And more from James Murdoch talking about the problems in getting the turbines installed :One example that sticks in my mind - because of the headaches it caused – was an idea we had to put a wind turbine on the Sky campus at Osterley – part of the drive to achieve 100% renewable energy for our own power supply.Life is definitely too short to detail the subsequent discussions, submissions, testimonies, and consultations we went through with our very helpful local authority……And with the air-traffic control service…And with the Ministry of Defence.It’s true that our home is not very far from Heathrow. But the risk posed by a single wind-turbine away from a flight-path and far from any military base seemed to us a very small one.This story, alas, does not have a happy ending: our first application was turned down. We don’t give up easily though and are trying again…Working with our local authority and the Greater London Authority, I’m hopeful that in 2011 we’ll be the proud owners of some of the finest onsite renewable energy generation of any company in West London – or indeed the UK.It is extraordinary though, how many different groups you need to persuade, some of whom seem to be looking for ways to say ‘yes’ in principle, but ‘no’ in practice.So added to the list of the council, the air traffic people, the Ministry of Defence are now the Greater London Authority, and Natural England - a subsidiary of the Department of Environment. As a consequence, three years from the first application, we are now embarking on a project, funded by us, to study the effect of our two turbines – on an industrial estate which is not renowned for its wildlife - on the Hounslow bat population.I am glad people care for bats, as I have to say I do too, but is climate change going to be treated as a pressing problem or not? Are we going to get a sense of urgency, or only urgent rhetoric coupled with regulatory obstructionism?In the meantime we have bought the entire output of a wind-farm on the Isle of Skye – no kidding. This wind-farm will meet half of all our renewable electricity needs for the UK sites we own. As far as I know, this is the first time that an energy user in the UK has selected a specific source within its energy mix in this way.http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/56dfdc78fed540809612db12c1deb5cc/james_murdoch_icaew_conf_20feb08.pdf
Tim Henderson ● 5351d