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WINDMILLS ON MY MIND-b_yRay Ellis

We hear, daily, glib political statements that we need to save the environment, use renewable energy and reduce our carbon footprint.

I think we all now accept that global tem­peratures are increasing. However, what the effect of this will be on this country and how best to deal with it is less clear. Will we have drought or flood? Will it be like this year or last year? Until we see what the effect is, how can we plan for it?

Wind power has been pushed as one of our saviours. If we look at this more closely, the general output from a current land-based wind generator is just under a megawatt, and projections for future giant generators indicate 2.5MW.The output from the Drax power station is 3490MW, so it would require 1400 of these giant windmills to equal this output even at full power. However, government figures show that wind turbines at sea only aver­age 28% of their potential output, while those overland achieve only 23%.

Whilst one old windmill on the Sussex

Downs is very pretty, thousands of mod­ern windmills would be more overpower­ing visually than electrically.

Small wind-powered generators, provid­ing 24 volts to charge batteries for home use, provide continuous power from the batteries through an inverter to run house lighting. While this works quite well in the open countryside, there is less us­able wind in an urban environment.

Tidal power is now under consideration again with the revised Severn barrage (this was first considered in the I 930s). However, the environmental effect on habitats could be a disaster and a full en­vironmental assessment will be long and complex.

What are the current options?

The best solution is to reduce our own energy use. Some simple actions are worthwhile.

We can buy locally-grown produce in season, thus reducing transport and sup­porting our farmers who manage the countryside and maintain vital habitats for us.

When we feel cold, put on a jumper in­stead of turning up the thermostat.

Reduce the room temperature by one degree.

Fit a timer to the immersion heater so that the water is heated for just short pe­riods each day.

Switch off lights when you are out of the room.

Remove or reduce the intensity of the floodlights or security lights outside the house.

As these DIY improvements have not been studied in detail, I cannot find pub­lished data to quantify their effect. How­ever, the 30% reduction in my heating and lighting bill in recent years would sug­gest that encouraging energy reduction should be the first priority for the gov­ernment, rather than pressing on with measures which spoil our beautiful coun­tryside.

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The Campaign to Protect Rural England exists to promote the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of rural England by encouraging the sustainable use of land and other natural resources in town and country.