We’ve found a very interesting article By Jeremy Cooke Rural affairs correspondent, on the BBC News, 23rd March 2010

Personally I’m not sure about the predictability of wind, and suitable areas for wind farms are often near the coast, where land is expensive for any Home builders. I’m also of the opinion that covering the landscape with these towers is unsightly.

What about the environmental impact on migrating flocks as they tend to like strong winds. However, I understand from my colleagues that this is rare, and they tend not to build wind farms on migratory routes anyway.

Have a read

Scottish island backs wind power

It is among one of the most remote corners of Britain. It is also one of the most unspoilt landscapes this country has to offer. But right in the centre of Westray Island, in the Orkney Islands, stands a 67m wind turbine that dominates the surrounding countryside. It is exactly the kind of alternative energy project which would seem certain to attract bitter opposition in many of our rural communities. But here there has been not a single planning objection to the turbine.

David Stephenson is a retired Englishman who has chosen a new life on this Scottish Island. He is a prime mover in the community trust which built the turbine.
“There were no objections,” he says. “That’s not because everybody on Westray likes wind turbines. We know that some don’t but they think that if there is an opportunity for a turbine on Westray, then let it be owned by the community with all the benefits from it being invested back into the community.” And that’s exactly what is happening. It was the community itself which raised the £1.5m to pay for the turbine, through a combination of bank loans and grants. That means that, perhaps uniquely, the project is wholly owned by the community and will eventually raise a projected £200,000 a year in annual income.

For the ladies of Westray’s knitting circle it is this common-ownership-for-the-common-good approach which helps make the turbine acceptable. As they chat over tea in the Half Yok café they seem well acquainted with the business plan. Kathy Maben sums it up: “We all had a chance to say what we thought and we all had a chance to put forward our views. It really is a good thing. The money that will come from it in the long run… will do so much to help Westray.”

Not everyone here loves the look of the turbine. In the sunlight it stands even more prominent as the light reflects off the rotating blades. But Dorris, a long time Westray resident with a beautiful Orcadian accent, laughs as she describes how she uses it as an instant update on the weather. “It’s quite fine. I look out the door every day and see it barrelling away. If it goes round fast you know it’s a bad day and if goes round slowly you know it is a better day.”

Theological gains

So could the Westray model be used to help make alternative energy schemes more accepted in rural communities across the country?

The instinct to protect the landscape is often the driving factor for the more than a hundred campaign groups in Britain which are dedicated to stopping the renewables scheme in their areas.

In Westray that opposition seems to have been removed. That’s largely because of the cash benefit to the community but also because of the scale of the development; one wind turbine rather than a big wind farm. At the Island Church, or Kirk, Reverend Iain MacDonald believes Westray’s example could be a way forward for other communities: indeed other islands have are already investigating their own “community energy projects.” As he stands in the Kirk, which has its own small wind turbine and ground source heat pump, it is clear that he believes alternative energy is the right thing to do: an act of faith.

“It’s an environmental thing, clearly. It has an ethical angle. From a Christian point of view it’s got the angle of theological stewardship. But it’s also a very cost effective thing. Stewardship is not just about the theological side, it’s also about the very practical side… And we gain on both,” he says.

The Westray project is in its first year on line and as the blades go around, the control room at the base of the turbine keeps track of the amount of energy which is being fed from here into the national grid. It will take some time to calculate just how much cash will be raised. But the community here takes satisfaction in the fact that whatever money there is, will come back to them, rather than profit a big energy company.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8574330.stm

Are wind farms noisy?  Wind generators have a reputation for making a constant, low, “swooshing” noise day and night, which I’ve heard can drive you nuts.  Having said that, as aerodynamic designs have improved modern wind farms are now much quieter. A lot quieter than, say, a fossil fuel power station; and wind farms tend not to be close to residential areas anyway.

Your thoughts

Attending the home builders convention in Las Vegas might be the most important date in your calendar but emissions when flying long haul have a negative effect on our environment. Surely we all know this? BuilderScrap.com aren’t suggesting you stop but lets be smart about it. Lets look at the detail.

Slightly fewer than half of respondents (41%) had taken a flight in the twelve months prior to the survey (between March 2008 and February 2009) for leisure, holidays or for visiting friends or family. This represents a small decrease over the last two to three years – 45% of respondents in the 2007 Defra survey said they had flown during the year 2006.

Those who had flown in the last 12 months were asked how many flights they had taken within the UK, to other European countries and to countries outside of Europe. The results from these questions are presented in Table 31 compared with results from the 2007 Defra survey.

