It’s great news that the government has announced details of the UK’s Feed-in tariffs (FiTs) for small scale low carbon energy production. Sust-it’s wind-turbines are whizzing away as I write, but so far it hasn’t been financially worth trying to sell any of the power they generate back to the grid.
While a step in the right direction, and a better system than the “first come first served” grant basis, we should be cautious before making costly investments. Looking at ways to save energy, by the buying the most energy efficient products, as listed on sust-it, and making sure our homes and offices are well insulated, can help reduce our demand for energy. Wind turbines are inefficient in some settings and will not re-coup the energy used in their production, and the noise factor cannot be ignored! Photovoltaic (PV) panels, whilst more expensive initially, look set to reap a higher tariff, have less maintenance issues, and in most cases, less visual impact.
For businesses, offering tax incentives for installing microgeneration technologies could make them more viable.
Sust-it\’s Future Energy Wind turbines, helping power our office
