An oil-rich Gulf state is supplying the equivalent of 94,000 families in the UK with zero carbon energy. The first phase of the London Array, the world’s largest offshore wind farm, became operational in early 2013. 20% of the investment came from the state-sponsored Abu Dhabi renewable energy company Masdar. The remainder is owned by… Continue reading
Posts tagged solar
UK’s National Solar Centre opens in Cornwall
The first phase of the London Array, the world’s largest offshore wind farm, became operational in March (2013) in the Thames estuary. It’s a notable achievement. 175 turbines will power 470,000 homes, replacing 900,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. They will make a big contribution to meeting the government’s target to raise 15% of its… Continue reading →
Time for the solar revolution to end Africa’s kerosene nightmare
If the mobile phone had developed at the same rate as the principal means of lighting used across underdeveloped Africa and the Far East, we would still be using the brick size version that came out in the early 1990s. Smaller, lighter and more efficient phones would still be an awfully long way away. In… Continue reading →
Solar solution – sunny outlook for charging the iPad
It’s hard to compete with the Chinese in making the current generation of solar panels, with the price of silicon panels dropping fast. There are few if any manufacturers in the UK, and in the US the Tea Party party ridiculed the Obama administration for so conspicuously supporting Solyndra, the solar panel manufacturer that went… Continue reading →
Now rural England revolts over solar power
Anybody who proposes a windfarm, or even a single wind turbine, in the countryside these days can expect a tough battle with the locals. Let the proponents advance any of the standard arguments – the need for urgent action to combat global warming, a quick and cost-effective response to the coming energy crisis, the fact… Continue reading →
Our first solar year – report. Money made and CO2 saved.
12 months ago today two engineers drove away from our house after fitting 13 solar panels to our roof, and connecting the system to the National Grid. Their parting words were: “You’re now generating your own power”. True, although only up to a point. That many panels goes nowhere near providing the energy to run… Continue reading →