News week ending 15 June 2007
Cardiff
A computer powered by its own wind turbine is being set up at a Cardiff school as part of the city's aim to reduce its "carbon footprint". The computer, at Fitzalan High School, is one of a number of measures being undertaken to reduce energy waste, including light controls in classrooms. The city council wants to reduce carbon emissions by 60% from its non-domestic buildings and waste by 2018.
BBC 14th June 2007
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ICWales 14th June 2007
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NewsWales 13th June 2007
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Liverpool
Proposals for a giant water wheel stretching across the River Mersey are due to be revealed. The river is one of the best sites for renewable energy created by tides, in the UK, a new study claims. The report claims the Mersey's unusual shape and wide range of tides can be used to produce environmentally- friendly power. If the plans get the go-ahead, the wheel turbine could produce enough electricity for half a million homes.
BBC 14th June 2007
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Liverpool Daily Post 14th June 2007
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Scottish Schools
SCHOOLS will be given £40million to upgrade
sports pitches and support green schemes.
Education secretary Fiona Hyslop announced the initiative. It means thousands
more kids will have access to top-notch playing fields, which will also be
available for community use. Schools will also be able to apply for funding
for environmental schemes, such as installing wind turbines.
Collydean Primary School in Glenrothes, Fife, became the first Scots school
to generate its own electricity with a roof-top turbine in 2004. Councils
and schools are being asked to put forward their plans in the next few weeks.
Hyslop said: "We can move quickly to upgrade and improve playing fields
and encourage energy efficiency.
Daily Record 14th June 2007
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Gatehouse
A NEW wind turbine that will help provide thousands
of pounds for the Gatehouse community was officially put into operation
this week. The turbine at Cream o’ Galloway’s Rainton Farm
will provide around a third of the annual power needs of the company and
will generate 50 kilowatts per hour if the wind speed is 27 miles per hour,
with the farm on average needing 30 kilowatts per hour to function. The
firm will pay Gatehouse Development Initiative for the electricity they
use. Any excess will be sold to the National Grid, with the profits also
going to the GDI.
Galloway News 14th June 2007
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Bury
A COUPLE are leading the green revolution by becoming the first family in
the borough to get permission for their very own wind turbine. Alan and Janet
Turner, of Moorside Road, said they hoped to save 30 per cent of their electricity
usage - and hundreds of pounds in bills a year - when the turbine goes up
at their home later this summer.
Bury Times 14th June 2007
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Wales
“Where would you have photovoltaic cells or wind turbines in a reproduction Victorian building in a conservation area? You can’t do it. But a wind turbine or photovoltaic cells don’t look out of place on modern buildings.” Discussion about microrenewables in conservation areas.
Western Mail 14th June 2007
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Green Homeowners
Homeowners can register interest for the scheme
and will then be matched with a local architect. The 2007 theme for Architecture
Week is "How
Green is our Space?" focusing on critical issues of climate change and
sustainability, and aiming to inspire people to think creatively about the
spaces around them. Architect's Jestico + Whiles have come up with some green
tips for homeowners to think about when consulting an architect; their guide
can be downloaded at more >>
Scotsman 14th June 2007
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Carbon neutral plumbers
A COMPANY has teamed up with a world leader in renewable energy technology to be at the forefront of the building industry revolution. James Hargreaves Plumbers Merchants has entered into a partnership with German heating firm Wolf GMBH to develop, manufacture and supply solar panels. As part of the Government's drive to make every new building carbon neutral by 2016, architects have to incorporate renewable energy sources such as solar panels in their plans to replace gas and oil heating systems.
Lancashire Telegraph 13th June 2007
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Ipswich
GREEN houses are today set to spread across Ipswich. All new developments of more than ten properties in the town could soon be forced to generate some of their own power, according to new rules. This could be through solar power, extracting heat from the ground, using heat exchangers to suck in hot air, using energy efficient boilers to help generate electricity, or in some cases using wind turbines to generate power. Ipswich Borough Council environment spokeswoman Louise Gooch said the new regulations should be adopted by the council later this year.
Suffolk Evening Star 13th June 2007
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Greenwich
Bellway Homes, one of the UK’s top four housebuilders, has just received
planning permission to build 229 homes at Greenwich Peninsula, London’s
largest single regeneration project. Endorsing the Peninsula’s strong
sustainability agenda all of the homes will have, at the very least, an EcoHomes ‘Excellent’ rating.
Bellway are also investigating further opportunities for renewable energy
initiatives to be adopted as part of this development.
24Dash 13th June 2007
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Zero-carbon
One of the first houses to receive five stars under the government's controversial policy requiring new homes to be "zero-carbon" was unveiled on Monday by Stewart Milne Group. The Aberdeen-based housebuilder said its investment in the demonstration house, unveiled at the Building Research Establishment at Watford, would allow it to plan commercial production well ahead of the 2016 government target for all new houses to be low-carbon.
