people having ownership over the resources they rely on is soo good. Ordinary people should be the ones profiting from wind farms and solar parks being built around their communities, not some millionaires who've never even looked at the site on a map. My parents bought shares in a Ripple scheme a few years ago and last year they got something like £50 a month off their energy bills. That's vastly more than the best savings rates you can get, even with interest rates as they are right now. Obviously those numbers will go down as wholesale energy prices go down, but so will their bills. This is how we become resilient. Not just nationally in terms of energy independence, but as financially resilient communities too

We live in one of the more windier areas in Germany and we see a lot of wind turbines when we look into one direction. It is actually an pretty sight as they rotate in some synchronity. Much better than chimneys with stinking yellow smoke like some decades ago in the Ruhr area.

In USA (Iowa) here. I bought shares in a "community solar" project, now constructed and producing power. My shares in the solar farm pay me for power sold back to the grid, so when the price goes up, by $$ earned goes up. All this acts like a 9% bond I might have purchased instead. Win-win!

I paid £2,004 to buy part of Ripple Energy's Graig Fatha wind turbine. It saved me £1,013 in the last 12 months.

David Cameron did not ban onshore wind in Scotland because it is a devolved power. We have loads. Loads of Loads.

I live about 1 km away from a small wind farm. It has zero effect on our living conditions. It is just possible to hear a faint swooshing sound depending on which way the wind is blowing.

As someone who lives in an ex-mining area, now home to a large wind farm with a turbine visible from my window, I don't object at all to them. However, I do object to the fact that we supplied the energy for the first industrial revolution and now when energy production can be more distributed we are being asked to shoulder the burden again. It's time for all areas of the country to play their part.

This is not a new concept. My grandma was part of a co-op that owned the local energy supply. All of the customers were owners. She even got a check about once per year when they balanced the books. The "profits" went right back into the hands of the customers but more importantly the stake holders got reliable cheap energy.

100% RE is a pipe dream. You either need tons of STORAGE, or a 100% backup by natural gas. Why is it difficult to comprehend that intermittent, unreliable electricity sources are not able to provide electricity 24/7? Just have a think about Germany, the most RE and the highest prices.

The plan put forth by the Ripple representative certainly makes sense to me. I would gladly become a shareholder of a locally owned power company if it was available in my location.

I’m in Scotland and feel a sense of pride when I take walks though areas with wind turbines, knowing the power isn’t going that far til it reaches our nearby towns and cities. All that taking place without blighting our air with fumes. Same with travels down the M6, seeing all the wind farms I pass.

There's a 300 MW wind farm a few miles from where I grew up, and I've wondered at times, if there is something wrong with my hearing, because I've visited that farm lots of times, and there was no noise. If you are standing directly below the blade, there is a whummsh noise, but not something you'd hear a hundred metres away.

I used to work with Simon. He is a very enthusiastic and experienced wind farm developer. Great to see him again.

Hello David, I've worked on wind farms up to 3 megawatts in size (that is, 3 mW for each turbine) and I can tell you from personal experience that they do make a sound. You can hear a whoosh sound as each blade passes overhead. But here's the kicker, wind turbines make less noise than trees. Literally, trees make MUCH more noise than turbines - and you don't hear anyone complaining about that.

I hate to tell you, I'm living the 100% renewable dream right here next door to Austin, Texas. And I don't own one solar panel or windmill. Texas has its own grid except for the very far north and west. No national interconnection. That allowed it to set up a market driven retail sales some years ago. The state oversees the running of this. Every vendor has its sales pitches. Most have to do with pricing, of course. I've lived here for 8 years and am on my third 100% renewable provider. I pay 8.1 cents per kw/hr for the electricity, and another 7.8 cents for the delivery and grid. Just under 15 cents kw/hr total. Some of the cheapest electricity in the US. Texas has two huge windfarm areas, the northern plains around Sweetwater, and out in the far west deserts of west Texas. Mile after mile of windmills driving along. Such a lovely sight. I don't know that the UK issue is with famers not be able to farm around wind towers. The leasing of land for wind towers has kept many family ranches out of bankruptcy here. Texas is also growing solar by leaps and bounds. We have had not rolling brownouts in three years due to so much solar coming online just when its needed, late summer days. Despite being home to America's O&G industry, and the politicians still very beholden to them, Texas has become America's renewable powerhouse.

