Over recent years renewable energy has become more proficient, but there is still a long way to go to cope with the demands of the market and eradicate the use of fossil fuels.
It has been reported recently that the Government on The Isle of Man has taken a great leap forward in their efforts to become a greener more efficient island. They have done this by linking up with three of the largest off shore operators / developers to create a new wind farm and tidal energy to power local residents and businesses. The three chosen developers for the project are DONG Energy, Manx Tidal Energy Limited and Tocardo Tidal Energy. The project is expected to take almost nine years to complete and it is anticipated to bring an estimated £5m of revenue per year helping the government fund more public services. On top of the earnings the government is hoping with the creation of the new farms that island will set a benchmark for other governments to follow suit.
This is one of many projects that is currently under proposition and construction. It is very encouraging to see and hear that the state of the environment is being considered and steps are being put into place to reduce our carbon footprint. It is with great initiatives like this that as homeowners we should consider for ourselves what we can do to contribute. Simple steps such as ensuring our boilers are efficient, recycling and using public transport is step in the right direction, but there are bigger steps that we can take too, for example, installing solar pv and using ground source heating. Creating and generating your own electricity comes with its own incentives from the UK government, this is known as the feed in tariff. The feed in tariff is a guaranteed payment for the next twenty years which isn’t to be shrugged at.
