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Saving the planet - but which way is best?
WE all know it's good to be green and how we should go about making our homes more energy efficient and maybe even generate our own, renewable power. But once you've done it, do you feel like an environmental angel or are solar panels and the like just a load of eco hype? Hannah Gray investigates.
WE all know it's good to be green and how we should go about making our homes more energy efficient and maybe even generate our own, renewable power. But once you've done it, do you feel like an environmental angel or are solar panels and the like just a load of eco hype? Hannah Gray investigates.John keeps warm and saves money with insulation
JOHN Howlett, of Sprignall, South Bretton, Peterborough, recently had loft and cavity wall insulation installed in his home.
As he was over 65, he was able to get a grant and so the insulation didn't cost him a penny.
He has taken these measure in previous properties he has lived in and has always been sure there is a benefit.
In terms of finances, this can be difficult to judge because of increasing energy prices, but he feels that as far as comfort goes, there is an instant improvement.
"It's a lot warmer and you can feel it," he said.
"You can feel the difference when you have this done, especially in the loft, where it's about nine or 10ins thick," he said.
"When the central heating goes off it stays warmer for longer."
John's insulation was installed by Aran Services.
Ian Bowers, one of the company's directors, said that insulating was an important first step to take in saving money and being green. He said the message was "energy conservation before energy generation".
He added: "It's a matter of doing the cheapest and most cost effective things first. Cavity wall insulation saves a lot more energy than solar panels will."
Pupils given a good start in learning how to be green
IF we are to teach future generations how to be green, then a good way to start is at school, and not just in terms of what is taught in the classroom, but the buildings themselves.
Newborough Primary School is certainly leading by example with a range of green measures.
Most striking of these is a "green roof" on the building, which is made of a grass-like plant called sedum.
Green roofs produce oxygen and improve air quality by helping to absorb carbon dioxide, which is thought to be a major contributor to global warming.
They retain a high percentage of rainwater resulting in a slower and more controlled water run off, which reduces the load on drainage systems.
This type of roof is also seen as a practical and cost-effective way of meeting planning requirements for buildings which blend in with the local environment.
They are less expensive than many traditional roofs, easy to maintain and provide habitat for a variety of wildlife.
As another part of the environmental measures at the new school, rainwater is harvested and collected in an underground storage reservoir and then pumped to a high-level tank to be used to flush the school toilets.
Headteacher Hilary Davis said that it was too early to get exact figures for savings in terms of the insulative properties of the roof, but she is certain that the rain water harvesting at least is saving money.
The green roof is in fact currently a shade of red and should hopefully flower in May or June.
Often green measures entail a little bit of effort and this is no exception.
Hilary said: "The green roof has to be fertilized. We’ve now got a smell of fertilizer all over the school which I know will not last very long, but it’s maintenance we wouldn’t have on a normal roof.”
Despite the pong, the environmental measures are also proving useful in teaching. Year 5 and 6 pupils have studied the building when leaning about the environment and it has also been used in projects by groups of children.
Wind of change blowing into chip factory since turbines arrived
SINCE THEY were built in October last year, the three wind turbines at the McCain’s plant, in Whittlesey, have become part of the area’s skyline.
The turbines are 125 metres tall, and can produce three mega watts of electricity each.
As they have only been working since last year, exact figures of energy savings are still not available, but it is hoped they will generate about 60 per cent of the energy needed to power the plant.
This green energy will in turn see a reduction of 10,000 tonnes in the plant’s carbon emissions.
Corporate affairs director McCain’s GB Bill Bartlett said the company is happy with the decision to install the turbines.
“We’re very pleased with them, for many reasons. We live in a world of increasing energy costs, but also we live in a world of increasing awareness of our environmental responsibilities,” he said.
Although McCain’s is committed to green measures in other ways, including solar panels to power the refrigeration units on lorries, Whittlesey – the largest chip factory in the UK – is the only site to have wind turbines.
Bill said: “Whittlesey is unique, the reason for that is the location. Our other sites are close to residential areas and obviously we take our responsibility to our neighbours very seriously.”
Another measure installed at Whittlesey is an huge, covered anaerobic lagoon.
One harnessable by-product of the site’s waste potatoes is methane and the lagoon digests waste water, creating gas which can then be stored and used to produce electricity through a gas-burning boiler.
Waste water from the lagoon is then filtered, cleaned and pumped safely back into the river system.
It is hoped this lagoon will then produce a further 10 per cent of the site’s energy requirements.
Sun powers Mary’s hot water system
IN November last year, Mary Telford’s Dogsthorpe house was one of four Cross Keys homes to be fitted with solar-powered hot water systems.
Without a year’s worth of energy usage to make a comparison, it’s too early to tell how much it is saving her, but she is certainly already seeing the benefits.
The system has a separate tank in her airing cupboard and also some controls by the boiler, which can tell Mary how many hours of energy she has got, as well as the temperature on the solar panel.
Mary (73) said that in the summer she won’t need to heat her water up using conventional means at all.
Even when there is less sunshine around, the water tends to be a little bit warmer, so her conventional system doesn’t need to heat the tank from cold.
She is very positive about the system.
“It’s not just me, it’s anybody who’s in the house after me that will also benefit,” she said.
“It does it all itself, you don’t have to do anything at all to it. It will save money and it will save energy, which is more important.”
Nicholas couldn’t wait to help
NICHOLAS WATTS from Vine House Farm, in Deeping St Nicholas, near Market Deeping, is no stranger to green living – he was awarded an MBE in 2006 for his services to conservation and farming – so it is perhaps no surprise than when he was approached about having wind turbines on his land, he replied by return post expressing his support.
There are now three turbines on his land, and eight in total at the wind farm.
The energy generated by the turbines is fed directly back into the National Grid.
Two of the turbines on Nicholas’s land are community-owned by the Fenland Windpower Cooperative, and local people are able to buy shares in them.
When he was considering letting the turbines be erected on his land, Nicholas did a postal ballot of 1,000 homes in the parish.
Of these, 251 objected, 179 people were for the wind farm and 560 did not reply.
For Nicholas, the fact that so many people did not reply meant that in total, three-quarters of the people did not mind if they were up or not.
He said that people are getting used to the wind farm now and he himself is a big fan.
“I think they’re great. I wrote back by return and said ‘I’m interested in having some turbines on my land’.
“I thought it was a great chance to produce some renewable energy.”
Since operation began in July 2006, Deeping St Nicholas wind farm has delivered 72,765 MWh of energy to end of March, the equivalent of almost 80 million household “units”.
On average, the turbines produce enough electricity to power 9,475 homes a day.
Nicholas’s commitment to greener energy extends to his own home.
He has not used gas or coal to heat his house for 28 years. Instead he uses a wood burner.
He said: “People say to me ‘look, I’ve got all these pallets, we don’t know what to do with them’ so I say ‘I’ll burn them’.
“It’s free of charge, just for the loading in the burner.” And it has another advantage.
“Some people go to the gym, I go round the back of the house loading the burner,” he said.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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