David MacKay

There is news today that David MacKay is to be named the the government's scientific advisor on climate change.
His book, "Sustainable energy - without the Hot air" is well worth a read, and can be downloaded from the internet.

Biochar

For anyone interested in Biochar, there was an article by David Adam, environmental correspondent, in The Guardian on Thursday.,

Tom Hutton

Some time after the Nant-y-Moch Protest Walk, I had a supportive email from Tom Hutton. Tom is a Freelance Writer and Photographer who lives in Mid Wales, and he has sent us some examples of his work, which will be shown on the Atistsagainstwindfarms website next week.
Until then, here is the first image that he sent, titled "Llyn Ogwen."

Did someone say wind turbines were popular in Germany?

BRANDENBURG CITIZENS PRESENT 18 ANTI-WINDFARM CANDIDATES TO THE ELECTIONS

Press release from the European Platform Against Windfarms

Date: 22 August 2009

Reacting against the decision of the State of Brandenburg to considerably increase the already vast areas covered by windfarms, a local Volksinitiative (Popular Initiative) petition was launched, which gathered 27,000 signatures against the State's decision.

Note : the State of Brandenburg is the "Land" around Berlin. Its capital is Potsdam, and Berlin itself constitutes another Land. Germany is a federal state comprising 16 "Länder".

The Brandenburg constitutional laws allow the people to present a list to the elections without forming a political party, so the Popular Initiative decided to carry their protest further. They are now presenting 18 candidates to the state elections, outside the party system.

They are neither "left" nor "right", and seek to remain what they are: an independent "political formation" whose platform is to oppose the further degradation of the countryside by windfarms, as well as the current water policy of their government.

They are not supported by any political party, and they are not looking for political alliances. They just don't want more windfarms, and would like their voice to be heard. The elections will take place on September 27th.

Increasingly, many politicians violate their own laws. Entire countries are handed over to powerful windpower lobbies who remodel the landscape as they see fit. Wildlife reserves and historical landmarks cease to be protected so as to accommodate private financial interests. In the circumstances, it is no surprise to see people voting against the traditional parties who have betrayed them.

We, the European Platform Against Windfarms, representing 360 associations from 19 European countries, give our full support to the Volksinitiative. We approve of their action and wish them a resounding success at the coming elections.

May reason prevail. We cannot allow the misguided policies of our present leaders to disfigure natural, monumental, and cultural Europe, turning it into an industrial wasteland from Lapland to Gibraltar. They won’t even respect World Heritage sites and monuments (such as Mont-Saint-Michel, Normandy, where we are organising an international protest march on September 26th). There appears to be no limits to the subsidised greed that has been unleashed.

It is high time to rethink Europe's windfarm policy.

EPAW

www.epaw.org

Tidal Power

There is an interesting article in today's Guardian, about plans to use tidal power to supply electricity for the island of Islay.

James Delingpole in The Telegraph

More here about last week's "Any Questions," in an article by James Delingpole, with some interesting comments, most especially from Jenny Keal, who is featured on the artistsagainstwind farms website along with her husband, David Bellamy. This painting of the Lliw Reservoir, Mynydd y Gwair is a pastel that Jenny completed following the 2005 "Paint it while its there" day, in South Wales.

Scroll down through the comments to find Jenny's contribution:
jennykeal on Aug 24th, 2009 at 5:27 pm,
which also includes the text of a letter that she sent to Jonathan Dimbleby at Any Answers
This is an excerpt from Jenny's letter:

"Neither James Delingpole nor Jonathon Porritt addressed the real problem of wind power in any depth because they were distracted into an argument about whether climate change is happening or not.

No one can say for sure if carbon is raising the temperature of the earth. There may be a consensus of scientists for or against but there is no proof either way and the governments of the world are taking action on what is pure speculation. Leaving that aside, the main problem with wind power is that it cannot displace conventionally generated energy, such as oil or gas, coal or nuclear, because it is unreliable. It does not matter how many times this is pointed out to the BBC you cannot get to grips with the fact that the wind does not blow all the time and therefore no conventional power station can be closed down as they are needed for backup. Are you, Jonathan Dimbleby, prepared to live your life with a situation where you can only use electricity in your house when the wind blows? It is pie in the sky to say that other forms of renewables can substitute for wind power when there is no wind because there is virtually no investment in wave or tidal energy research or development. All our eggs are being dropped into the bottomless basket case of wind energy."

Must listen!

In the picture: Ann West, (Vice Chairman of Country Guardian) taking part in the nationwide "Paint it while it's there" day in 2005, when artists and campaigners from all around Britain went out to sketch their threatened landscapes. You can hear Ann West and Robin Laird responding to D.J.Gent’s question:“Is the answer to an 80% reduction in carbon emissions blowing in the wind?” if you:
Listen to : "ANY ANSWERS”
The answers are towards the end of the clip – starting at about 22 minutes into the programme.
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13:10–14:00
Any Questions?
21/08/2009
Listen to this on iplayer while it is still available
Jonathan Dimbleby chairs the topical debate from Middle Wallop, Hampshire.
The panellists are writer Kate Mosse, environmental campaigner Jonathon Porritt,
writer and broadcaster James Delingpole and lawyer Mark Stephens.
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“ANY QUESTIONS” (starts about 34 minutes into the programme).
followed by “ANY ANSWERS” both available online now
Please send in your comments to “ANY ANSWERS” at:
any.answers@bbc.co.uk