Talbot Farm public meeting planned
A public consultation meeting for the proposed wind turbine at Talbot Farm will be hosted by DistGen staff on the evening of Thursday 3rd March 2011.
The exact time and location is still TBC but likely to be Hinton village hall around 7pm.
There will be a brief presentation followed by a Q&A session plus a series of large scale display boards showing visual impact, predicted noise emissions and much more. Distgen staff will be on hand to provide additional information regarding specific technical questions.
Castle Farm development halted
Development of the Castle Farm wind turbine has unfortunately been halted this week due a legal dispute between the current and former owners of the farm. As a result we have been forced to cease all activity.
Naturally we are very disappointed that the scheme is now not going to be implemented since it would have bought valuable extra income to the Parish, provided the farm with badly needed financial stability and put East Farleigh on the map as an eco-village.
Full planning permission was granted in January 2011.
UPDATE (25/02/2011):
Since the Kent Messenger picked up on this story last week, Peter (the farmer) has received numerous calls and messages from friends and local residents who have expressed their disappointment that the project has been halted. It would seem the assertions by some that "no-one in the village wants it" were greatly exaggerated.
DistGen visit ACSA's factory in Gran Canaria
Staff from DistGen recently visited the production facility in Gran Canaria to meet the sales team from World Wide Wind Turbines and key service personnel from ACSA.Read more
Energy rationing coming to the UK?
Few if any will have heard of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Peak Oil and Gas (APPGOPO) however this group comprising over 20 MPs of all parties has met regularly since 2007 to research and debate policy on how best to transition the UK away from fossil fuels.Read more
Castle Farm granted full planning permission
In a well attended meeting of the Maidstone Borough Planning committee this evening, permission was granted for the Castle Farm wind turbine.
The vote was tight at 7 to 6 in favour due to a number of councilors who could not be moved from their position that any visual impact was too much - despite backing from the planning officer and a general consensus that a rejection would more than likely be overturned at appeal.Read more
Competition for Russian oil increases
With the opening of a new oil pipeline from the worlds number one oil exporter, Russia, to the number one oil consumer, China, signals a number of worrying trends.
The fact that Russia overtook Saudia Aradia in 2009 marks the recognition that production there has probably peaked and is now in decline. Saudi was long known as the "swing producer" picking up the slack as one by one, other oil producing fields went into decline.
Secondly, the flow of oil to China means that Western Europe will be in competition with the worlds new economic powerhouse. As oil prices continue to rise can Europe afford a bidding war with China?
Lastly, we've already seen how the Russians can behave when, in 2009 they simply turned off gas supplies to the Ukraine because of "payment disputes".
Shipham 2nd public meeting scheduled
The community project at Shipham continues to develop with some recent developments from the proposals originally presented back in the summer of 2010:
- Location
- Wind turbines proposed
The Shipham project page has already bee updated to reflect the changes, however a 2nd public meeting has been scheduled to discuss the changes and present revised visual and noise impact data. The meeting will be held at Shipham Village Hall at 7pm on Thursday the 13th January 2011.
Are we there yet? Petrol prices hit new highs.
According to BBC News online petrol prices have reached new all time highs with a litre of unleaded now averaging nearly £1.22 and diesel at nearly £1.26.
Fresh increases are expected in January 2011 when higher VAT rates kick in.
Oh, and don't forget gas and electricity price increases of between 7% and 10% have been announced by British Gas and Scottish & Southern.
Added together this makes renewable energy look cheaper every day.
2010 Sets new temperature records
BBC News Online has today reported research from climate scientists that shows 2010 to be one of the hottest on record. It goes on to say:
The two leading US analyses of global temperature show that up until the end of October, 2010 was the warmest year in the instrumental record going back to 1850.
Further, the top 10 years for warmest temperatures have all been since 2000. So while it may be freezing in the UK at this moment - we must not confuse "weather" with "climate".
Couldn't happen here?
BBC News Online reported yesterday on the Italian town of Tocco that has its own small wind farm of 4 turbines.
Thanks to the high wind resource and forward thinking of the local residents and officials the town now makes a profit from selling its electricity.
Local taxes have been abolished and services such as rubbish collection are heavily subsidised.
Sadly, this is unlikely to ever happen in the UK.
Read more