Proven opening
Mike Russell MSP, Scottish Minister for the Environment, and Andrew McMillan, CEO of Proven Energy, unveil a plaque to commemorate the opening of their new office in East Kilbride on 9th October 2008.
week ending 10 October 2008
Proven Demand
PROVEN Energy, the Ayrshire-based wind turbine manufacturer, has opened an office in East Kilbride to cope with demand for its products. Mike Russell, the environment minister, who yesterday opened the new office, said: “The success of Proven Energy demonstrates yet again that Scotland can lead the way when it comes to clean, green energy. “We have the potential to be the green energy capital of Europe companies like Proven Energy will help us get there.”
Scotsman 10th Oct 2008 more >>
Fuel Cells
A house in Lye, near Stourbridge in the West Midlands, will be opened as the first permanent hydrogen-powered home connected to the national grid. The refrigerator-sized fuel cell unit will produce 1.5kW of electricity and 3kW of heat for the occupants of the house, with any excess power being fed into the national grid.
Guardian 10th Oct 2008 more >>
Sport Club Turbines
AN APPLICATION to build two wind turbines in Almondsbury has been re-submitted. In August Almondsbury Sports and Social Club made an application to South Gloucestershire Council to build two 15-metre high wind turbines. The club claimed the turbines would generate up to 70,000 kWh a year providing 77 percent of the club’s energy requirements, which would help to power the tennis club floodlights, the new football pitch floodlights, the clubhouse and parish hall.
South Gloucestershire Gazette 9th Oct 2008 more >>
Burnley School
Burnley’s latest multi-million pound superschool will include biomass boilers, to generate energy for the school community, and a wind turbine.
Lancashire Telegraph 9th Oct 2008 more >>
Farmers Business
Farmers have set up a unique new business scheme in the UK to enable land owners and communities to benefit from wind farms. The company will be owned by individuals in the rural sector, including many people with potential sites. Therefore when a wind farm is developed they will directly profit rather than just receiving a small share.
Telegraph 9th Oct 2008 more >>
Fire Turbine Rejected
FIRE chiefs have been told they can’t put a 21-metre high wind turbine on the site of their new fire station at Rayleigh Weir. Plans for the turbine were rejected by Castle Point Council’s planning committee on the grounds its height and noise would disturb local residents. Yesterday, Essex County Fire and Rescue Service indicated they would appeal against the decision.
Essex Echo 9th Oct 2008 more >>
South Downs dis-figured?
A warning about the possible impact on Sussex’s South Downs of the relaxation of planning red tape surrounding domestic microgeneration systems has caused a lively internet debate. The South Downs Joint Committee fears changes to the law, which have made it easier for residents to install energy saving measures such as solar panels and heat pumps could “disfigure” the South Downs, which is designated as an area of outstnding natural beauty.
Green Building 9th Oct 2008 more >>
Boom in wood stoves
TRADE is warming up for a wood-burning stove manufacturer in Exeter which is celebrating a sudden rise in sales. Bosses at Stovax, based on Sowton Industrial Estate, believe recent rises in fuel prices have seen customers go in search of greater efficiency and alternative methods of heating their homes. And the number of people investigating wood-burning stoves has risen dramatically in recent months.
Exeter Express & Echo 8th Oct 2008 more >>
Islington Turbines
CONTROVERSIAL plans to put wind turbines on two blocks of flats have been given the go-ahead. Residents in Rosebery Avenue, Finsbury, who were against the plans claimed a wind turbine, which has already been erected on top of Braunton Mansions, has caused various problems.
Islington Gazette 8th Oct 2008 more >>
Weston Pier
A MONORAIL, wind turbines, a sea water bathing tank and retractable roofs - these are just a few of the initial ideas for the new Grand Pier.
Weston Mercury 8th Oct 2008 more >>
Small Wind
A new report by the Carbon Trust outlines the role that small-scale wind energy projects (designated as turbines with less than 50kW rated capacity) could play in the UK’s energy mix, and the amount of CO2 which could be saved in the process.
