How it can be done in Bermuda:
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Did You Know?
In Bermuda, heating hot water in our homes accounts for between 25 and 30 percent of the average domestic energy bill? Yikes!
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (www.gogreen.bm )
Royal Gazette Feb. 23rd, 2007
Wind turbines:‘As it’s not noisy, it’s not going to be an issue’
If you live in Somerset renewable energy is coming to a neighbourhood
near you. Government planners have given Simon Hodgson permission to
place a wind turbine on the chimney of his father’s home just off
Scott’s Hill Road.
It’s the first time the Department of Planning has given the green
light to this kind of domestic renewable energy scheme. “The
breakthrough is that it’s silent, it doesn’t make any noise,” Mr.
Hodgson told The Royal Gazette in an interview. “The planners
obviously don’t believe that because they’ve only given us a year’s
permission.”
Concerns over noise has always been a roadblock for people who want
wind generated power. But the company Mr. Hodgson plans to use, called
Renewable Devices, says it has “the world’s first silent,
rooftop-mountable wind turbine”. The product is called Swift and has
sold well in Britain and has recently hit the market in Scotland. Mr.
Hodgson said: “They’re not going to let them install them in Britain in
neighbourhoods if they’re noisy. “That’s the big breakthrough because
all the other turbines are quite noisy and they always had to be in a
rural context. I think as long as it’s not noisy, it’s not going to be
an issue.”
The Swift turbine is six feet in diameter and mounts either on a gable
or a chimney. It should produce between 2,000 and 3,000 kilowatt hours
of energy according to the company’s specifications. Mr. Hodgson plans
to use it exclusively for heating hot water, which makes up between 25
and 30 percent of the average domestic energy bill. It’s an immediate
savings, plus it eliminates as much as 1.4 million tonnes of carbon
dioxide emissions per year because it’s powered by wind – not fossil
fuels.
Although he has the planning approval, it will be awhile before Mr.
Hodgson moves forward with installation. He still needs a building
permit and the UK Company still has to ship the turbine. Meantime, Mr.
Hodgson is awaiting planning approval for a second wind turbine in
Warwick. His friend Tim Miller wants one at his Warwick home to go
along with the solar thermal panel on the roof.
Together the men are thinking about turning their affinity for
renewable energy into a business model – supplying like-minded locals
with alternatives to supplement the energy they’re getting from power
plants. Mr. Miller said: “At the end of the day I don’t think we have
gone far enough down the road to say this is a viable business model.
Wind turbines are not the answer; it’s one of the answers. Photo
Voltaic, a type of solar panel, is an answer. So that when you have no
wind, you have the sun.” Wind turbine installation does require a
degree of contingency planning because on windless days, the household
will need traditional methods to heat water.
Mr. Hodgson has certainly considered those issues and will plan
accordingly, but seems pretty confident that the hilltop terrain of his
father’s neighbourhood will provide the necessary breeze.
