Seeing a Gaia 133 wind turbine in action

Last Thursday (26th Nov) we went to see a Gaia 133 11kW wind turbine in action.




I haven't had time to blog about it before - too busy making a tractor cake and getting other things sorted for Euan's third birthday celebrations.

It was an open day at Helland Barton, in Cornwall, organised by wind turbine makers, Segen. The Gaia 133 is the model we're looking at for the farm and I particularly wanted to hear it. Guests come to our self catering accommodation for the peace and quiet, and I wouldn't want to jeopardise that.

Tony, one of our neighbours, came with us. How can I put it? The best site for the turbine is directly in his and Sally's line of sight from their kitchen window, albeit a field away. And unlike us, they are not avid wind turbine supporters. (Fair enough Sally?! :) ) They wouldn't mind if it was somewhere else, but do mind seeing it in their view. So thanks for coming along to actually look at the thing.

Laurence, from Greenthinking (who did our wind turbine site survey) was there, and on chatting all agreed the next step for us was for him come back and look at other sitings - to advise on whether they are viable given any likely drop in generating efficiency.

Wind turbines are surprisingly polarising things. They're still relatively new, and at the moment people either love them or hate them. So I feel this discussion process is worth sharing because it'll be being played out all across the country, at various scales (eg the Glyndebourne opera house 70m turbine approved after much wrangling last year) and at various levels of animosity (I'm thinking of the Cumbrian school where even an existing tower - taller than the proposed 18m turbine - didn't lessen entrenched opposition).

So, for the debate, - these are my views, and I've already declared where I stand...

As soon as we drove into Cornwall, there were turbines everywhere. Wow! I'm thinking - They've gone to town on turbines. They're really ahead of Devon - is it public opinion or planning policy that suddenly changes over the border?

We went past some wind farms. From a distance I thought they must be pretty big structures compared to what we wanted. They were sturdy things with robust towers. But when we got closer they didn't seem so tall. Oh dear! I mean I like them, but they did look fairly 'dominant' in the landscape. How did they compare to the 18m Gaia we were thinking about? So it was a considerable relief, when we got closer, to spot the Gaia in the landscape and get a 'Oh - is that it?' feeling.

The Gaia is slender, and much more elegant than the turbines we'd passed. I didn't think it looked at all out of place (yes, I know I would say that).

And the noise? When we got there it was a breezy day. Maybe force 3? We walked up a muddy track towards the turbine and I heard an almost-whistling noise. Oh dear again... but no - it was the noise of rain water flowing through a channel under a cattle grid. It wasn't until we were in the field that you could hear the turbine above the normal background noise of the hedgerow trees in the wind. Yes, stand near it and you can hear it. But it wasn't noisy. I didn't find it offensive even right up close. We walked around it, took a few video clips for the blog (and Sally, who couldn't come), and paced out 100m to see what it might sound (and look) like from Tony's house - although it's not necessarily the same I know...

And I know that just because I would be happy to look at it out of my window (enjoy actually), that doesn't mean everyone else feels the same. So we will see if it can be put elsewhere.

One idea would be to put it much closer to our own house (fair suggestion) in the corner of the top paddock where our sheep are. And having seen it I think that would be fine, even though it's probably half the distance from the nearest dwelling (ours this time!). But the house itself may be the problem, and it's why this site wasn't really considered first time around. Laurence says the turbulence a structure generates affects air flow for roughly twice the height and 20 times the length of that structure. So would the turbine be in the 'shadow' of the house? Hopefully he can give us more detail soon.

And if there is no viable alternative site?

I don't know. I want Euan to be able to make his kids a tractor birthday cake in a world not entirely wrecked by climate change. I believe that's a fight worth joining and one that demands action on all our parts. So I truly hope we can find a solution.

Meanwhile, here's the clip. And it sounds louder on the tape than it did standing there (and of course there's noise from the wind and the fairly-oldfashioned camcorder). But if you're thinking about one of these but have concerns I really recommend going to see it for yourself.

Rainwater harvesting in recycled industrial containers

[Maggie] 2000 litres of lime and ginger body lotion, 1000 litres of tri enzyme rejuvenating mask and 1000 litres of Japanese camelia oil - supplies for our self catering welcome packs? Not quite...





They are four 1000 litre industrial storage cubes we'll be re-using in the new eco lodge to store rain water off the roof. Because of the legislation about drinking water quality in the accommodation we'll probably only be able to use rain water for flushing the loos, unless we get into energy intensive treatment sytems. But we'll see. Maybe a clearly labled tap in the kitchen and or bathroom?

The cubes have come from a local company, Barnstaple-based Devon Pallet Recycling. They cost of £48 each. A new one might have cost us up to £600. So thanks are due to our friend Paul for the tip. And good on Devon Pallet Recycling for turning waste into a marketable resource.

The cubes will need a bit of a rinse. Ian reckons there may be a litre or so of the lime and ginger left in one. If I get body lotion in my stocking in a recycled plastic bottle I'll not know whether to be apalled or impressed.

Probably appalled actually - lime and ginger isn't really me.

Saving 80 per cent of our laundry energy or just 'a fart in a teapot'?

[Maggie] Should I be congratulating myself on cutting my laundry energy by nearly 80%? Or is it, as Ian memorably called it, just a fart in a teapot?



...I did 27 washes for the business in October. I use a machine that can take a 9kg load and I always do a full wash. I usually wash at 40 degrees (tried 30, but it doesn't get things clean enough with my eco - friendly washing powder), sometimes at 30 and sometimes at 60 degrees for really dirty stuff - teatowels etc.

