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RSPB to build windfarm's on its reserves

Just a month after the RSPB released a study which essentially calls on the government to accelerate the rollout of appropriately sited onshore windfarms, the organisation have put their symbolic seal on their recent cessation of hostilities and installed their own wind turbine.

The 15kw turbine has been installed at the RSPB’s Rainham Marshes Visitor Centre in Purfleet in Essex and in combination with solar panels previously installed at the site, it is expected to provide the centre with enough energy to meet its requirements, cutting its carbon footprint by 9000kg a year.

This action, along with plans to see wind turbines installed on their other estates clearly demonstrates the RSPB’s commitment not only to combating climate change but also to supporting appropriately sited windfarm projects.  

Details of how many turbines the organisation will build and how much energy it intends to generate are as yet undecided. However  a smaller 6kw turbine is also already in use on another RSPB reserve in Barnsley and others are planned to follow.

This news comes just weeks after the Environment Agency, announced its intention to build wind turbines on its land including stretches of countryside alongside rivers and waterways and on the same day as new figures from the BWEA confirmed that the UK is now the largest exporter of small scale wind systems.

For further information:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/06/rspb-installs-wind-turbine