A multi-million pound wind farm has been forced to close because it makes too much noise in a landmark ruling that could lead to others being shut down.
By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent
2:13PM BST 16 Jun 2011
Residents living near the 23 turbines have won an order making the operators turn off the generators after claiming their lives were being made a misery.
The unprecedented banning order only lasts a month but is designed to force the power company to make provisions to reduce the problem.
If they do not come to an arrangement with the locals then the ban could be extended.
It is believed that the closure, which will cost Scottish and southern Electricity hundreds of thousands of pounds, could lead to similar action being taken by residents living near other wind farms.
The £55 million turbines at Athany in the Scottish Highlands ground to a halt after complaints from residents that their lives are being made a misery by the constant whirring of the blades.
People living close to the wind farm complained to the council that their complaints were being ignored.
Highland Council imposed the ban, saying the company breached planning controls by failing to deal with excessive noise from the development which came on stream in July last year and generates 40MW of power.
Gordon Moonie, Highland Council’s principal planner, confirmed that it was the first time the authority had issued a notice of this type.
He said he was unaware of any other council taking similar action.
“This temporary stop notice was introduced under a 2006 Act and it hasn’t been used very often, but it is quite an effective way of dealing with a breach of planning control," he said.
"In a sense it affects the company where it hurts – in their pocket."
Mr Moonie revealed that the problems with Achany had been ongoing for about a year, with constant complaints to planners about noise.
“We were getting complaints from the local people and the community and we weren’t getting any action from SSE, so we decided that the best way forward was to serve this temporary stop notice,” he said.
“It means that the wind farm has to cease operating and we can then get around the table and agree a way forward that is in everyone’s interest.”
According to the stop notice, SSE breached planning controls by failing to provide a scheme for mitigating noise levels prior to the development coming on stream.
They also failed to comply with a request to measure noise levels at two local properties just over a mile from the wind farm when specifically asked to do so following complaints from the householders.
Friday, 17 June 2011
We need to adopt smart grids
The US is opening up energy data, allowing consumers to monitor usage and save on utility bills. We need to do the same
Molly Webb, for the Guardian Professional Network
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 16 June 2011 16.40 BST
The US believes consumers can become energy innovators. At the Building the 21st Century Grid event, it announced support for all Americans to take advantage of new tools and services to manage their energy use and save on their utility bills. This is part of a wider set of initiatives and policy framework announced to support 'smart grid' - applying digital technologies to the electric system - to enable a clean energy economy, ensure a secure and reliable grid, and foster innovation and jobs of the future. There are plans to track progress and push further on energy education programmes.
A smart grid enables a clean energy future. The Climate Group's SMART 2020 report showed that a smart grid can deliver 2 Gt CO2 equivalent savings in 2020, globally, or four times the size of the UK's carbon footprint. The Climate Group – in partnership with Google – has been advocating for a consumer goal to open up energy information since 2010.
Empowering consumers is central to smart grid rollout for at least two main reasons.
First, consumers need choices. We know very little about the energy we use on a daily basis – from how much we consume, to the cost, source and carbon content of our power. Services that help make the energy system more efficient are as good as the data on which they rely. We can't manage what we can't measure.
We are just beginning to see the potential for better energy management through better data, and the impact could be huge.
Last May, David Cameron challenged government departments to cut carbon 10% which they started to do using real time monitoring. Better information has been shown to save households up to 22% of monthly consumption, though the change is often less dramatic if behaviour incentives aren't in place.
Second, consumers drive innovation in services. Better availability of data in other sectors like transport is already making services better. In London, mobile applications help commuters use the cycle hire scheme with confidence, showing us where to find and dock bikes. In New York, newly released mobile apps help us navigate public transport to save us travelling in high-carbon vehicles.
We can do the same for innovation in energy services. Home energy (remote) control systems help consumers save energy when they aren't home; daily information in high consuming buildings helps technicians find or anticipate energy saving options. "We're just starting to see the innovation that will come," said Bob Shapard, CEO of Oncor and Chairman of Gridwise Alliance. Oncor announced a mobile application and energy saving challenge for consumers. Oncor is based in Texas, where a competitive energy market operates under the principle of giving consumers ownership of their data.