We're at the early stages of a community solar farm here in Ireland so it was great to hear about the Ripple Energy business model

Dave makes Sunday’s the best day

I like this channel more than Undecided or Two Bit. More mature & less speculative & to the point

I live in Tx USA where the grid is deregulated. I buy 100% renewable electricity. Theres an interesting tension between wanting a free-market and keeping the fossil fuel generators running. I doubt the state leaders forsaw the day that wind and solar would compete on price with natural gas electricity.

In Denmark a cooperative of I think ~2800 are right now installing one of the world's largest onshore wind turbines. Vestas 15 MW V236 There are pictures on the internet, but I don't think they have installed the blades yet. It is located in Thyborøn right beside some of the old record holders for most produced wind energy by any turbine ever. The cooperative is called Thyborøn Sydhavns Møllelaug II I/S.

Finland, east mid lake district. here (this episode was on Point)! My partner interviewed professionally a few locals about their objections to a proposed WM site. I immediately thought about offering them cheap power if they live near one. I'm not sure that is a thing here, but seeing this confirmed the exact model that should be implemented here, and that's the beauty of it

I'm a big fan of cooperative and community owned wind turbines. We have had failures in Canada letting big corporations build wind and getting outrageous prices for the electricity. Not only do consumers have to deal with the turbines, but are also getting gouged on their bills. Community ownership spreads the benefits and brings buy in. I'm looking for a small scale wind project suitable for our small property, but perhaps cooperative bigger scale ventures make much more sense.

In the Netherlands we have the same problems with stories told by the "public" against windturbines. But we have more in common... Shell. They invented the word horizoen vervuiling. It means that they are against green energie, this was for years. When we had still natural gas. But knowadays shell is a big builder of offshore windfarms. Offshore because you need a 50million ship to be at the northsea. But they have the goal to be the dealer for hundreds of years and they will not allow normal markets. They want market dominance. And activily throwing sand in our eyes that we don't provide our self with solar.

Serious question: it's 2024, we are very aware of the effort we must put in to achieve any kind of minute effect on our climate. So why isn't Nuclear energy right up there included with these mass projects focused on renewable energy? There is nothing more climate friendly, energy efficient & reliable resources than the advances we've made with modern nuclear energy options.. Yet these advancements aren't being utilized anywhere.. It's one of those things that once it is installed, we will be so grateful to have it incorporated in our grid.

I support we rapidly build up to 100% renewables everywhere to power everything. Every town and city needs a wind farm and solar PV farm.

From Calgary, Alberta, Canada. This year The Alberta Government Cancelled $33 Billion in Wind & Solar Farms. Look into it please. I'm British and have lived here since 1980

Here in Aus we now have over 10% of the country’s energy supply coming from rooftop solar and when it’s sunny it produces so much there’s overload. Yet still there is pushback and cries for nuclear from certain ratbag politicians. One thing that can be said though is that those that go solar never go hankering for removal of their panels and replacement with a full coal powered grid. Community engagement and all that.

In my area of the USA we have something called "community solar" which allows people to get shares of a solar park credited to their electric bill. The scheme described in this video sounds like it could be called "community wind". A good idea!

I live in Alberta, Canada. The provincial government is putting a lot of obstacles in the way of expanding solar and wind. Many of us feel we know why!

Have a share of 3 ripple energy projects so far have covered 84% of my power needs 🎉

Good luck GB! That sounds like a terrific possibility. Imagine, lifting all boats and not just a few?!