FT 12th June 2007
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Press and Journal 12th June 2007
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Manchester Confidental 12th June 2007
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The prototype Sigma house, unveiled yesterday, is one of the first to be
awarded a "near-zero" carbon emission certificate by the Government.
It gets five out of six stars for energy-efficiency under the Code for Sustainable
Homes. Even during construction, relatively little carbon dioxide is released
into the atmosphere.
Daily Mail 12th June 2007
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Independent 12th June 2007
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Trafford
RESIDENTS of Old Trafford were celebrating after winning a green' award for an affordable warmth project. The project, designed by Trafford Council's sustainability team, won the Energy Institute's Nemex Renewables Innovation Award'. It is aimed at tackling fuel poverty and climate change through the use of renewable energy. advertisemeTrafford Council worked alongside National Energy Action and Action for Sustainable Living, which ensured a range of people could experience the benefits of the project. Funding was provided by DEFRA, who want to eradicate fuel poverty by 2016. Six family households took part in the project. Three households were given a gas combination boiler with incorporated solar panels. The solar panels produce over 90 per cent of domestic hot water in summer, and in winter, the solar panels will preheat water by 30 per cent. The three remaining households received a standard solar thermal heating system. Five households acquired a multi-fuel burning stove, providing the entire house with heating, using wood as the primary heat source.
IC Cheshire 12th June 2007
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Renewable Skills
College bosses have been blown over by a staggering demand for places on a pioneering course offering training in how to build and maintain wind turbines. The UK's first nationally-accredited renewable energy course is being run at the Ashington-based Northumberland College and backed by the county council in a bid to give students a foothold in the potentially huge wind energy employment market. A taster course started last month and received a massive 400% more expressions of interest than there were places available - with inquiries from would-be students as far afield as mainland Europe. The Vocationally Related Qualification (VQR) in sustainable energy is aimed at equipping students with the skills to install, service and maintain small-scale and domestic wind turbines. The county council, which helped develop the course, claims it could put the region at the forefront of the industry and offer bright employment prospects for wind turbine engineers, who could command salaries of £35,000-a-year around the world.
Newcastle Journal 12th June 2007
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Builders Guide
NHBC, the leading standard setting body for new home construction in the UK, has published a guide for house builders on microgeneration technology for new homes. The guide comes after extensive research into the systems and technologies currently in use and gives practical guidance on specification, design and installation.
Copies of the guide are available at more >>
Politics.co.uk 12th June 2007
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Southwark
Southwark Council has further strengthened its commitment to environmentally sustainable development by launching a wind turbine pilot project in London. The turbine – installed by Photon Energy - is the first of this scale to go on a council building in the capital and shows that Southwark is at the forefront of green energy use. The hope is that the four month test session will confirm that wind energy can play an important part in the billion pound regeneration of the Elephant and Castle. The 6kW Proven Energy wind turbine was this week installed on the top of Ashenden House, an 11-storey residential building off New Kent Road.
24Dash 12th June 2007
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Energy Efficient Farmers
The Scottish Agricultural
College has launched an energy auditing service which could slash farms’ energy
bills by 10-15% a year. The service will be available to farmers in Scotland
and the North of England but may be rolled out throughout the UK.
Farmers’ Weekly 12th June 2007
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Isle of Eigg
With no electricity connection to the mainland, Eigg's households were once
reliant on noisy, costly and unreliable diesel generators which had to be
switched off at night. However, later this year all 83 islanders will be
connected to power derived directly from renewable sources, including three
hydro schemes, solar panels and a planned three-turbine wind farm.
Scotsman 12th June 2007
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Builders
One of the industry’s key sustainability players is to head a green venture for Sir Robert McAlpine. David Strong, the managing director of BRE Environment, has left the company after nine years to set up an organisation specialising in sustainable building consultancy, research and design. The new company, which is yet to be named, will sit alongside McAlpine’s Renewable Energy Systems (RES) companies, which specialise in developing and building wind farms.
Building 11th June 2007
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Solar Car Parks
WIND turbines and solar panels could be used to power new multi-storey car parks in Bolton town centre. The idea was suggested at a Bolton Council meeting where initial plans for two multi-storeys - to be built on the current Breightmet Street and Bath Street surface level car parks - were backed.
Bolton News 8th June 2007
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GLA
The Greater London Authority (GLA) is set to trial one of the capital’s first hydrogen fuel cells at one of its office buildings in south London. The technology, which the GLA is promoting as the clean energy provider for the future, will be installed at the London Development Agency’s (LDA) headquarters in the Alsop-designed Palestra building. A hydrogen fuel cell generates clean electricity and heat by combining oxygen from the air with a hydrogen fuel. The GLA argues that if the hydrogen is produced from a carbon-neutral source, such as solar or wind power, it can be an emission-free source of energy.
Building 8th June 2007
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