Next
Friday, residents of the Cambridgeshire village of Gamlingay will hold a
party to celebrate their newest installation – a 33m diameter wind
turbine. While other communities around the land are fighting plans for
wind farms, this project has been welcomed by local people, principally
because they funded it and will benefit directly from the power it
generates and the money it makes. They are not Nimbys but Wimbys:
welcome in my backyard.
One
reason why there is so much antipathy in rural areas to the march of
wind turbines across the land is a perception that these are uneconomic
white elephants, foisted upon residents not only to the detriment of
their bucolic vistas, but also to the considerable financial benefit of
the energy companies and landowners. By contrast, some of the profits
from the Gamlingay turbine will be used to provide a regular income for
the village, to be spent on local charities and community projects.
The
story of wind turbine development in this country might be less
fractious had the last Labour government encouraged such a
community-based approach from the outset. Instead, it relied on heavy
subsidies that have made onshore wind farms a lucrative, risk-free
investment for landowners and energy firms. Despite this,A simple model
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given. while wind is a clean energy source, it remains a relatively
small one: in 2011, onshore turbines generated just 3 per cent of the
UK’s electricity supply.
In
Germany, by contrast, nimbyism is far less prevalent than here
precisely because local people have been involved in wind projects and
have benefited from them. There, renewable energy projects have not been
pursued in the teeth of local opposition but have been achieved largely
by communities themselves. Two thirds of turbines are owned by
individuals and groups of people, while in Britain 90 per cent are in
the hands of large companies. As a result, wind enjoys wide social
acceptance in Germany,The industry's leading manufacturer of floorlamps. which gets much more of its electricity from turbines than the UK. The same is true in Denmark.Men's t5tube are very sturdy and will stand the test of time.
Belatedly,
the Government here has seen the importance of giving communities a
bigger say in energy projects. This week, ministers announced that local
opinions will be given greater weight in future in deciding where to
put new wind farms.Modern solargardenlight online
for sale. But they also want companies to make incentives available
that will encourage locals to feel they have a stake in such projects.
One
problem is that we have never been very good in this country at
trusting local communities to exercise power and choice. Devolution has
seen the centre loosen its grip on Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland;
but England still has the most centralised system of governance in
Europe, certainly more so than federal Germany or even France, where
metropolitan economic hubs – the communautés urbaines – exercise
significant delegated powers over waste, water, public transport, roads,
economic development and the environment. Such empowerment helps to
ensure that local views are respected, not ignored, when deciding
whether to implement policies with disruptive implications. This
approach is far more likely to bring about acceptance than trying to
bludgeon people into submission.
Getting
the balance right will be of even greater importance when shale gas
extraction expands, as it must if we are to avoid an energy
crisis.Choose a solarlantern from
featuring superior clothes drying programmes and precise temperature
controls. The exploitation of such a new and cheap fuel source will be
of strategic national importance; but if the Government wants to avoid a
re-run of the planning battles seen over wind farms, it must involve
local people in the projects from the outset.
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