E is for Energy

I am surprised to find that the normal use of language within the nuclear industry seems not to apply. The problem with nuclear agencies and industries bending the meaning of words is severe. There is an organization dedicated to exposing the truth about Nuke Speak lies perpetrated using bent language.

Nukespeak

I have found many supporters for the Stop Hinkley C movement. This web site is a great resource for information and links to videos which help to explain the reasons why we Must STOP hinkley C.

Reading the information found here will help you to explain to others why nuclear power  is dangerous, economically disastrous, and a wast of time.

STOP Hinkley C link

Here is a quote from an article in The Guardian. There is a link below if you want to read it.

Many commentators have been quick to point to “government levies” (the so-called “green taxes”) as the main reason for the energy price rise. After all, they have risen by 13%. Do “green taxes” affect energy prices’? Not really.

Read this article and see how the energy monopoly lie to you:

Guardian: Why do energy bills rise?

The original plan for the FIT in the UK was the same as Germany’s: an expected reduction gradually over time as more solar and wind energy systems and other renewable technologies came online. The current government decided soon after taking office to radically reduce the FIT by more than half! This created a rapid drop in new solar installs after the FIT dropped. We are now left with a reward system that does not encourage new domestic solar installations: system which barely allows for a 20 year break-even point for the average size domestic solar installation. This has destroyed our solar industry. Thousands of employees are now out of work and many companies have now closed.

Weekly Solar Installs

Mr Platt’s quote in the Daily Telegraph 12/11/2013 says it all:

Reg Platt, senior research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank said: “EDF have in effect issued a threat to Government saying ‘cut back your policies or we’ll raise our prices further’.

“The policy they want to cut, ECO, provides households with insulation and efficient boilers to protect them against rising energy bills. David Cameron has said he wants to roll back so-called ‘ green levies’.”

ECO in a nutshell:

These are the measures we need to lower our CO2 emissions.

These measures are required if we are going to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

This program is helping 2.7 million families who can’t afford to upgrade the energy efficiency of their homes.

This program helps the poor to get out of fuel poverty now.

These programs are not costing anything close to 9% of your Gas & Electric bill.

I petition our government regularly about various issues.

This petition is about changing policy for farm land use so farmers can use small scale wind energy to make our food. This is in line with the promises already made by this government to help our UK farmers become more sustainable.

The petition can be found here:

I usually get a response letter or an email regarding my petitions from government, you can read this here:

I always respond to any email or letter I receive from the government. Below is my response:

I am writing to point out that most of your letter in response to my petition is irrelevant.

The petition is about changing planning policy for small scale wind energy for farmers who make our food. These farmers can be greatly helped by having small scale wind energy on their farms to help run machinery and heat buildings.

Most of the response I have received from your office is filled with useless information about planning changes that involve altering the use of farm buildings AWAY from farming.

Farmers need and deserve the right to create their own renewable energy so they can continue to grow the food we eat sustainably.

I am writing to ask that your office consider changing the use policy and current restrictions that are stopping the renewable energy revolution we so desperately need.

Please change the law now so our farmers can make our food using sustainable, renewable energy!

Mark

Petition, write, protest, tell your friends, tell your church members!

If not YOU then who? If not NOW then when?

In Germany, where the FIT scheme has been in operation for over 15 years, the installation of solar systems, large and small, has been massive! Solar and wind energy has blossomed like daisies in spring. Germany now boasts the largest renewable generation of any nation on earth. Nearly 25% of electricity produced in Germany is from renewable sources. The German FIT has been gradually reduced over its lifetime in increments as small as 2 or 3 percent per year. The costs for energy have gone down in Germany.

Here is the response to a petition sent to government to help farms use small scale wind power to make food for YOU.

Campaign for Wind Turbines on Farms:

Nov 12 at 1:21 PM

Thank you for your recent email to Kris Hopkins MP about permitted development rights for wind turbines on agricultural land.

Permitted development rights remove the requirement for a planning application for development meeting certain criteria that are designed to limit impacts. They are set nationally, and seek to strike a balance between allowing individual freedom to carry out development while protecting the interests of neighbours and the amenity or character of an area. The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (as amended) allows for some agricultural development to be undertaken as permitted development.

I already know this, the petition is asking the government to change planning restrictions as they promised so that farmers can grow our food using renewable energy.

In order to help farmers diversify and make the best use of their empty or underused buildings the Government has extended the permitted development rights for change of use. Since 30 May 2013 agricultural buildings can change to a number of other uses including shops, financial and professional services, cafes, offices, storage and assembly and leisure uses.

Working farms need their buildings for farming. They want the right to install small scale wind power as the government promised.

The Department has also recently consulted on further relaxation to permitted development rights, including allowing existing buildings used for agricultural purposes to change to residential use. Details are set out in the consultation document – Greater flexibilities for change of use, which can still be viewed at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/greater-flexibilities-for-change-of-use. The consultation closed on 15 October and the responses are being considered, with a view to introducing any new regulation in April 2014. There are however, currently no proposals for further changes to the rules.

Relating to wind turbines on agricultural land, there is a supportive planning policy framework in place, notably for suitably located wind turbine proposals and to support land based rural business. In particular we have been clear in the National Planning Policy Framework that local councils should look to approve applications for renewable energy developments, where the impacts are, or can be made, acceptable.

This is why I signed the petition and asked you to make changes to the planing rules.

I should point out that Wales has a separate planning regime, and any requests for changes to permitted development rights in Wales should be addressed to the National Assembly for Wales.

John Hurley
Department for Communities and Local Government
Eland House
London
SW1E 5DU

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Your government in action: say nothing, or very little about the issue.

The UK parliament has passed several measures to compel energy companies to reduce CO2 emissions. Parliament has also enacted several plans to induce businesses and home owners to adopt energy saving measures and renewable technologies. One of these measures is the Feed In Tariff. The FIT in the UK started out at 41.3p per Kw/h produced for a homeowner with solar on the roof. Lower payments for commercial solar arrays and solar farms were available. Wind energy and hydroelectric energy systems also received FIT payments as do anaerobic digesters and other methods of generating energy using a renewable source. All of these FIT payments cost little to the average consumer of electricity and created a large increase in the installation of solar systems, wind farms and other renewable energy systems.

We have reached a point in the climate change model where action must be swift and rigorous. Each and every nation must act now to reduce CO2 emissions. In the United Kingdom we have our part to play. Here in the UK we have set targets to reduce CO2 emissions. Unfortunately the people who want this change and the companies who control the means to bring about change are not working together. Unfortunately the current government of the UK is not helping either. The UK has reduced its carbon emissions some but not nearly enough. We can reduce our carbon foot print and reach and exceed our reduction goals if we work together and use the technology available today.