick said
"We are delighted to have been given permission to proceed with this scheme having only received only one letter of objection. We look forward to injecting some much needed funding back into the local community"
Landmark Farm will be the fourth turbine owned and operated by the company.
Allerdale refuses (again)...appeal here we come (again)
Yet again the Allerdale planning committee has humiliated its own planning department and torn up the even stronger recommendation for approval for our proposed mid-sized wind turbine at JPA Brayton. The officers report concluded:
Bearing in mind the current extant approval for a wind turbine on this site and the fact that the turbine would be no greater in height than that approved, the alteration in design is not considered sufficient to warrant refusal of the application. It is considered the need for the development outweighs any landscape implications also, bearing in mind national planning policy approval is recommended. - Allerdale Planning Officer
Despite already loosing at appeal once for the same-size turbine at JPA Brayton only last year and having costs for "unreasonable behaviour" awarded against them.. they chose to do it all over again! This time the refusal reason is pure fiction.. claiming the turbine "by virtue of its greater scale.." (untrue by the way) "....would constitute a prominent and unsympathetic feature"
In awarding costs against the council last time, the Appeal Inspector criticised the members saying:
The Council’s decision to refuse to grant planning permission was made in the absence of any empirical evidence to substantiate their concerns. To disregard their officers’ comprehensive analysis of the relevant issues under these circumstances amounted to unreasonable behaviour, causing the applicant unnecessary expense in having to pursue the matter to appeal. I conclude that a full award of costs is justified. The application therefore succeeds.
In truth the revised application should not have required full planning permission at all since it was just swapping one turbine model for another - the replacement was actually to be no taller, quieter and more efficient. Go figure!
No doubt the revised application will be granted at appeal and yet more costs will be awarded - all at the tax-payers expense. Last year it was publicised that Allerdale has been burning vast amounts of public money fighting (and loosing) wind turbine applications. Checking the published minutes reveals that hardly a month goes by when they do not refuse one or more applications that after much careful consideration, were recommended for approval by their planning department. The planning officers must wonder why they bother!
Is this how local democracy is supposed to work? Who benefits from all those lost planning appeals and costs against the council? Certainly not the local people who the councillors are supposed to be serving.
Our suggestion to Mssrs Cameron and Osbourne.. If you want to get the economy working again - do something to prevent these needless appeal cases.
Amended application for JPA gains officer approval (yet again!)
UPDATE (11/10/2012)
At the previous development committee meeting members could not agree to pass the proposals despite firm backing from planning officers, instead deferring until the next meeting on October 16th. The updated planning officer report is now even more strongly recommending permission is granted.
Its hard to see how (or why) the members would now refuse permission without looking unreasonable, remembering of course that planning permission for a turbine at this location was already granted at appeal AND costs were awarded against the authority.
Fingers crossed that all concerned see reason.
ORIGINAL (06/09/2012)
Following our successful appeal for a single wind turbine in Cumbria, we are pleased that the revised application at JPA has been recommended for approval by planning officers at Allerdale District Council.
The application goes before the development committee next week and we are hoping that members will vote to pass the proposals.
The revised application would actually see a turbine model that is both more powerful and quieter than the existing permitted model - so clearly it is in everyone's interest for the plans to be approved.