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New report on Ireland’s potential for renewable energy economy and jobs

Renewable energy surge called for, Belfast Telegraph, 22 November 2012 Ireland must embrace renewable energy sources before fossil fuels run out, the WWF has said

More than 70% of Ireland’s electricity could be produced from renewable resources by 2030, a new report out has claimed. The research commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Northern Ireland said the availability of energy from wind, wave and sustainable biomass was significantly larger than the projected demand for the next 18 years….

. Mr Campbell said Scotland was also blazing a trail by setting ambitious targets that could save £325 million a year by reducing energy levels by 12% by 2020. “We can save money by doing this,” he added. “Why are we not doing it?”

Delegates at the conference were told that previous research by the Carbon Trust suggested that investment in renewable energy could create more than 30,000 new jobs in Northern Ireland in a sector that could be worth almost £1 billion. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/renewable-energy-surge-called-for-16241156.html#ixzz2D4m4sWB3

November 23, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, UK | Leave a comment

Westmill Solar Co-operative – the whopper community owned energy project

World’s Largest Community Owned Solar Project http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php main_page=news_article&article_id=3455 by Energy Matters, 7 Nov 12 Last week, Westmill Solar Co-operative in the UK completed the acquisition of Westmill Solar Park, making the project the largest community-owned solar power station in the world.

The £16.5million facility is a 5MW solar farm covering 30 acres and consisting of over 20,000 solar panels.  The power station is located near Watchfield, on the Wiltshire/Oxfordshire border.

Westmill Wind Farm is adjacent to the site, which was also started as a 100% community owned renewable energy project.

In the last year, the solar farm has generated 4,900 MWh of clean electricity, enough to power 1,500 households and avoiding over 2,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

“Westmill represents the best of what low carbon investment and renewable energy can offer and hopefully will inspire others to realise that when we get together we can make change happen and can engage positively with the threat of climate change,” said founder director Adam Twine.

The Westmill Solar Co-operative  share offer attracted around 1650 investors in just 6 weeks- 50% more than was required.  More than half of the Westmill members live within 40km of the project. Members will be entitled to a share in the profits generated by the electricity sold. Predicted internal rate of return to members is 9 – 11% over the 24 years of the project.

Aside from the environmental benefits and in addition to offering local residents a substantial return on their investment, the solar farm will boost the local economy by making sure the profits stay in the area, encourage tourism and raise the local area’s profile.

“Solar power will become the world’s greatest energy source in our lifetime; heralding a new era of sustainable and ‘democratic’ energy supply,” said Cooperative chairman Philip Wolfe.

“As the success of Westmill shows, solar energy enables ordinary people to produce clean power, not only on their roof tops, but also at utility scale.”

November 7, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, UK | Leave a comment

Community owned windfarms could be good for UK

Windfarms: is community ownership the way ahead? http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/nov/05/windfarms-community-ownership
On the Danish island of Samsø many of the wind turbines are owned by the residents. Is that the way around nimbyism? Patrick Kingsley guardian.co.uk,   5 November 2012 “I can’t single-handedly build a new Jerusalem,” said John Hayes, the Tory energy minister, last week, “but I can protect our green and pleasant land.” What was he on about? Windfarms. He wants them stopped because he says locals don’t like them.

But that isn’t always the case. Take Samsø, a pretty island off the coast of Denmark. In the late 90s, Samsø’s 4,000 elderly farmers were famous for their early crop of new potatoes. Smothering their isolated Eden with windmills was far from a priority.

Yet 15 years later, that is exactly what’s happened. These conservative islanders have installed 11 onshore windmills, while another 10 lie just off the coast. Astonishingly, Samsø is now one of the world’s largest carbon-neutral settlements. To find how it happened, I visited the island this spring while researching my new book, How to be Danish. The answer? Community ownership. Sixteen of the 21 new turbines are owned either by local co-operatives, or by individual farmers. This means that the turbines haven’t been sprung on the locals. Instead, the latter are invested in the former, both emotionally and financially. The excess energy created by the turbines is sold back to the national grid – and the profit creates a handy annual dividend for each local. “There’s money in it,” smiles 66-year-old Erik Andersen, who owns a herd of rare Red Danish cows. “It’s a good investment.”

So wind power doesn’t always alienate locals. Denmark has over 6,000 turbines – 2,000 more than Britain, despite being a sixth of the size. This is partly down to its topography: it’s flat, so there’s a lot of wind. But it’s also to do with how the Danes involve local communities. Around 70-80% of those turbines are co-owned by local groups – little wonder there’s more of them.

Could it happen in Britain? An ICM poll suggests so: while only one in two Britons would back a windmill within two miles of their home, 68% would support one that was community-owned. John Hayes, take note.

November 7, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, UK | Leave a comment