Blane Valley Carbon Neutral Group
This project started with an overview appraisal of renewable energy resources in the Strathblanefield area, together with an assessment of energy demand. This revealed a handful of hydro sites with modest potential and a greater number of potential wind turbine sites, ranging from domestic-scale (15kW) up to community-scale (around 5MW). There were also significant opportunities for establishing a community-scale biomass heating operation and for bulk-purchase community-scale solar thermal and PV installation programmes.
From this foundation, we established a prioritised short-list of potential projects and looked into them in greater detail. Given the objective of the Group to make a significant difference to the carbon footprint of the area with acceptable environmental impacts, the hydro schemes were quickly dropped and attention was concentrated on the medium- and large-scale wind projects, with a view to maximising environmental and financial return on investment, both to achieve the objectives of the Group and to provide funds to re-invest into other schemes. An extensive community consultation on various options was subsequently completed and as a result of this the project was unfortunately abandoned.