But for now, energy data is generally not open and actionable. It is available only on a monthly (or less frequent) bill, and not electronically.
Key issues remain
1. How can we ensure an open platform where consumers have meaningful choices? Meters alone will not transform energy demand; we are just beginning to understand energy consumer behaviour, and the design of tools to help us change it. According to American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, utilities are not providing the right mix of feedback to achieve the maximum energy savings. How do we actually get the data to consumers and third parties? How do we make it actionable?
2. How can we best protect consumer privacy and security without stifling innovation?
3. What other programmes are needed to drive adoption and ensure consumers benefit? Available data could dramatically change the way customers interact with their energy providers. What customer education programmes are needed? How can we ensure all customers, at all income levels, benefit? What stakeholder collaboration is needed at regulatory level?
4. How can we be sure the companies providing our energy are incentivised to save energy?
The White House has shown leadership and foresight. It is consumers who pay for energy now and will in future demand the new energy services that better data enables – from automated thermostats to electric vehicles. We hope our demand for these services will, in turn, unleash the innovation that also help to tackle energy and climate challenges.
Molly Webb is head of smart technologies at The Climate Group
Molly Webb, for the Guardian Professional Network
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 16 June 2011 16.40 BST
The US believes consumers can become energy innovators. At the Building the 21st Century Grid event, it announced support for all Americans to take advantage of new tools and services to manage their energy use and save on their utility bills. This is part of a wider set of initiatives and policy framework announced to support 'smart grid' - applying digital technologies to the electric system - to enable a clean energy economy, ensure a secure and reliable grid, and foster innovation and jobs of the future. There are plans to track progress and push further on energy education programmes.
A smart grid enables a clean energy future. The Climate Group's SMART 2020 report showed that a smart grid can deliver 2 Gt CO2 equivalent savings in 2020, globally, or four times the size of the UK's carbon footprint. The Climate Group – in partnership with Google – has been advocating for a consumer goal to open up energy information since 2010.
Empowering consumers is central to smart grid rollout for at least two main reasons.
First, consumers need choices. We know very little about the energy we use on a daily basis – from how much we consume, to the cost, source and carbon content of our power. Services that help make the energy system more efficient are as good as the data on which they rely. We can't manage what we can't measure.
We are just beginning to see the potential for better energy management through better data, and the impact could be huge.
Last May, David Cameron challenged government departments to cut carbon 10% which they started to do using real time monitoring. Better information has been shown to save households up to 22% of monthly consumption, though the change is often less dramatic if behaviour incentives aren't in place.
Second, consumers drive innovation in services. Better availability of data in other sectors like transport is already making services better. In London, mobile applications help commuters use the cycle hire scheme with confidence, showing us where to find and dock bikes. In New York, newly released mobile apps help us navigate public transport to save us travelling in high-carbon vehicles.
We can do the same for innovation in energy services. Home energy (remote) control systems help consumers save energy when they aren't home; daily information in high consuming buildings helps technicians find or anticipate energy saving options. "We're just starting to see the innovation that will come," said Bob Shapard, CEO of Oncor and Chairman of Gridwise Alliance. Oncor announced a mobile application and energy saving challenge for consumers. Oncor is based in Texas, where a competitive energy market operates under the principle of giving consumers ownership of their data.
But for now, energy data is generally not open and actionable. It is available only on a monthly (or less frequent) bill, and not electronically.
Key issues remain
1. How can we ensure an open platform where consumers have meaningful choices? Meters alone will not transform energy demand; we are just beginning to understand energy consumer behaviour, and the design of tools to help us change it. According to American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, utilities are not providing the right mix of feedback to achieve the maximum energy savings. How do we actually get the data to consumers and third parties? How do we make it actionable?
2. How can we best protect consumer privacy and security without stifling innovation?
3. What other programmes are needed to drive adoption and ensure consumers benefit? Available data could dramatically change the way customers interact with their energy providers. What customer education programmes are needed? How can we ensure all customers, at all income levels, benefit? What stakeholder collaboration is needed at regulatory level?