You need to make a HUGE distinction here between UK England and UK Scotland Plenty wind turbines erected here. Written in Shetland - (not locally owned enough) but 103x 4MW just installed, cool. Comissioning starts soon. More projects coming too. Personally love them And love driving with the clean electric Starting travelling to Madrid for an Airborne Wind Energy tomorrow conference

Beautifully organized talk, Dave. I hope you government sees it.

Soooooo Sooooo Good to hear some good news every once in awhile.

Just added another slice of Ripple to my renewable pie😀Now have invested in Derrile water Solar and the latest wind farm at Whitelaw Brae👍 everylittle helps!

Another first for this channel! I normally hate ads and intrusive sponsor segments, but the section about Ripple Energy was very welcome news to me - I'll definitely be looking into them further. Thanks for the good work, as always.

Ripple are great. Very excited for our power to soon be coming from a wind farm we helped fund.

Interesting. In the US, off shore wind is nearly impossible to site due to opposition and out of date legislation like the Hatch Act. There is opposition to on shore wind too, but it hasn’t stopped us from siting wind on vast expanses of available land.

Just purchased my share of ripples latest wind farm.

Great shout out for Ripple. Anybody can now own a piece of renewable energy. Looking forward for Derril water to come online.

I invested in the Ripple Energy Derill Water solar farm in Devon, and a few days ago invested in the next Ripple Energy project, a wind farm in Scotland. Once these are both live they will mean reduced electricity bills every single month for about 30 years.

On the topic of involving consumers, here in the Netherlands we have a company that sells home batteries for grid balancing. They offer a battery (10-20kw) and basically pay you to automatically charge during sunny hours and discharge during greater demand. The return on investment is in the range of 4-5 years, after which you could use it for your own PV. I think this is an interesting development in decentralising the grid

Wind AND solar. That's an important key to this. When I watch videos about renewable energy, there are lots of nice-looking clips of turbines OR solar panels. Seems like a lost opportunity! I think we should intersperse wind turbines between rows of solar panels. With sheep grazing all over the area. Let's multipurpose the suitable land whenever possible.

If only we had something like that here. Thanks for sharing.

Every wind turbine and solar panel is money that stays in your country. Stays and stays and stays as you dont buy oil, gas.. it is so valuable it is insane. People just dont think about it.

Thanks for all you do Dave. It’s great you’re giving people like the guy from Ripple a platform to speak. His drive is inspiring. I loved the idea of hedging my power bill with a generator share.

Very inspiring bringing community into ownership of renewable power generation to address climate change. The urgency demands we move onshore and obligate government to connect upon construction. Here in the U.S. over 80% of new power generation is in solar and battery.

I was impressed by Ripple Energy. I think grid access and capacity are the biggest hurdle to "100% wind and solar" remaining. In that context, the offshore electricity grid isn't as wastefully expensive as it might initially seem.

Thank you for the commentary and the intwrview.

I would definitely not be against golf courses being shut down for more renewable energy installations 😂

Norwegian research recently showed that you can reduce bird deaths from wind turbines by (I forget what it is) simply by painting one blade a different, contrasting colour to the rest.

“. . . a naïve observer might conclude that the rising share of new renewables (solar and wind) will usher in an era of falling electricity prices. But in reality, the opposite has been true.” Vaclav Smil, Numbers Don’t Lie, p.172

Yes, I also think the UK can do it. Great video.

I live in Alberta, Canada the province most conducive to wind power in the country. We are also the prime fossil fuel producer in the nation. Our ultra right wing provincial government just lifted a six month moratorium on wind and solar development, but has put so many restrictions on the development of renewables (arguing that wind turbines are ugly, etc.) that the future of the industry is in doubt.

Literally bought our shares in the new Ripple wind-farm at Whitelaw Brae whilst watching this ... been waiting over a year for the project to come to offer so happy days, and it's not to far away from us in the Borders. Happy Days.

Another superb video. Comprehensive excellent broad view, but with a brilliant dive-down into Ripple as a great example of how we can progress - now! . Inspirational. Thanks.

Thank you as always for what you do.

I love the co-op model!

