Renewable Energy - Your view and our views

Where Northumberland National Park stands on this issue

Renewable energy is a hot topic - raising people's temperature for reasons from reducing carbon emissions to conserving the view. As the current wind farm debate rages back and forth across the region, dismay at the cumulative visual impact of large-scale developments masks the argument that renewable energy on a small enterprise level can be very beneficial for both user and landscape alike.

The National Park Authority is staunchly in favour of renewable energy on a domestic or community scale, and its Sustainable Development Fund supports a variety of renewable options because they have a minimal impact on the environment. These can include wind, solar photovoltaic electricity, solar water heating, geothermal heat pump (tapping the thermal energy stored in the earth from a bore hole or trench), hydro-electricity and biomass energy generating systems. Recently, Whitelee Farm Wildlife Cottages have had a hot water system installed using a geothermal coil, plus a wind turbine and solar panels for general power; the Old Repeater Station hostel at Grindon has provided hot showers for weary travellers with power converted from a bore hole which also provides sweet drinking water. The Border Reiver café at Otterburn has had a solar water heating system put in, and this autumn Heatherslaw Mill at Etal will refurbish its waterwheel with the installation of a micro-hydro electricity generation unit.

Of course, it's encouraging to have financial help to do something that will benefit the environment, but realistically what can a renewable energy system achieve for a rural home or business? The question is timely as the price and continuity of supply of finite fuel resources are in the news. At what point do the pips squeak enough to get everyone reaching for alternatives? We thought the views of experienced renewable energy users should be given an airing to help others considering the pros and cons.

In the past few years, a range of capital grants have been available to encourage people to install renewable energy systems. One farming family that took advantage in 1999 were Roger and Jane Wilson who run Gibshiel in Tarset. At 800 feet a.s.l. their home and business is not on the national grid so self-generation of power is essential for heat, light and appliances in the home plus light and lambing heaters on the farm.

A renewable package was installed to provide fifty percent of their energy needs including a wind turbine eight photovoltaic panels and an eight-battery storage unit to store the electricity produced. This set-up is managed by an inverter which provides an interface between the battery pack and a diesel generator. It senses the use of devices with different electricity needs (low power lighting or energy hungry appliances) and switches from one to the other, providing a seamless electricity supply and saving battery life. A battery has to be replaced every 1000 kW hours (roughly 5 years) or it becomes inefficient. Each cell is £300 making stored power quite expensive to use and worth conserving.

"The beauty of this system," says Roger, "is that it's easy to run. Although it doesn't  supply all we need - we also have an LPG stove - it would cost about fifty per cent more to use diesel alone with a lot more noise and fumes. The quietness of the wind turbine, even in full spin, is often commented on by visitors, and the solar panels just do their job with no fuss or maintenance."

Installation of the Wilson's wind turbine and battery shed required a shed-sized concrete platform and cabling, but once the infrastructure is in place it will be easy to extend the renewable energy elements if it becomes economic to do so.  At present, mains electricity is cheaper, but Roger says that when you generate your own energy it makes you much more conscious about how you use power. "In this part of the world we are weather dependent," he explained. "so you have to think hard about your lifestyle, ensure you have good insulation and use low-energy appliances where you can."

His feelings of energy-awareness were echoed by Gill Cowell and her husband, who moved into Cairny Croft, an off-grid small holding at Greenhead, two years ago. The small wind turbine was an important selling point for them when they bought the property as they hoped to plug in to a more sustainable lifestyle.

"It hasn't really been as effective as we'd hoped," Gill said, "we still have to have a back-up diesel generator with an inverter and a six-battery pack, and we use LPG and a wood burning stove. It has made us very sensitive to how we use our power so we use low-energy light bulbs and don't leave things on standby, and we burn recycled newspaper briquettes.

"We're still committed to sustainable energy though, and are looking at extending our alternative system with solar power and bio diesel."

According to North Energy, a consultancy that advises government and businesses on cost effective energy systems, who also initiated the Tynedale Renewable Energy Trail funded by SDF, many of the rural business grant programmes are coming to an end now but there are several still available for community and domestic energy, and others may be coming through.

If you're keen to consider renewable energy your first port of call should be the Energy Saving Trust, who give a great deal of useful information about efficient energy management and prices of alternative technologies. EST runs programmes with grants for community heating projects and with the Carbon Trust for domestic photovoltaic panels.  The EST North East advice centre on 0800 512 012 can help you through the maze.  The Community Council of Northumberland's project, REALL (Renewable Energy at a Local Level), also supports community initiatives with on-site advice and helps obtain grants for feasibility work (visit http://www.ca-north.org.uk/). Meanwhile, The National Park Sustainable Development Fund will consider funding proposals for innovative business and community projects which show environmental, social and economic sustainability.

Readers' Views

Letter from Kevin Bell

I would just like to comment on some of the comments by Francis Griss. No commercial wind farm has yet been able to achieve better than 25% usage so the, “Occasional lulls in wind [that] may stop wind turbines working” are actually the norm; most of the time wind turbines will not produce electricity. Furthermore, the National Grid cannot accept sudden inputs of power, nor can power stations just be switched off and on like a light switch and so traditional power stations will always be needed to smooth out the demand. This means that wind power will not result in the closure of even one power station.

Although I am totally opposed to commercial wind farms, which are proposed only to grab as much government money as possible, I DO believe in local small-scale projects, utilising all forms of alternative energy, to supplement energy needs. It really is depressing that Northumberland is being threatened by so many of these dis-proven and destructive installations.

Kevin Bell.

Letter from Islay Graham

Why doesn't the government fund more research into tidal power? There has to be some way in which some of that energy can be harnessed to reduce our need for finite resources. It is as reliable as clockwork so there would be no interuptions in flow. There is plenty of energy generated when you see the destruction it can cause along a coast line. This is where I feel governments need to be looking. As for personal generators each household should be encouraged to utilise the resources available to them i.e If a small burn passes a property why not have a water wheel & solar panels? If you live on a hill have a wind turbine etc.

Islay Graham.

What's your view? Email us at hottopics@nnpa.org.uk