4. How can we be sure the companies providing our energy are incentivised to save energy?
The White House has shown leadership and foresight. It is consumers who pay for energy now and will in future demand the new energy services that better data enables – from automated thermostats to electric vehicles. We hope our demand for these services will, in turn, unleash the innovation that also help to tackle energy and climate challenges.
Molly Webb is head of smart technologies at The Climate Group
Energy is central to development
Affordable renewable energy needs to be taken seriously as the crucial ingredient of sustainable development, and the Ashden Awards recognise this
Energy, it seems, is the Cinderella of development policy. Listen to governments, aid agencies and the big foundations, and the priorities have been malaria, maternal mortality, vaccinations, HIV – health has hoovered up attention and aid dollars in the last decade. Education has come a close second. Now attention is slowly moving to include agriculture and food security, but the rhetoric is not being matched by the funding. However, on the issue that affects all of these, energy, there is a gap. When did a UK secretary of state for development, a prime minister or a president get up to make a speech on development and put energy at the top of the agenda?
One gets the sense that this will change. That in a decade's time – or even sooner – energy will be central to the debate on effective aid. At the moment, discussion around energy for the poorest in the world has something of the tone of those who talked about food security five years ago: deep knowledge about a hugely complex subject but also strong disagreements about the right approach to take, and no easy messages to grab public attention. What pushed food security to the top of the aid agenda was the price spike of 2008 and the knock-on consequences in food riots. Rising fuel prices could have a comparably destabilising impact, and that might be the point at which affordable renewable energy gets taken seriously as the crucial ingredient of sustainable development.
It's not hard to see how energy is central to every other development outcome. Energy use off the grid is disproportionately expensive and the poorest around the world spend a significant portion of their income on fuel in the form of batteries or kerosene. In rural areas, the use of firewood and charcoal is devastating the land, leading to flooding and soil erosion.
Energy has multiple development knock-on effects. Can kids do their homework? All depends on their homes having light. What is one of the leading causes of death for women and children? Chest diseases from inhaling smoke from cooking on open fires inside homes. What is one of the major constraints on small businesses? A secure, affordable energy supply. And so the list goes on.
On Thursday night, the Ashden Awards recognise companies and organisations across the developing world that are trying to bring clean energy within the reach of the poorest. They ferret out extraordinary stories. The message at their conference on Wednesday attended by the finalists was remarkably hopeful. One of the panellists, Matthew Lockwood, from the Institute of Development Studies, suggested that we may be finally at the tipping point in terms of technological innovation in cookstoves and solar panels so that there are now products coming to market which are cheap and practical enough to reach mass sales in the next few years. For example, the cost of photovoltaic cells for solar panels has gone down 50% in five years.
It's striking that while mobile phones have spread with dramatic speed across the developing world, renewable energy technology has been much slower, often requiring start-up funds from aid agencies to get off the ground. That could be about to change. Two companies in Africa, ToughStuff and Toyola, have developed affordable products that are now reaching hundreds of thousands. To ensure that everyone can afford the small capital outlay – Toyola's cookstoves are $7 each – Toyola has also developed a microcredit scheme to pay in installments.
Repeatedly, finalists mentioned that a key hurdle for developing their renewable businesses was lack of access to finance. Banks were too nervous of the business model to lend. A future possible source of funds could be carbon finance; here, Toyola based in Ghana, offered a fascinating insight into the struggle of getting access as a small business to these big international funds which could become significant if negotiations in Durban later this year are successful. Some of the main beneficiaries of the Clean Development Mechanism have been big Chinese companies, but Toyola's chief executive, Suraj Wahab Ologburo, decided to apply. The form-filling, the expert inspections and the amount of information required was daunting; he said he gave up thinking money would ever arrive. But to his amazement it did: Toyola is the first cookstove manufacturer in Africa to win carbon finance. Goldman Sachs has now bought its carbon offset. That has given it real credibility in its negotiations with banks for loans to expand in several other west African countries. But one suspects Ologburo's determination is unusual: he says Africa is full of entrepreneurs with good ideas, their problem is lack of finance.
