48% of onshore wind applications refused in 2010
According to DECC (the Department of Energy and Climate Change) in 2010 nearly half of all applications for onshore wind energy projects were rejected by Local Planning Authorities (LPAs). This number has increased from roughly 30% in 2009 and represents a worrying trend for the Government who are still backing the technology as part of the their attempts to overcome the dual risks of climate change and energy security.
Law firm McGrigors, who obtained the numbers using the Freedom of Information Act, found that wind energy developers are becoming increasingly frustrated with LPAs and that the number of complaints and appeals are on the increase.
Often, elected members serving on planning committees were either ignorant of the need for affordable renewable energy or else swayed by local politics towards voting against proposed projects. From experience we have witnessed such comments as
I'm fed up of seeing wind turbines not moving, and so I'm voting against the motion.
If, in 10 or so years from now energy prices have tripled - you know who should be held partly responsible. The energy system the UK gets is the one it will likely deserve.
How to destroy the UK onshore wind industry
Simple... support this Private Members Bill by looney tory lord, Hugh William Mackay, 14th Lord Reay, Baron Mackay
The Wind Turbines (Minimum Distances from Residential Premises) Bill seeks to impose minimum distances between wind turbines and the nearest properties of at least 1000m for turbines over 25m up to 2000m for the largest turbines. Smaller distances could still be approved by planners if EVERY resident within the "buffer zone" gave written permission.
On the face of it you might think this is reasonable, however consider the implications.
- The bill takes no account of the number of turbines. Whether its 1 or 1000 the same rules apply.
- By mandating large separation zones it will force developers to look further out into unspoiled countryside and schemes will become even more controversial. Why should people living in the countryside have to host wind turbines to power towns and cities?
- It will kill community schemes. We are working on a number of community projects and thanks in part to the negative propaganda put about, it is near impossible to get 100% approval for any scheme. So it would just take 1 NIMBY to thwart the aspirations of an entire village. Fair? We don't think so.
This bill will, quite simply, kill the UK onshore wind industry dead... from single turbine community schemes upwards. For many this will cause to celebrate, however if you are concerned about energy security and climate change it's a disaster waiting to happen.
The UK is legally bound to reduce carbon emissions massively by 2050, we are so behind schedule its scary. If onshore wind falters then you could argue off-shore will pick up the slack - but at THREE TIMES THE COST are you willing to see your energy bills to take the hit?
Annual energy inflation is already running at 10 - 15% with no signs of doing anything but accelerating. Nuclear is now universally unpopular, besides which... where do you build new nuclear plant if experts are predicting significant sea level rises within their operating lifetime?
Signs and Portents
Just this week Scottish Power have announced gas and electricity price increases of 19% and 10% respectively with the threat that other suppliers may follow suit.
Gas price increases in summer?
Typically this is when demand is at its lowest and historically prices have fallen. If energy costs are spiraling, what then of food? Again, only this week a UN report warns that global food costs could increase by 30% - on top of 37% increases in many foods just in the last 12 months alone!
Oil prices are hovering around $115 per barrel having touched $125 earlier this year after a warning from the EIA that global production of oil has peaked. After years of denial the EIA has finally admitted that, unless some as yet undiscovered mega-field magically appears...
the amount of oil available every year from now on - will be less than the year before.
There have been many books written on the possible outcomes following peak oil with visions ranging from hellish Mad Max to a utopian Star Trek. One thing is for sure, as conventional oil stocks deplete the oil co's will focus their attention on harder to extract (aka more environmentally destructive) oil locked in the Canadian tar sands or perhaps under the polar regions.
Let's not forget climate change. While the economic downturn has been taking center stage the environmental picture has not improved. In 2010 CO2 emissions leaped to over 30 GIGATONNES.
Many experts now agree the goal of preventing a 2 degree rise in global temperatures is almost impossible.
Climate change is real and its already here. Weather patterns are becoming more erratic, every year the rate at which "record weather events" occurs appears to rising... record heat, record cold, record drought, record flooding... its there if you go and look for it.
The lack of fresh water is now also becoming a major issue.. this time outside of Africa. From the USA to China fresh water rivers are drying up - often as warming is causing a reduction in the annual snow fall on the great mountain ranges from which the rivers flow. Pressure on fresh water supplies then feeds directly into food prices.
All this as the worlds population moves towards 7 billion souls.
The signs and portents that have been present for years are now screaming at us to change.
How will we respond?
Milestone: DistGen granted permission for first site
UPDATED (30th May 2011)
After re-submitting a revised proposal DistGen now has full planning permission for a larger Vestas v39 wind turbine. The v39 has a 39m rotor and a maximum output of 500kW making it twice as powerful as the wind turbines previously consented.
Installation is scheduled for this autumn.
ORIGINAL POST (9th December 2010)
Test Valley Borough Council today granted planning permission for our first wind turbine in Faccombe near Andover.
