Monday, February 16, 2009

Tesco's in Purley applies for for a 6kw wind turbine

Comment given to Croydon Advertiser:

"I welcome any attempts by companies or individuals to embrace renewable technology because with ever increasing utility bills, it is simply good housekeeping to plan ahead. However, I am concerned that in an era of gesture politics such as Malcolm Wicks’ application for a wind turbine whilst Energy Minister, that Tesco’s 6kw wind turbine is merely tokenism. 6kw provides around enough energy for just one household. Therefore, in addition to applying for this wind turbine, I would urge Tesco to make a concerted effort to reduce its food miles as a route to reduce its overall carbon footprint. With profits of approaching £3 billion, they have the capacity to make the effort

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1 comment:

Mike said...

It is far worse than that. A 6kW turbine in a built up area is unlikely ever to produce 6kW. It is likely to produce a few hundred watts or less for most of the time because the wind speeds are much lower in the urban landscape, especially at sites like this one.

This means that the turbine is likely to have consumed more power in its manufacture than it can ever produce on this site.

In other words this kind of tokenism is actively damaging towards the environment...

Standing up for what matters