Wind Turbines For Cononley?

I've just picked this story up from a Swedish regional newspaper on the plan to site wind turbines in Cononley.

I've done a rough translation of the story following the Swedish text below that appeared in a regional newspaper today called Sydsvenska Dagbladet Sn?llposten based in the port city of Malm? in southern Sweden.

[I used to work for a Swedish shipping company hence my interest in news from Malmo, a shipbuilding and maritime city].

A translation of the story in English follows after the Swedish text.

VINDKRAFTVERK F?R ENGLAND

En by i England kan bli den f?rsta att bli koldioxidneutral till 2035 tack vare ett nystartat svenskt milj?f?retag.

Cononley, som ligger 336 km nordv?st om London, ligger i utkanten av Yorkshire Dales National Park i provinsen North Yorkshire, Englands st?rsta region.

Byn har valts ut av Malm?baserade Carbon Neutral Foundation AB (CNF) som testb?dd f?r en ny typ av tystg?ende vindkraftverk. Turbinerna, som till en b?rjan kommer att byggas i Malm? och skeppas till hamnen i Hull i East Yorkshire, kan revolutionera elproduktionen f?r landsbygden i Europa.

N?r de ?r helt ig?ng kommer upp till sex turbiner att placeras p? sluttningarna runt Cononley f?r att producera upp till 30 miljoner kW el - tillr?ckligt f?r att v?rma inte bara alla hem i byn utan ocks? driva elektriska apparater som kylsk?p, frysar och tv?ttmaskiner.

Som en bonus f?r byn har CNF lovat att de ska installera gratis elbilsuttag till alla hem som vill ha ett i byn. Det enda f?rbeh?llet f?r installation ?r att en privat parkeringsplats g?rs tillg?nglig utanf?r hemmet.

Turbinerna ?r hj?rnbarnet till Martha Hammagren, verkst?llande direkt?r, CNF som flyttar till byn i april med sin Yorkshire-f?dda partner Tom Taylor.

V?ra turbiner kommer att m?las i Pantone-f?rger f?r att matcha gr?nskorna i den omgivande Cononley-landsbygden, s?ger Hammargren.

De kommer ocks? att ha specialutvecklade inbyggda h?gtalare som varnar f?glar fr?n att flyga in i turbinernas blad. F?retaget h?vdar att h?gtalarnas frekvensomr?de inte kan h?ras av m?nniskor eller husdjur som f?r, k-up the essence of the text or och markf?glar som h?ns, forts?tter Hammagren.

Men varf?r Cononley?

“Byn ?r unikt placerad eftersom den drar till sig en h?g andel vindar som ligger i en dalg?ng omgiven av kullar som har r?tt vindkoefficient f?r turbinanv?ndning,” s?ger Hammagren.

“Med v?r patenterade f?rgmatchningsteknik kommer vindkraftverken knappt att synas fr?n byns centrum,” h?vdar Hammargren.

“Vi har ocks? imponerats av bybornas milj?engagemang. Den senaste tidens f?rb?ttring av anl?ggningarna och landskapsarkitekturen i naturreservatet Dead Eye Pond, bildandet av Cononley Wildlife-gruppen och de anstr?ngningar som inv?narna har lagt ner p? ?tervinning inklusive kompostering av organiskt avfall, har kommit till v?r k?nnedom ?ven i Sverige tack vare den t?ckning de har f?tt p? sociala medier som Facebook. Cononley var r?tt val f?r oss.

“Vi har ett tales?tt i Sverige "Vi ?r ett med naturen" som ungef?r ?vers?tts f?r v?ra engelska v?nner till "We are at one with nature". Det ?r v?r fasta ?vertygelse att Cononleyborna verkligen ?r ett med naturen,” avslutar Hammagren.

I hope I've picked up the essence of the story from this Google translation below......

WIND TURBINES FOR ENGLAND

A village in England could be the first to become carbon neutral by 2035 thanks to a start-up Swedish environmental company.

Cononley, which lies 336 kms northwest of London is on the edge of the

Yorkshire Dales National Park in the province of North Yorkshire, England’s biggest region.

The village has been selected by the Malmo-based Carbon Neutral Foundation AB (CNF) as a testbed for a new kind of silent running wind turbine. The turbines, which will be built initially in Malmo, and shipped to the port of Hull in East Yorkshire, could revolutionise electricity generation for rural communities in Europe.

When fully up and running up to six turbines will be placed on the hillsides around Cononley to produce up to 30 million kW of electricity - enough to heat not only all the homes in the village, but also power electrical appliances like fridges, freezers and washing machines.

As a bonus for the village the CNF has promised that it will install free-of-charge electric car power socket to every home that wants one in the village. The only proviso for installation being that a private car parking space is made available outside the home.

The turbines are the brainchild of Martha Hammagren, chief executive, CNF who is moving to the village in April with her Yorkshire-born partner Tom Taylor.

“Uniquely our turbines will be painted in Pantone colours to match the shades of greenery of the surrounding Cononley countryside, says Hammargren.

“They will also have specially-developed in-built speakers that will warn birds from flying into the turbines’ blades. The company claims the frequency range of the speakers cannot be heard by humans or farm animals like sheep, cows and ground birds like hens” continues Hammagren.

But why Cononley?

“The village is uniquely placed as it attracts a high percentage of wind nestling as it does in a valley surrounded by hills that have the right wind coefficient for turbine use,” says Hammagren.

“Using our patented colour matching technology the wind turbines will be hardly visible from the centre of the village,” claims Hammargren.

“We have been impressed too with the villagers’ commitment to the environment. The recent enhancement of the facilities and landscaping of the Dead Eye Pond nature reserve, the formation of the Cononley Wildlife group and the efforts that residents have put into recycling including the composting of organic waste, has come to our notice even in Sweden thanks to the coverage they have gained on social media sites such as Facebook. Cononley was the right choice for us.

“We have a saying in Sweden “Vi ?r ett med naturen” which roughly translates as “We are at one with nature”. It is our firm belief that Cononley residents are truly at one with nature, concludes Hammagren.

It will be interesting to see how this gets through the new North Yorkshire County Council planning department now that Craven District Council will cease to exist from today (Saturday, 1 April).

While I'm a fan of all things Swedish I am not sure I buy the environmental spin from the Malmo-based Carbon Neutral Foundation.