We have a tumble dryer. I try hard not to turn it on, and when I do its heat is reused in the house because it's a condensing model. I managed to keep it off all October (actually it was only on 3 times between April and the end of October). But if I had used it, data I've just collected (November) suggest it would have used about 2.87 kWh per load.

If I'd washed everything at 40 deg and tumble dried the lot it would have used about 98.4 kWh. Instead, my smart monitor on the machine reads 18.4 kWh for October.

So should I be congratulating myself on cutting my laundry energy by nearly 80%? Or is it, as Ian memorably called it, just a fart in a teapot?

It takes an awful lot longer to line dry things than to load the tumble dryer - eye on the weather, out, back in, out again, wearing a path to the line... And in financial terms I've saved only about £8.00 (our daytime tarrif is about 10p per kWh) and am likely to save less than £100 over the year. If I'd spent the time earning money rather than trying to save energy we'd probably have been better off.

My point is that nobody is going to go green for the cash savings - it's just too much hard work. I can do it (and will continue to, on principle) because I'm at home most of the day and it's relatively easy to take advantage of good weather etc.

But it's not going to get us out of the climate change hole we've dug ourselves. It goes back to the arguement about spurious big number multipliers - a lot of small changes still only add up to a small change and we need something much bigger. It's another depressing thought I'm afraid.

Meanwhile, I'm still on the trail to find the big energy guzzlers in our house...

Helping fund raise for the community centre

Another use for the recycled AA van - collecting furniture for a 50:50 auction in aid of the community centre...





After long battles, Winkleigh has persuaded the council to 'give' it the community centre, previously earmarked for development. But now the money needs to be raised to do repairs and maintenance. Ian helps out on the fund raising committee, and the hedgelaying demonstration we held recently was in aid of the centre. This time we've been out collecting contributions to the 50:50 auction and shifting tables for the event back and forth from the sports centre. The van is so versatile. Seats in, you can drive 6 kids to school. Seats out, you can load it right up.

Buying recycled goods

[Maggie] It may seem obvious, but if we want to be able to recycle our rubbish we'd better buy it back again...




...otherwise there'll be no market. It makes sense intrinsically, but I have to admit I've only recently really taken it on board. Of course, we've long bought recycled toilet and kitchen paper. And charity shops provide our replacement teapots etc. But that has been more about not cutting down trees and reducing waste rather than closing the recycling loop.

So in future, I'll be looking out for products made from recycled materials as a matter of priciple. Yes, I bought these from Tesco. Some might question my principles there... But at least the labling was clear - they're made in the UK from recycled farm plastic. And today I almost got conned into buying 'recyclable' bags in Lidl. On the shelf it said Recycle rubbish bags. Bad English? An eco instruction? More like a fiddle. On closer inspection, the bags were made from recyclable, not recycled, plastic. Well, most of it is if you have the right facilities - but who recycles their bin bag?! Certainly not the council after they've collected it. Green wash I call it.

Advice on sustainable building

We've had an inspiring visit from Rob Buckley, of the Dorset Centre for Rural Skills...




...This is it, this is the very start of our new Eco lodge! We have the planning permission, now we have to rise to the challenge of creating truly sustainable holiday accommodation. And one of our first steps has been to listen to what Rob as to say - afterall, he is 'mr straw bale south west'.

We've met him a few times over the last couple of years - at an open day at the Dorset Centre for Rural Skills, at a sustainable building show in Exeter etc, and he has offered to talk us through some of the basics. So we've swept the straw out of the barn, tidied the wood store, and thought through some ideas.

He's suggested modifying the overall design, keeping more of the 'barniness', reusing what would have been building waste within the structure, and making better use of the interior space. But most importantly, he's talked Ian through the stages of the build, and shared his knowledge of techniques and materials. There's nothing like experience!

Barn Owl friendly rat control

No-one likes to talk about rats, but they're sometimes a problem we have to deal with - without harming wildlife, especially our owls...




...at this time of the year, when other food is getting scarcer, rats are around the outbuildings, looking for spilt chicken feed and scraps.

So this year, we've decided to try Eradibait - as reccommended by the Barn Owl Trust.

The biggest problem with conventional anti-coagulant rat poison is secondary poisoning - when animals consume a poisoned rat, poisoning themselves in the process. It takes a while to kill a rat. Anti coagulants disrupt blood clotting, thining the blood until the rat dies of internal bleeding. It can still be moving around for 2-12 days. And that means you'll probably not find the body before another opportunistic animal (a bird of prey maybe) does. Second generation rodenticides are worse than the first generation ones.

So even if you use the poison correctly, keeping it covered etc, you can't guard against secondary poisoning.

Barn Owls, along with Red Kites and Kestrels, are the most likely to
suffer secondary poisoning. And it's a growing problem.

Between 1983/4 and 1995/6 the percentage of Barn Owl carcasses containing residues of second-generation rodenticides increased from 5% to 38%.

But Eradibait doesn't cause secondary poisoning. It's based on ground maize combined with wheat and a sweet molasses attractant. The rats eat it, and it makes them dehydrated. The manufacturers say rats become lethargic, retreat to their burrow where they lapse into a coma and die. And apparently, because of the dehyration, the smell is less too...

Of course, you don't have to poison at all. You can trap rats, use cats (not very selective though), terriers, ferrets or just shoot them. And if you must use a conventional poison, and you're in the south west where resistance to anti coagulants is still low, you can use a first generation poison like Warfarin - see a list in the more detailed information on rat control from the Barn Owl Trust.