Absolutely thrilling news! The unstoppable march toward 100% wind and solar power signifies a monumental shift towards a cleaner, brighter future. This transformative journey promises not only sustainable energy but also endless possibilities for innovation, job creation, and a healthier planet for generations to come. Let's embrace this exciting transition with open arms and unite in building a world powered by renewable energy. 🌞💨

Community owned assets is an idea that I’ve been thinking of for years. If businesses and residents band together to buy/build generation and storage infrastructure, then much more would be built. By including storage you basically get a two for one deal on the generation. Would love to see this model come Downunder

I'd heard through Friends of the Earth earlier about their report, and so was aware of the "surprise" you were going to come up with, regarding the small percentage of acceptable land required and also that golf courses take up more space. Incidentally, golf courses aren't environentally fantastic, before anyone says how nice they are. Also, the output of two and a half times the electricity requirements gets close to Tony Seba's Re-ThinkX recommendation that if grids are built to provide for the depths of winter we end up with 4 times the electricity needs overall, which leads to Re-ThinkX's Super Power or super abundance, super cheap of electricity. Of course, if we pop solar panels on every domestic and industrial rooftop where suitable, we get to that 4X fairly easily. It's just infrastructure in the end, with present day technology. Bit of a no-brainer really, isn't it.

Excellent show again. Informative interview and thr earleir presentation of important scripts

A few years ago I watched a video on how Switzerland had developed flexible solar sheets that can be adhered to anything and are 100% more effective than the existing solar panels at the time. We could increase the production of energy produced by wind turbines if we wall papered them with the flexible solar sheets. That would be two energy sources in one.

Fascinating, well communicated

Thank you

add wave to that for extra redundancy. really hope companies like gravitricity are successful too.

A great idea. Currently in Australia the narrative is of foreign large scale RE asset owners coming in on the taxpayer's coin, leaving people feeling exploited, since they are hosting the re farm but are not a direct beneficiary of it. This model of Community part ownership ensures not just community involvement but direct community benefit.

Just watched you and Robert on his podcast and absolutely loved it. Make sure you both get together again. 'Logic and laughs' all in one place. 👍👍👍

good talk

It is the same problem as with the war in Ukraine. The very vocal minority stopped things in the US Congress even though the majority supported the war. I love the idea of including renters as owners. That has got to be the best idea I've heard in forever. Thanks. Glory to Ukraine. God Bless Ukraine and her people. 🇺🇦🇺🇸

Ok, I live near the Grand Coulee Dam. You might have heard of it. Where I live we have the cheapest electricity in the United States, just under 6 cents per KW (I expect that made you gag.). But a recent report has me worried. We were told that soon my area will run out of cheap energy because of the server farms, the AI costs, and the aluminum smelting. We have wind power surrounding us on the tops of the hills and they are building a massive solar park just down the road. If we run out of energy, you are in big trouble.

Great fact sharing! Appreciate the lack of ads too!

What happens if we get 56 days of "dunkelflaute" like the UK got in 2018? Projecting out to 2050 with increased demand from electrification of transport and heating etc, we would need to find something like 28TWh of missing electricity generated from wind power (but the wind won't be blowing!). Britain currently has 39.3 GWh of pumped storage. There are 4 pumped storage stations in Britain. No storage capacity has been added to the grid since the 1980s, and there is no other large scale energy storage in the country. To cover a cold dark still winter you would need to increase pumped storage capacity by a factor of about 1000 (taking into account pumped storage is about 75% efficient). So we would need to find 4000 suitable locations where a 300 to 400m dam can be built to hold back 10 million cubic metres of water, with a fall to the turbines below of about 400 metres. Then we would have to build 160 of these every year, year after year, for 25 years. The scale, and the massive cost of storage, by whatever method (pumped storage is one of the cheapest by the way), make it an impossible mission.

