One man & his turbine

A Welsh family have had their dreams of living off wind power blown away by a ruling from the National Parks Authority which refused to allow Bob and Daisy Robarts a small wind turbine at their Crosswell home.

“How to Get Planning Permission” - buy it from Amazon UK

The Robarts highlights our campaign to change planning laws in the UK and speed the introduction of green energy can be introduced.

The three metre turbine and 11 metre high mast in a nearby field would provide all the electricity needed for their home and office. Despite letters of support from (more…)

Eco-tourism as anthropology

FOUR BOOK REVIEWS
Back in the 80s, there was a book called Alternative London. Along with the Whole Earth Catalogue (whihc was actually just about America) it was one of the earliest and best of the alternative directories and listing magazines which spawned so many imitators.

Eurotopia is a guide to over 300 communities and eco-villages in 24 European countries. It is great to see the beginnings of a major European listings project, which could grow and grow, because Utopian eco-communities are going to mushroom over the next decade. (more…)

Wicks - big carbon footprint

The Off-Grid campaign to change planning (zoning) laws to promote renewable energy received a boost in the UK.
The Government is poised announce measures to enable Britons to turn their homes into power stations. The policies will make it easier for families to put mini-windmills and solar cells on their roofs, and oblige the electricity companies to buy their surplus power.

The energy announcement follows a promise by Gordon Brown in the Budget to give an extra �50m to help install micro-generation renewable technologies, such as windmills and solar cells, on schools and other public buildings.

The Energy minister, Malcolm Wicks, said: “The time has come to really push this to enable individual citizens to take action on global warming.” He and the Conservative leader, David Cameron, are already planning to install windmills on their roofs.

The measures are intended to pave the way for householders to adopt clean energy installations without planning permission. Mr Wicks says he expects electricity companies to pay a good price for power bought from homes, and will investigate if they do not.

Wicks will go much further, publishing studies showing (more…)

Bush at PV lab in Golden

On sunny days, Jim Edwards’ rooftop solar panels in Colorado generate more electricity than his Lafayette home uses. Instead of paying for power, he’ll soon be getting credits on his bill from Xcel Energy.

Edwards is among the first Coloradans to benefit from new rebates and tax incentives that are bringing the cost of sun power down to earth. But it almost wasn’t so.

Last month, 32 workers, including eight researchers, were laid off at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden,Colorado. The lab helps develop the very renewable energy technologies President was promoting in his State of the Union address.

Just before Bush’s planned visit to the lab, (more…)