Renewable Engergy

The UK has massive resources in wind and wave power and, in the first of these, has done relatively well to ramp up development and installation. The UK is the windiest part of Europe.

By 2007, there were 2GW of turbines installed. The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) says 9GW of offshore wind will be in place by 2015, overtaking installed nuclear power.

According to the Centre for Alternative Technology, wave power could supply 10% of the UK'senergy needs but this technology is at a much earlier stage. Although there are scores of Britishdesigns for wave energy converters, none are anywhere near commercial scale.Solar technologies include photovoltaics or PV, where sunlight is used to create electricity directly and solar thermal, which can be used in small set-ups to heat water for homes.

Concentrating solar power plants focus sunlight from hundreds of mirrors onto a central tower,where water is superheated into steam that can turn turbines and make electricity.

Geothermal energy involves tapping the heat stored underground. Traditional methods harness naturally occurring pockets of steam or hot water that rise from deep underground, bringing with them the energy stored by the rocks there. In the domestic and farm context, ground heat source pumps have been very successful with new builds. They tend to be less successful when retro fitted.

At Barbers Rural we have been concentrating mainly on Wind power with farm based schemes up to 100kw. For more information, contact Mike Taylor 01630 692500.