Respondents who had flown in the last year were most likely to have flown to other countries within Europe (75%), followed by flights to countries outside Europe (41%). About one quarter who had flown in the last year said they had taken a flight within the UK (24%). For each of these destination categories, it was most likely that respondents had flown once within the 12 month period.

Around half (55%) of those who had taken a flight within the UK had done so once. Similarly, around half (56%) who had taken a flight to another country within Europe had done this once, while nearly two-thirds (63%) who had taken a flight outside of Europe had done this once.

The mean number of flights taken within the UK had increased from 0.4 to 0.8 between 2007 and 2009. However, this appears to have been driven partly by a small proportion of respondents (less than 1%) who had taken a very large number of flights within the UK (20 or more in the last 12 months). Also the proportion of respondents who had flown within the last year and had taken at least one flight within the UK had increased to just less than one quarter (from 18% in 2007 to 24% in 2009).

The mean number of flights taken to other countries within Europe and to countries outside Europe had not changed since the 2007 Defra survey.
All respondents including those who had not flown in the last twelve months were asked the extent to which they had considered taking fewer flights. The question was asked using the stages of change response scale and the results are presented in Table 32 (including as a percentage of all respondents and of all respondents who had flown in the last 12 months).

About one quarter of respondents said they were already taking fewer flights and maintaining this as a behaviour. The proportion of respondents who reported that they were taking fewer flights was similar regardless of whether it was expressed as a proportion of all respondents or of those who had flown in the previous 12 months. Of those who had flown in the last 12 months, nearly one quarter (22%) were at the pre-contemplative stage of reducing the number of flights they took and more than one third (36%) said they had considered taking fewer flights but had rejected the idea – the latter compared with 21% of all respondents reporting this. A small proportion, of those respondents who had flown in the last 12 months, were contemplating the behaviour (6%) or had relapsed after trying to take fewer flights (3%).

At BuilderScrap.com we’re looking at the way Home builders can you help you guys save energy. The survey asked respondents if they had or had considered installing various energy-generating items in their homes. The four items covered are shown in Table 11 with a summary of responses to these questions.

As shown in the table above, very few people have installed any of the five items (1% or less in each case). This is consistent with the 2007 Defra survey – which found less than 1% of those surveyed had installed solar panels, solar water heating or a wind turbine, and with The Energy Saving Trust‟s tracker survey in February 2008 – which found less than 1% had biomass heating.
Furthermore, the proportion who said they were contemplating installing each of the items was low. Around one in ten (12%) claimed to be contemplating installing solar panels, with a similar proportion (10%) claiming to be contemplating installing solar water heating. Smaller numbers said they were contemplating installing either a wind turbine (5%) or a ground source heat pump (3%).

For all five of the items the majority of respondents were either at the pre-contemplation stage (having never heard of the item or having not given it any consideration) or having rejected it as an option. Respondents were least likely to have contemplated installing biomass heating or a ground source heat pump – 65% and 58% of respondents respectively fell into the pre-contemplation category for these behaviours (with a high proportion stating that they had not heard of either of these). At least half of respondents had rejected the idea of installing solar panels (55%), solar water heating (50%) or a wind turbine (58%).

All respondents who had installed at least one of these items at their homes were asked what were the main reasons they had done this, though as so few people had installed the items the base sizes were too small to support any analysis.

Coming back to the Defra survey on Public attitudes and behaviours towards the environment. BuilderScrap.com are looking at Heating! Hope you’re reading Home builders.

The vast majority (93%) of respondents lived in homes with central heating systems, with just a small proportion saying they had electric storage heating (4%) or warm air heating (1%). The remaining respondents either had no heating (2%) or said that they did not know what type of heating they had (less than 1%). This is broadly consistent with the 2007 Defra survey which estimated 89% of respondents as having some form of central heating and the same proportions as having electric storage heating or warm air heating (4% and 1% respectively).

The survey asked whether people had installed or were considering installing a condensing boiler, which provides an energy efficient and environmentally-friendly way of heating a home. This question was asked using the stages of change response scale (the analysis in Table 9 excludes those without central heating).

Around a third (31%) of respondents with central heating said they had installed a condensing boiler (the maintenance stage) while 14% said they were contemplating installing one but had not done so yet. A similar proportion (17%) had thought about installing a condensing boiler but had rejected the idea, while 29% were at the pre-contemplation stage (having never heard of this type of boiler or having never thought about installing one).

The proportion of people with condensing boilers has remained unchanged since the 2007 Defra survey. In 2007 29% of respondents who had a central heating boiler indicated that they had installed a condensing boiler (this difference is not statistically significant).

No real surprises but… come on Condensed Boilers are 87% efficient compared to regular boilers at 75%