RESEARCH: Will helps farmers choose renewable energy

Posted 15 June 2010

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A final year student at Harper Adams University College has devised a guide to help inform farmers and landowners about wind power, in reaction to the global need for alternative energies.

William Weaver from Frampton Cotterell, Gloucester, has recently completed his project entitled: “What questions do farmers and landowners have regarding wind energy and what should they be aware of before installing a wind turbine on their land.” He hopes that his dissertation will help people to make an informed choice about renewable energy.

The 21-year-old, who previously attended the Queen Elizabeth's Hospital school, said: “I realised that there was a gap in the market while I was on placement at David James and Partners, a Rural Chartered Surveyors. A lot of land owners that I spoke to wanted to know more about wind power, yet they didn’t know much about it and neither did I.

“Through questionnaires I found that 97% of people thought that a guide would be a very useful thing to solve this, so I decided to incorporate that into my project. I’m now hoping that this can be distributed to farmers and landowners across the UK that are interested in alternative energies to help them to decide.”

Will’s guide covers the logistical issues which landowners face when choosing to install a wind turbine, such as the calculating whether there is enough wind, taxation issues, planning, cost and whether there is grant funding available.

Will, who is due to graduate in September with a BSc (Hons) degree in Rural Enterprise and Land Management, or REALM, added: “Fossil fuels are a finite resource and land is going to play a pivotal role in the development of renewable energy. I wanted to inform farmers and landowners that they are extremely well placed to help with this because they have this land.

“So that was what I wanted to stress with my dissertation project and I hope that everyone who receives the guide will find it extremely useful.”