DUNCAN MCLARENSCOTLAND'S cringe seems to have struck again, with the success story of our rapid growth in clean, renewable energy generation being overshadowed by the concerns of communities about the impacts of new wind farms or upgraded transmission lines on our landscape and tourist industry.While Friends of the Earth might not agree with every complaint, it is reasonable that Scotland's rural communities point out that they are being expected to bear any negative impacts that might arise, while getting little direct benefit from the new developments. Quite rightly, they are asking why they should lose out from generating power that is used mainly in Scotland's major cities. "That's not environmental justice," they say.Part of our response should be to ensure that power generating companies provide a fair level of community benefit: elsewhere local communities get free shares in wind farms, or lower cost electricity, so why not i...
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The Olympic Delivery Authority today announced that it is planning to erect a wind turbine to help power the 2012 London games.The turbine would be located in the north of the Olympic Park in east London, and would provide the equivalent power to supplying 1200 homes a year.The ODA said it wanted the new 120m-tall facility to be operating by 2010.London mayor Ken Livingstone said: "We always said that the 2012 Games would be the most environmentally friendly ever and the wind turbine is the first step of many towards delivering on our commitment."The turbine will be located near to railway lines and a main road, away from present and future homes.The ODA wants to procure a private company to fund the cost of the turbine construction and running costs.The ODA said it was looking at other sustainable energy installations, including solar power, ground water cooling, small scale hydro/tidal power, biomass and a Combined Cooling and Heating Plant (CCHP).
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WELSH Liberal Democrat leader Lembit Opik has told his party to get into the driving seat of Government at next May's Assembly elections.Yesterday, he reminded the party's autumn conference of the taste of power it experienced in the pre-2003 Lib/Lab joint administration.And, with a stark warning on climate change, his keynote speech in Aberystwyth encouraged activists to campaign on an environmental message."You can rest assured that, if nothing is done, temperatures world-wide will rise, massive flooding will occur, crops will be destroyed and you will have to eat the person sitting next to you just to stay alive," he said."Have no doubts. A Welsh Lib-Dem-flavoured government would give us a freer, fairer and, above all, greener Wales."The Lib-Dems' only realistic shot at power is in a coalition and the party says it is willing to work with others to get its policies through a hung Assembly.Lib-Dem Assembly leader Mike German ha...
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