The council in charge of the Isle of Wight, located off the Hampshire coast, has announced plans to power the island entirely by locally produced green energy.

The waters surrounding the island have great potential for tidal energy production, and there are plans to turn waste from the 5,500-strong cow population into biofuel to run the island’s public buses. And work has already begun on the UK’s first gasification plant. Part of the government’s New Technology Demonstrator Programme, which aims to promote innovative methods of reducing biodegradable waste, the £8million plant will convert residual waste into gas, generating 2.3 megawatts of energy – enough to power more than 2,000 homes – while diverting thousands of tonnes of rubbish away from landfill in the process.

In addition to the environmental benefits these proposals will bring, the council also hopes that they will kickstart regeneration on the island, boosting the economy and shifting the focus away from tourism.

‘We are very well positioned to be the greenest island in Europe,’ council chief executive Joe Duckworth told the Guardian.


January 2008