Update: The international gold award winner was Toyola Energy, the clean-cook stove business in Ghana. Toyola is the first African enterprise to receive the carbon finance gold standard and only the second stove to achieve this standard. Three quarters of Toyola's customers are using the 'moneybox' credit scheme to pay back their loans using savings from charcoal.
Energy, it seems, is the Cinderella of development policy. Listen to governments, aid agencies and the big foundations, and the priorities have been malaria, maternal mortality, vaccinations, HIV – health has hoovered up attention and aid dollars in the last decade. Education has come a close second. Now attention is slowly moving to include agriculture and food security, but the rhetoric is not being matched by the funding. However, on the issue that affects all of these, energy, there is a gap. When did a UK secretary of state for development, a prime minister or a president get up to make a speech on development and put energy at the top of the agenda?
One gets the sense that this will change. That in a decade's time – or even sooner – energy will be central to the debate on effective aid. At the moment, discussion around energy for the poorest in the world has something of the tone of those who talked about food security five years ago: deep knowledge about a hugely complex subject but also strong disagreements about the right approach to take, and no easy messages to grab public attention. What pushed food security to the top of the aid agenda was the price spike of 2008 and the knock-on consequences in food riots. Rising fuel prices could have a comparably destabilising impact, and that might be the point at which affordable renewable energy gets taken seriously as the crucial ingredient of sustainable development.
It's not hard to see how energy is central to every other development outcome. Energy use off the grid is disproportionately expensive and the poorest around the world spend a significant portion of their income on fuel in the form of batteries or kerosene. In rural areas, the use of firewood and charcoal is devastating the land, leading to flooding and soil erosion.
Energy has multiple development knock-on effects. Can kids do their homework? All depends on their homes having light. What is one of the leading causes of death for women and children? Chest diseases from inhaling smoke from cooking on open fires inside homes. What is one of the major constraints on small businesses? A secure, affordable energy supply. And so the list goes on.
On Thursday night, the Ashden Awards recognise companies and organisations across the developing world that are trying to bring clean energy within the reach of the poorest. They ferret out extraordinary stories. The message at their conference on Wednesday attended by the finalists was remarkably hopeful. One of the panellists, Matthew Lockwood, from the Institute of Development Studies, suggested that we may be finally at the tipping point in terms of technological innovation in cookstoves and solar panels so that there are now products coming to market which are cheap and practical enough to reach mass sales in the next few years. For example, the cost of photovoltaic cells for solar panels has gone down 50% in five years.
It's striking that while mobile phones have spread with dramatic speed across the developing world, renewable energy technology has been much slower, often requiring start-up funds from aid agencies to get off the ground. That could be about to change. Two companies in Africa, ToughStuff and Toyola, have developed affordable products that are now reaching hundreds of thousands. To ensure that everyone can afford the small capital outlay – Toyola's cookstoves are $7 each – Toyola has also developed a microcredit scheme to pay in installments.
Repeatedly, finalists mentioned that a key hurdle for developing their renewable businesses was lack of access to finance. Banks were too nervous of the business model to lend. A future possible source of funds could be carbon finance; here, Toyola based in Ghana, offered a fascinating insight into the struggle of getting access as a small business to these big international funds which could become significant if negotiations in Durban later this year are successful. Some of the main beneficiaries of the Clean Development Mechanism have been big Chinese companies, but Toyola's chief executive, Suraj Wahab Ologburo, decided to apply. The form-filling, the expert inspections and the amount of information required was daunting; he said he gave up thinking money would ever arrive. But to his amazement it did: Toyola is the first cookstove manufacturer in Africa to win carbon finance. Goldman Sachs has now bought its carbon offset. That has given it real credibility in its negotiations with banks for loans to expand in several other west African countries. But one suspects Ologburo's determination is unusual: he says Africa is full of entrepreneurs with good ideas, their problem is lack of finance.
Update: The international gold award winner was Toyola Energy, the clean-cook stove business in Ghana. Toyola is the first African enterprise to receive the carbon finance gold standard and only the second stove to achieve this standard. Three quarters of Toyola's customers are using the 'moneybox' credit scheme to pay back their loans using savings from charcoal.
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