Tag: eco
The hidden history of wind power in Peterborough
I am convinced that the design of wind turbines is still in its infancy. Having said that, I don’t really understand why people are sometimes quite rabidly opposed to the air fix propellor on a stick model, which is doing such a great job all over Europe. Yes they are very engineer-y. Yes they are so clearly using technology used in the aircraft industry. Yes, they are very very masculine and depending on where they are put they can be a little domineering. But how could it be otherwise? These are the soldiers: the vanguard of the wind generation revolution: these massive rotators fight to get the tiniest bit of political support, they are the machines which have to demonstrate massive power potential in locations remote from their own consumers. They have not picked their territory: they are nobly fighting to secure a place in the same antiquated network model as the fossil and nuclear power generators we need to replace: not necessarily the ideal battle field for wind. When you look at one of the larger structures you cannot fail to recognise the language of aeroplanes including their use in warfare: even if your awareness is purely instinctive or unconscious. Perhaps that is part of the negativity they sometimes attract. Here they are in cheerful, colourful mode doing their bit to explain and defend the work of the wind energy industry (and attracting the usual derisory moans and grizzles).
But while this massive battle rages, delicate vertical axis models have been available for ages (look up VAWT ). They have been quietly dancing, spinning curvaceously, unobtrusively, like wine glasses or a flimsy dress picking up the tiniest, the slightest breath of wind. The delicacy of what they can do doesn’t always get as far as Youtube, where up-loaders succumb to the prevailing pressure to post videos showing how fast, rather than how slow they can go. Here is one going pretty fast and working flat out for a Welsh school:
A decade ago I felt that the VAWTs might be the future, with their much more feminine profiles, greater potential to blend in and work quietly, more decoratively and much less obtrusively. Unhampered by lurking military resonances. Would they last longer, situated as they can be in much less exposed settings? Would they prove more resilient? They look good near trees and buildings and they work hard in community settings, right alongside the consumer of the power they generate, wasting much less in the grid. I have wondered: would these smaller sideways turners be the future? They certainly don’t seem to generate the same vituperative anti wind spin. If they haven’t already caught your attention look up “vertical axis wind turbine” on Youtube. You will find a huge international ideas festival of designs and the international community of people: engineers, technicians, artists… working on them, in their gardens, in their schools, in their workshops and factories.
Then there are the millions of people fascinated by the decorative potential of wind.
This isn’t a wind turbine: it is a moving sculpture and it talks maths, jellyfish and snowflakes. It appeals to wind chime enthusiasts, garden designers. But can you imagine something like it gently turning on The Green Backyard and providing power? Or in one of Peterborough’s parks? Couldn’t something a little simpler go on your chimney? Couldn’t wind power look stunning?
Considering its location, the unitary authority area of Peterborough has astonishingly low levels of wind generated power. Personally I assume this has to do with its politics. It can’t be to do with its engineering skill base. But did you know that Peterborough does have a well hidden history of wind turbine investigation, if not early adoption? But it is so well hidden that you could be driven to wonder whether it might actually have been concealed. You have to be in the know to have even found out that there is something to look for. I know that someone tried and where it happened: but I only know a tiny bit about it, but it doesn’t make sense: there isn’t a narrative which tells the story. I am sure there must be more to it than I have been able to discover. I also don’t know why this early attempt at wind power generation fell so early and failed to progress. Who or what stopped it in its tracks? Was it really just lack of money? Could that have been what scuppered it? I for one don’t know what happened. I am inviting you to share what you know with me privately using this form or publicly in the comments section:
A VISIT TO RAMSEY FOODBANK
RAMSEY FOODBANK SHOWS ME WHAT IT DOES
Last week I visited Cambridgeshire’s newest foodbank, which opened a year ago in Ramsey. This visit formed one of a number of visits to the region’s growing number of food banks by members of the European Green Team in the run up to the European elections on 22nd May. Our team has reported on Hunger in the East.
The Ramsey foodbank is based at St Thomas a Becket on Ramsey High Street and it works as part of the network of Trussell Trust foodbanks which now serve no fewer than fourteen communities throughout Cambridgeshire.
