Fresh opposition to wind farms from the U.K.'s elite causes concern for the future of alternative energy and social disparities.
Wind Farms in the U.K. are being opposed by a privileged elite--a more politically active group with higher social capital and lower neighborhood crime exposure--according to a recent report in The Ecologist. Industrial projects being built in low-income areas is nothing new, but the research coming out of the University of Birmingham does raise the question of how social capital will shape the future of alternative energy.
The premise of social capital is simple--those with more collective organizing power benefit more from the tribe and can assert what they want within society. They're also more likely to be educated, with higher disposable income. So why would the upper classes oppose wind farms, aside from not wanting the inherent noise pollution and countryside skyline shake-up?
"There's no question...
Wind Farms in the U.K. are being opposed by a privileged elite--a more politically active group with higher social capital and lower neighborhood crime exposure--according to a recent report in The Ecologist. Industrial projects being built in low-income areas is nothing new, but the research coming out of the University of Birmingham does raise the question of how social capital will shape the future of alternative energy.
The premise of social capital is simple--those with more collective organizing power benefit more from the tribe and can assert what they want within society. They're also more likely to be educated, with higher disposable income. So why would the upper classes oppose wind farms, aside from not wanting the inherent noise pollution and countryside skyline shake-up?
"There's no question...
- 9/14/2010
- by Jenara Nerenberg
- Fast Company
The Salt Palace, a convention center in Salt Lake City, Utah, is about to get an impressive designation: owner of the country's largest rooftop solar array.
The 600,000-square-foot, 2.6 megawatt array will provide a quarter of all the electricity consumed by the Salt Palace when it is finished next year. The array is only slightly bigger than the second largest U.S. rooftop array (a 2.4 megawatt installation atop a New Jersey FedEx building). But according to Ted Rose, vice president of business development and public affairs for NexGen, one of the companies behind the installation, it's an important milestone.
Here's how the Salt Palace deal works: Solar installer Bella Energy is building the $10 million system, which NexGen will own and pay for (they beat out a dozen competitors in a four month bidding process for this privilege). NexGen will, in turn, sell power from the system to the county at a...
The 600,000-square-foot, 2.6 megawatt array will provide a quarter of all the electricity consumed by the Salt Palace when it is finished next year. The array is only slightly bigger than the second largest U.S. rooftop array (a 2.4 megawatt installation atop a New Jersey FedEx building). But according to Ted Rose, vice president of business development and public affairs for NexGen, one of the companies behind the installation, it's an important milestone.
Here's how the Salt Palace deal works: Solar installer Bella Energy is building the $10 million system, which NexGen will own and pay for (they beat out a dozen competitors in a four month bidding process for this privilege). NexGen will, in turn, sell power from the system to the county at a...
- 8/27/2010
- by Ariel Schwartz
- Fast Company
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