Big Barn Food Project – Iwerne Minster Village Stores

Big Barn Food Project – Iwerne Minster Village Stores

Masters Quarry Wind Turbine Application

Please find below some paragraphs addressing the Councillor’s concerns, perhaps it will be of use. Happy to send on more, maybe for the Dorset Energise website, if that is of interest?

Kind regards

Marlies
http://www.infinergy.co.uk/ 

Migrating birds

The wind industry is a relatively young industry that has learned enormous amounts in the last 2 decades where development can and cannot take place. The industry has learned from early mistakes and largely improved its development practice; best practice guidelines now incorporate guidance on how to protect wildlife, for example having ecological designated areas where development cannot take place and the mapping of migration routes to stay well away from. Close cooperation with consultees such as Natural England, the RSPB and Scottish Natural Heritage ensures responsible development.

Ruth Davis head of Climate Change Policy at the RSPB, said: “The need for renewable energy could not be more urgent. Left unchecked, climate change threatens many species with extinction. Yet, that sense of urgency is not translating into action on the ground to harness the abundant wind energy around us.

“The solutions are largely common sense. We need a clear lead from government on where wind farms should be built and clear guidance for local councils on how to deal with applications. We must reduce the many needless delays that beset wind farm developments.

“This report shows that if we get it right, the UK can produce huge amounts of clean energy without time-consuming conflicts and harm to our wildlife. Get it wrong and people may reject wind power. That would be disastrous.”

David Baldock, Director of the IEEP, said: “The development of renewable energy in Britain has to accelerate greatly if new binding targets are to be met. This means that the planning system must facilitate a step change in the construction of wind power. The best experience elsewhere shows that this is possible. Damage to birds and other wildlife can be minimised by a strong or proactive approach – guiding turbines to the right sites. Good planning can facilitate development appropriate for the long term”

Backup

The Department of Energy and Climate Change feels that security of supply comes from a having mix of technologies. Having a mix means that if there is a problem in one part of the system, we have a better chance of keeping the lights on, and doing so affordably. This mix will include cleaner fossil fuels as well as nuclear and renewables.

Wind farms offer a flexible, modular system that if implemented as a diversified resource with effective geographic spread can offer a reliable source of low-carbon energy, forming a core part of a mixed renewables portfolio

in combination with a reduced platform of responsive conventional capacity.

The increasing installed capacity of wind power across the UK poses a considerable technical challenge to ensure the balance of demand and supply is maintained at all times across the grid. However, while availability of wind is to some extent uncertain for any one area, coping with large swings in supply and demand is a problem transmission operators have been familiar with for some time. And while the requirement on existing plant to provide some extra

reserve capacity causes some concern, it is clear that national installed wind capacity can form an aggregated ‘balancing region’ whereby its perceived unreliability due to site-specific variability has been overestimated.

Viability of onshore wind

Onshore wind is the most cost effective of all renewable energy sources to date. At the moment generating electricity from renewable technologies is more costly than generating it from fossil fuels. If we are to meet our target of producing 15% of our energy from renewables by 2020 then appropriate support must be provided now to these technologies to ensure that they become viable and cost effective in the longer term. The Department of Energy and Climate Change says on economics of onshore wind: “We recognise that the costs of renewable technologies must come down – and they are. The gap between onshore wind costs and combined cycle gas turbine costs has halved in the last five years. We are therefore proposing a reduction in the level of support to onshore wind to reflect that their renewable technologies must become cost competitive with other low carbon sources in the longer term. Recent energy bill increases have been driven by rising wholesale energy costs, mainly the price of imported natural gas, which makes up around half of household energy bills. Figures published Ofgem, the electricity regulator, shows that the impact of the Renewable Obligation for large scale onshore wind in 2011 was £6.00 per household.”

SUNDAY 10th JUNE, 1pm – 4pm, 50/50 Plant Sale at Orchard Farmhouse

Orchard Farmhouse is hosting a 50/50 plant sale on Sunday afternoon 10th June in aid of the Nuttlebury Project Forest Garden.

Bring your own plants to sell and 50% you keep and 50% goes towards buying plants for the Forest Garden.

Or just come along and buy.

The Plant Sale is from 1 pm to 4 pm.  Entrance is free.  For a small charge Sarah will be offering tea and her home made organic cakes in the farmhouse and the designer of the Forest Garden, Simon Keyte, will be giving a short tour and talk about the Nuttlebury Project (£1 adults, children free) at 3 pm.  Plippy the Lamb will be on display.

If you are bringing plants, it would be ideal if you can drop them off in the morning between 11 am and 12 Noon please.  Please put a label showing the price you want us to sell for, your name and the species of plant.  Flowers and veg welcome.  If you prefer, you can  donate your plant and just let us know what it is.

Please park in Wonston so as not to block neighbours.  There is space along the main road through the village.

Directions to Orchard Farmhouse on www.orchardfarmhouse.co.uk.

Learning how to “Thrive” in uncertain times could be your most important asset: Transition Network’s new training – Totnes, 16-17 June 2012

There is no shortage of bad news, but what about the untold stories of hope, positive action, and opportunity? This weekend will be packed with ways for you to create thriving, prosperous relocalised economies along with the skills for doing to enable it to happen. These two days are an inspiration and practical immersion in the culture of transition we are in. Whatever your interest, whatever your passion, this training is designed to help you through the difficult bits, and to build positive ways forward. Click here for more information.

You will meet others who are facing similar challenges. The training will embody the Transition movement’s spirit of co-creation in a wide ranging exploration of what has been achieved and what is now possible. We will be specifically looking at how to sustain momentum in your Transition Initiative and personally, how to get more people involved, and how to translate that involvement into active engagement. We hope to see you there!

Trainers: The training will be facilitated by Naresh Giangrande, co-founder of Transition Town Totnes and Transition Training, and Mandy Dean, who has been a teacher and trainer for over 15 years and has worked in sustainable land use research, horticulture, vocational training and is also qualified as a medical herbalist.

Costs: We are trying out a new financing model, inspired by the “Gift Economy” and Transition Portugal. All we ask for is a payment of £40 prior to the course (as a deposit). The actual full costs of the training weekend is around £105 (depending on number of participants), but we leave it up to each participant to decide after the course, if and how much they can afford or want to contribute to this course as a way of gratitude and support of its continuity in the future.

Where & When: The venue will be Birdwood House, in the heart of Totnes, about 10 minutes walk from Totnes Railway station. Dates: Saturday, 16 June to Sunday, 17 June 2012 from 9:30am-5:00pm

Ready to book? Click here

For more course information, click here or contact training@transitionnetwork.org if you have any questions.

The Co-operative Shale Gas Campaign Event – DORCHESTER, May 30th 2012

Once-in-a-generation opportunity Email from Deborah Meadon at Friends of the Earth

I’m Deborah Meaden – you might know me from the TV programme Dragons’ Den.

I’m supporting Friends of the Earth’s Clean British Energy campaign because gas, coal and nuclear are the technologies of the past. We can’t afford not to switch the UK to home-grown clean power.

The Government’s upcoming energy bill is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to revolutionise the way we produce electricity in this country.

Please email Energy Secretary Ed Davey to call for more Clean British Energy in his Bill.

It’s vital that our politicians hear from as many people as possible that renewable energy really is popular.

Our country has the skills and the talent to be world-beaters in the renewable energy technologies.

Politicians need to take this multibillion pound opportunity to tackle climate change.

Email the Energy Secretary today.

Thanks for your support – we all have a part to play in this.

Best wishes,

Deborah Meaden

April enews from Living Streets