“I arrived with me lots of grand ideas and optimism. Less than a week before my visit I had been at the opening of a new food cooperative in Peterborough which has huge ambitions to change the way we shop and eat in the city. I am talking to growers and makers and I am often around people who jar and pot things.
“When I arrived in Ramsey the market town sitting in an area of rich arable land was particularly green and beautiful, and lush with recent rain. The harsh realities of hunger in an area which is so very rich agriculturally brought me down to earth and made me think.”
WHY EMPTY KITCHEN CUPBOARDS IN RAMSEY?
Rev’d Gita Bond, who manages the Ramsey project explained that “The foodbank provides an emergency food supply for people without an income or on an income so low that they cannot afford food. Its clientele is identified by one of a dozen different agencies as in need of emergency food. They are issued with a voucher.”
The food bank relies on ongoing donations from parishioners and residents and it is also on the lookout for people who can deliver donations to people who are not mobile or who live further away.
Gita didn’t need to explain about the tea and biscuit which awaits volunteers: a group of people were talking and organising all manner of things around a busy and welcoming table. The church works with a wide range of community groups and there is a warm welcome for everybody.
Foodbanks have proliferated because successive governments have failed and failed and failed again to tackle poverty wages.
The costs of living rise and people in work find their pay stands still and it is impossible to pay all the bills and put food on the table. People earning poverty pay are a growing part of those turning to food banks for help.
People not in work for various reasons are more obviously vulnerable to hunger. But they are also victims of ideologically motivated and regressive government decisions.
The Green Party disapproves very strongly of the Department of Work and Pensions’ “sanctions” regime, which literally removes the welfare safety net from vulnerable claimants. Although a sanction can later be removed, a hunger gap opens up immediately. If the person falling into that hunger gap is lucky, they might get help from the foodbank.
“Worries have recently been expressed to me that employees in the DWP may be being prevented by their line managers from identifying and referring people who need food immediately.”
“We need an immediate change in government policy. Policy has gone back to before the second world war: we had malnutrition then and it is shameful that it has come back.
“And on the ground, regardless of who gets elected on 22nd May, we need to figure out how we can improve our food resilience.
“I was both impressed and horrified. I could see that almost all the food in the store is processed and packaged and it needs to be like that in order to have a reasonably long shelf life. Consequently there is nothing fresh at all. If someone donates something with a source of protein in it, such as a tin of fish or meatballs it can be issued. But if what is received is nutritionally unbalanced or poor, or all if all the donations are pasta, then that is all the foodbank can issue.
“I suspect that what happens is that someone steps in: I bet it is someone with very limited means themselves, but it will be someone who cares. Communities work like this: but it is awful that they have to. But I am so very impressed with what they do manage to achieve despite the problems.
“What I simply don’t understand is why we accept this system. Isn’t it insane for a country as wealthy as ours to function in this miserable way?
CALL TO RETAIL CHAINS TO HELP
The Green Party is urging retail chains with outlets in the Ramsey area to make small regular donations of suitable items. A list is available from the foodbank.
“But beyond these immediate calls for help, we are urging food processors to identify and minimise food waste. I sometimes hear about large amounts of perfectly edible food being dumped in Cambridgeshire: some of it destined for landfill (because it has been packaged and it is not worth unpacking it). Some of it goes for composting. In fact I heard a little while ago that on a farm close to Ramsey supermarket reject tomatoes were being composted. They might be the wrong colour or shape. This is not sustainable: this is not right.
“It is high time we got this edible fresh food quickly to people who want and need good quality local food. I am perfectly happy to go and talk to a producer or a shop myself about what goes wrong in our broken food systems and how we can work to tackle hunger. I think the co-existence of food waste and hunger demonstrates that the food economy is not working efficiently. This is not good for consumers, but it doesn’t do any good to local farmers or food producers either.
(Rainproof) May Day Celebration on Saturday 3rd May 2014 at the Green Backyard
Collecting Ideas for a First Green Party Manifesto for Peterborough
is an event happening between now and 16th April 2014
If you live in Peterborough your local Green Party is collecting ideas
You can post an idea or a policy for inclusion in the Manifesto by adding it as a comment to this post.