Yes2Wind 8th Oct 2008 more >>
Royal Attack
The Prince of Wales has launched another attack on architects - this time accusing them of cynically adding on wind turbines and solar panels as “mere gestures” to convince others their buildings are environmentally friendly.
Telegraph 8th Oct 2008 more >>
Green Building 9th Oct 2008 more >>
Farms to become power stations
Farms could be the power stations of the future and help meet the country’s energy and waste disposal needs, according to a new study of biogas production. The research, carried out by Melton consultants Andersons, focuses on producing biogas through anaerobic digestion of cattle and pig slurry and poultry manure, and other materials such as maize and grass silage, wholecrop wheat and other farming and food industry by-products.
Business East Midlands 7th Oct 2008 more >>
Negative Solar Reaction
Large solar panels on a Leamington woman’s home have caused an angry reaction from her neighbours. Janet Alty, who already has a wind turbine and solar water heater on her Lillington Road house, had the “cells” fitted on Thursday and Friday last week, following a protracted planning wrangle.
Leamington Spa Courier 7th Oct 2008 more >>
Community Energy
A CHARITY is launched today aimed at creating thousands of community-owned renewable energy projects across Scotland over the next decade. Community Energy Scotland (CES) said it hoped a wide range of projects, from micro-renewable energy plants to wind farms and even wind-powered electric transport, could be started and owned at community level.
Scotsman 7th Oct 2008 more >>
Scottish Renewable Heat
The Scottish Government wants to see a tenfold increase in the amount of heat generated by renewable energy sources such as biomass.
Scotsman 7th Oct 2008 more >>
Distributed Energy
Leading European research institutes have founded the association - European Distributed Energy Resources Laboratories (DERlab) - as an independent world-class laboratory for the grid-integration of distributed power generation.
Enviro Solutions 6th Oct 2008 more >>
Rotating Eco-Home
STUNNING new images have been released of an eco- friendly house which will generate its own power and water supply by rotating on rollers to track and utilise sun and wind.
Derby Evening Telegraph 6th Oct 2008 more >>
Coventry Plan
COVENTRY could become the UK’s first “smart city” with self-driving cars, electricity generated from the canal and a wind turbine on every lamppost. Sustainability champions say if green technology is included in the futuristic city centre blueprint revealed by Los Angeles-based urban planners Jerde, Coventry could become the most advanced low-carbon city in the country. The vision for a £1 billion regeneration will be discussed at a conference at Warwick University where local councils and big businesses will thrash out plans for a low-carbon city.
Coventry Telegraph 6th Oct 2008 more >>
Credit crunch beating microrenewables
Pensioner Dino Reardon reckons his credit crunch-beating eco-friendly home costs him just 21p a week to power with electricity. Mr Reardon generates his juice by using a five-feet-tall wind turbine in his back garden and a series of solar panels in the roof of his home at The Grove, Skipton.
Craven Herald 6th Oct 2008 more >>
York University
ECO-CONSCIOUS councillors have slammed the University of York for failing to demonstrate how its new campus will help combat climate change. A City of York Council planning committee refused to approve the latest stage of the university’s expansion, due to lack of an energy plan.
York Press 6th Oct 2008 more >>
Green Churches
Scottish churches are often found in remote areas without access to power grids or gas supplies. This has obliged some to adapt to local conditions, with some installing ground-source heat pump systems and others opting for solar or wind power to light and heat the Kirk’s property. While the motivation may once have been purely cost, the church now celebrates the happy coincidence that solar, wind and ground heat fit in nicely with the idea of preserving the Creator’s handiwork.
Sunday Herald 5th Oct 2008 more >>
Pickenham School
A mini wind turbine is helping a mid-Norfolk school give its environmental credentials a huge boost. The nine metre high turbine, which was donated to the school by renewable energy company Enertrag, should now produce enough electricity to power all the school’s lights.
East Anglian Daily Press 4th Oct 2008 more >>
Home Power
Turning your homes into your own power station for electricity and heating can deliver energy security, cut bills and reduce carbon emissions, according to one Putney resident who’s gone green.
Surrey Comet 3rd Oct 2008 more >>