The new mid-size turbine will replace an existing turbine that has come to the end of its lifetime. The scheme will guarantee a valued source of diversified income for the Estate management.
Located in the heart of the North Wessex Downs AONB the existing turbine has been generating clean electricity since the early 1990's. Without any opposition the planning application was passed by TVBC allowing us to install one of three possible wind turbine models:
- ACSA A27
- WES-30
- Vergnet MPR-32
DistGen will now enter negotiations with various suppliers to seek the most competitive offer.
Germans agree to scrap nuclear by 2022
This weekend the german government has agreed to decommission all of its nuclear power plants by 2022. See BBC coverage for full story.
If the European economic powerhouse does not need nuclear the question is... Does the UK?
It's true that the UK has not invested enough into renewables and now lags behind most of Europe. Restrictive planning laws and nimbyism have stunted the rollout of onshore wind and the prohibitive cost of offshore caused some to back out.
Here's the real problem.. Everyone wants unlimited access to cheap energy. No one wants to see where it comes from. If the associated effects can be pushed onto foreign soils that's even better.
New report details common concerns over wind power
The Centre for Sustainable Energy has just published a report that covers the common concerns that are raised (and re-raised) every time a new wind turbine application is discussed.
The report is based on peer reviewed research and current Government policy/analysis and should be read in conjunction with any proposals for wind energy developments.
Simon Roberts, CSE Chief Executive, said “Of all renewable energy sources, wind power occupies a unique place in the public consciousness and generates strong opinions, both for and against. For the most part the debate is emotive and unhelpful, with both sides cherry-picking convenient facts to support their entrenched position whilst ignoring evidence to the contrary. "
“Our research paper aims to present pertinent research in a more balanced manner and we hope that it will make the debate less polarised and generate informed and constructive discussion."
“CSE’s view is that wind power is a necessary part of the energy mix that is required to meet our carbon emission reduction targets and help tackle climate change. However, wind power is not appropriate everywhere, and we believe it is the duty of local communities themselves to decide where there is a place for it through engaging responsibly with the best available evidence, and through working together to assess their own locality.”
The report can be found on the CSE website here.
UK to halve carbon emissions by 2025
Let'c cut to the quick... Todays announcement by the Government to reduce 2025 CO2 emissions to half of those from 1990 is very good news for two reasons:
- For the obvious environmental benefit.
- Because the "green revolution" is gaining pace and developed economies cannot afford to miss out. The shift in policy will force investment to occur where before there was little or none.
Old world industries such as steel may complain about higher energy prices in the short term, but with annual energy inflation already in double digits just wait until oil hits $200 a barrel! Just as the print and publishing industry bemoaned competition from the internet many still see renewables as a problem rather than opportunity.
Renewable energy technology is one of the few industries that currently has the potential for massive growth. For strategic and economic reasons the UK must be fully committed to develop and manufacture its own technology. Otherwise, just as we import oil and gas today, we will be left buying in from abroad.
When imported energy is prohibitively expensive, investing in renewables and other energy saving technologies offers the "double whammy" of creating new jobs and reducing the national debt. When New Labour was pumping money into the banks... it should have been into renewables instead. It could have launched a program to install double glazing at heavily discounted rates, or free solar panels - creating thousands of proper skilled jobs and saving the country billions of pounds for decades into the future.
On a final note... why isn't a company with the expertise and resources of BAE Systems NOT developing wind turbines? Let the War on Climate Change start today by shifting budgets away from killing people to saving the planet.
Come on UK.. "Get with the program"
Green tech to save the world?
As many parts of the UK continue to suffer from near drought conditions it was with some interest that the we stumbled upon a wired.com article entitled What Green Technology Could Save the World?
In it the author notes that mid-20th Century the world had, on average 4,000 cubic meters of water per person per year. This has now dropped down to 1,000 cubic meters and below the point officially designated as "water scarcity". The article goes on to say that the technology of providing clean drinking water where there is none, desalination, is really the technology of cheap and green electricity because 2/3'rds of the cost is in energy.
Sadly, wired pin their hopes on a new experiment to generate energy from nuclear fusion at Lawrence Berkley labs. While this may show a lot of promise, industrial nuclear fusion still seems to be 30 years away.
What does it say if this is the best idea a technology editor can come up with?
Bank of England warn on expected jump in fuel prices
In todays inflation report by Mervyn King the Bank of England warn that general inflation will likely hit 5% and that gas and electricity prices will increase by 15% and 10% respectively later this year.
Since the UK is now a net importer of oil and gas we can only assume that hiking interest rates (seemingly their only blunt tool for combating inflation) will have no effect on energy prices.
We've said it many times - renewables may look expensive compared to conventional energy - today, but in five to ten years time they will look dirt cheap.
You were warned.
Its official: global oil production has peaked
Last week something astonishing happened: Fatih Birol, chief economist of the International Energy Agency, revealed that peak oil has already happened. “We think that the crude oil production has already peaked, in 2006.”Read more