Climate Change meeting in Tunbridge Wells to provoke wind turbine debate
WHAT is Kent County Council doing to help tackle climate change?
This will be the key question discussed at a Climate Change meeting at the Camden Centre in Tunbridge Wells on Friday October 10.
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POSSIBLE FUTURE: Wind turbines on The Pantiles? Transition Tunbridge Wells will be discussing radical solutions to global warming at its next meeting
Although the pictured scene of wind turbines on The Pantiles is something of a fantasy, activists in West Kent believe radical solutions could be called for if residents do not start to pull their weight in green living.
Kate Sergeant, of Transition Tunbridge Wells, told the Kent and Sussex Courier: "We know climate change is happening as compelling evidence reaches us from all over the world every single day.
"But what does it mean for us here in Tunbridge Wells?
"In actual fact The Pantiles wind turbine scenario in our picture is fairly unlikely, since the most practical prospect for renewable energy generation in the area is biomass, via sustainably managed woodland.
"The low lying centre of town would not be ideal for a wind turbine site due to the interference with airflow caused by the surrounding buildings – but we do hope this image will get people thinking about the long term future of energy supply for our town."
Alison Cambray, climate change manager for Kent County Council, will talk about the impacts of climate change in the county and what the council is doing to prepare for the changes it will bring.
Ms Sergeant added: "For example we already know extreme weather events can disrupt transport, infrastructure and services in Kent.
"Research shows hot weather, such as the heat wave of 2003, benefits leisure, tourism and retail sectors. But it also increases crime, fires and disease, and results in additional deaths of elderly people.
"The temperatures we experienced in 2003 are predicted to be average by 2050 in Kent, and mild by 2080. So what do we need to do now to prepare?"
The Climate Change meeting is at the Camden Centre, in Market Square. Doors open at 7pm and it starts at 7.30pm.
For more Green Watch stories visit www.this iskent.co.uk/greenwatch
Comments
by Gordon Littlejohn, Langton Green, Twells
Monday, October 06 2008, 9:29PM
“Dear Sirs,
I hope that I will be able to attend the climate change meeting at the Camden Centre, but in case I am unable to do so I would like to make aa few comments about wind turbines. Many people seem to regard these as 'eco-friendly' without considering the effect that they have on the climate by the fact that they absorb the wind and therefore alter the climate of the region. This, combined with the 'carbon imprint' of the manufacturing process which produces them, must also be taken into account. This also applies to all renewable energy systems which employ conversions of this sort.
Whether we like it or nor, developing countries such as India and China will continue to burn fossil fuels in ever increasing quantities, as it is evident that they are the cheapest form of energy. For economic viability, the West will have to do the same, and it must be remembered that the West provides most if not all, of the aid to the poorer countries. The West has developed technologies which enable the CO2 emissions of fossil fuelled generating stations to be safely sequestered, though at the moment they have only been tested on a relatively small scale e.g in Germany. Rather than vandalising fossil fuelled generating stations, it would be a far more resposible act to insist that any such stations shoud have their emissions 'scrubbed' . An extremely well balanced book on the subject is 'Fixing Climate' By Professor Broecker, one of the most respected authorities on climate change.”