Tyrone Constitution, News for Tyrone and Ireland

BWEA, the UK leading renewable business organisation welcomed today’s budget as the first step towards providing a framework for an expansion of renewable energy.

BWEA Chairman Adam Bruce said “This budget begins to map out a new policy deal for renewable energy” he added “The Government is beginning to understand the scale of the potential for the UK provided by renewable energy. Not only is it good for the planet, it is good for the economy as well.”

BWEA supports today’s Budget announcement of the launch a consultation on a new Renewable Energy Strategy in this Summer, which will consider how the UK can deliver on the new binding target of delivering 15% of all the UK’s energy from renewable sources by 2020.

The 2020 target will require up to 40% of the UK’s electricity supply to come from renewables, including some 33GW of offshore wind power, in little over a decade. The new strategy will have to tackle the real problems that wind companies face gaining access to the National Grid and the severe delays in the planning system.

The Budget confirmed that the strategy will also look at whether to introduce a new support mechanism of ‘feed-in tariff’ for small and micro generation. Feed in tariffs provide a fixed price and guaranteed sale for renewables producers. BWEA support the measure and welcome the Government’s move.

BWEA is pleased that the Government has reconfirmed its previous pledge to provide £200m for renewables & low carbon technologies as part of the Environmental Transformation Fund. However, what was missing from the Budget was a new support structure for the emerging technologies of wave & tidal power, which will be needed in the longer term.

Bruce added ‘BWEA supports the proposals for carbon budgets, which could make a real difference to tackling climate change, but the Government must recognise that households and businesses will only be able to live within them if they have access to clean, green energy on the scale that only wind can supply’.

“97 per cent say wind farms would have no impact on their decision to visit Scotland again”

Scottish Government study released today on economic impact of wind farms on tourism, claims that for 97% of visitors “wind farms would have no impact on their decision to visit Scotland again”. The study also claims 68% of tourists were positive about the statement “a well suited wind farm does not ruin the landscape”, with a further 12% neutral.

Jason Ormiston, Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, BWEA’s sister organisation in Scotland, in welcoming the report, said: “This report confirms that the impact on tourism of sensible wind farm development is minimal, if not zero, and if there are any losses to the Scottish economy they would be more than offset by establishing a renewables industry in Scotland.”

He added: “By 2020, the Scottish renewables industry will be worth billions, whereas this report says, on a high development, total visibility scenario, that the Scottish tourism industry will contribute £4.7 million less than it otherwise would have done to the Scottish economy if renewable electricity targets are delivered.”

The study, completed by Glasgow’s Caledonian University, based on survey responses and research findings, states that the total potential drop-off in tourist income could be as little as 0.18%, with income from renewables growing “by over £2 billion in real terms”. In total, it found 75% of respondents felt wind farms had a positive or neutral impact on the landscape. The findings are consistent with a MORI Scotland 2002 poll, conducted amongst visitors to Argyll and Bute.(2)

Adam Bruce, BWEA Chairman said: “This is quite simply excellent news for the Scottish economy and environment. It shows that the purported adverse effect of wind farms on tourism is simply a myth. It also shows something that the BWEA has been saying all along: benefits of wind power outweigh the costs, by a very large margin.”

New legislation to be introduced to relax planning rules for micro- and small-wind projects

BWEA, the trade association representing the UK’s micro- and small-wind industry, today welcomed the Govt’s decision to relax planning rules for onsite household wind turbines.

The Govt plans to allow householders to install wind turbines, with a diameter of up to 2m, without having to get planning permission from local councils.

Alex Murley BWEA Small Systems Manager said “Planning is one of the major blockages to providing onsite renewables for homes and businesses” he added “thousands of applications are stuck in the planning process, this reform will make it much easier for consumers to supply their own clean, green energy.”

The Govt is introducing new regulation as part of its reform of the planning system, the General Permitted Development Order (GPDO), to relax planning red tape for domestic renewable energy. Micro-wind turbines and air source heat pumps has passed the first stage of being included in the new guidance having won UK Government approval from DCLG, it now has to be referred to the EU for final ratification before coming into force.

On the 17th of March hundreds of young people will take to the streets of Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick, adding even more colour to Ireland’s greenest day. The Suas volunteers will be painting shamrocks on the faces of revellers young and old and accepting donations to support schools in the slum areas of India and Kenya.

All the money raised by the Suas volunteers goes directly to Suas’ partner schools in Calcutta, India and Nairobi, Kenya. Last year, Suas was the official charity of the St. Patrick’s Festival and raised around €32,000. Along with other fundraising, this provides a quality, holistic education for almost 2,500 children living in the cities’ poorest areas, some of whom are the first generation in their families to receive a formal education.

Suas is an Irish charity originally set up by third-level students that supports educational projects in Ireland as well as overseas. Suas offers volunteering opportunities for young people nationwide to engage in community programmes such as homework clubs, refugee mentoring programmes, computer and radio clubhouses. Young people also engage in awareness raising projects and fundraising events for the partner schools. Suas is also sending a team of 90 Irish third-level volunteers to work with partner schools for ten weeks during the summer of 2007.

Suas CEO, Dr. Colman Farrell said that “The Suas St. Patrick’s Day Fundraiser is a great example of young people giving up their St. Patrick’s Day to support their peers overseas. When €100 provides quality education, including food and books, for a child for a year, just think how far the proceeds from the St. Patrick’s Day fundraiser will go.

“The schools supported by Suas are run by leaders in their communities making a difference by providing education in disadvantaged areas. We are delighted to be supporting them”

For further information about Suas or to volunteer on St. Patrick’s Day go to www.suas.ie