The naysayers - most of them fossil fuel industry sponsored or inspired - said that it was impossible. Whereas, converting to 100% renewable electricity, and then, (virtually) 100% renewable power is technically the lowest hanging fruit of the urgent challenge of environmental sustainability. That’s not to say that it is ‘easy.’ The only real barrier is political - to overcome the fossil fuel industry disinformation, and most significantly: to circumvent the fossil fuel funded political class - e.g. Putin’s Russia, Saudi Arabia etc.. Whether those states will give up their addiction to fossil fuel money is another matter altogether, as so many of them are on the dysfunctional spectrum.

This really is a blueprint for everyone not just the UK and community solar and wind farms are probably the best way at achieving these goals not only for consumers but the world...

As a rough estimate, 1 GW of power is often cited as being sufficient to power around 750,000 average American homes.

Turbines are not noisy anymore. They used to be but that has changed. The main problem is "aesthetic" or also good choice of location (sometimes archaeological sites are destroyed, for example) and also of concentration in certain areas that can become overexploited also with green energies (in Spain for example Galicia has been a major target of overexploitation by wind farms).

Re: "Why am I being told wind turbines are loud"? I very much wonder that as well. If they were so terribly loud, you'd imagine the internet being full of examples, but there's hardly any, mostly from people living essentially next to the turbines. What you do find a lot of is people spreading FUD about the noise.

You have produced very many wonderful videos in the past. The Policy section from minute 12.30 onward is in my opinion, by far the best of all. Please continue with many more of these, including case studies. Thanks very much

Thanks Dave - brilliant content as always. Motivated me to buy the shares in the next ripple project. We’ve just got to crack on with this

BP, Shell, Exxon will no doubt lobby against this until they can profit from it. I'd imagine they are a strong component in the delayed uptake of renewables. Obviously Cameron, Johnson, Sunak are figureheads of these companies and those alike.

Living here in Belarus, this argument is really interesting 🤔! We're building a new home in the forrest, well insulated to being passive! Electricity for heating and cooking and car charging is on a separate meter, costing..... Wait for it.... .005p per Kw 24/7! We discussed riday about buying a heat pump to heat the house! Its the "green thing to do!", but its simply not cost effective for us! Its like splitting hairs fir no payback for .... ! A heat pump will cost us $14,000.00 and a conventional heater $1000.00! You did ask for external views about this! 😢😢 Shows how perception changes with costs and challenges! The cost of maintaining a heat pump and its reliability and longevity,are no match fir a simple water heater!

Thanks for sharing latest research papers on 'How to address unprecedented Climate Heating' intelligently! In sun-drenched Australia, it's the grid which cannot cope with excess Green Power! Instead of investing in Gigawatt battery storage, the government is subsidising the largest Methan Extraction operation EVER in the Beetaloo Basin for short-sighted, mainly off-shore profit. Using the very precious water of ancient aquifers to boot - Free of Charge, of course!

When I emigrated to France in 1984, I wondered why there werent more solar panels on city building roofs as France has proportionally more sun than the UK. I quickly learnt of lobbying from a well known French electricity company anxious to maintain its monopoly providing Nuclear power. France must have proportionally more Space than the UK. It would be useful to have a French uni associate with Exeter to do a similar study.

Excellent study. Excellent pitch from Ripple. It seems crushingly stupid that Tories don't see this as a best source of income from energy, free of global manipulations. But they are not concerned with the UK's economic interest, only their own ability to retain power.

So the cost has declined by 70% and we pretty much have the most expensive electricity ever.

I have Solaredge pv panels and system. Solaredge seem not interested in integrating a wind turbine. Wyoming where we live is never short of wind. We have a 10kwh battery and it makes sense to have say a 1kw turbine to keep the battery topped off. Especially in the winter when the days are short and the wind blows every day.

*Abstract* This video discusses the potential of onshore wind power in the UK, particularly in England. It highlights a report by Friends of the Earth which suggests that England could generate more than twice the electricity used annually in homes from unused land representing less than 3% of its total area. The video explores the challenges and opportunities associated with onshore wind development, including public perception, policy barriers, and grid constraints. It also features an interview with Simon Peltenburg, Chief Operating Officer of Ripple Energy, a cooperative clean energy ownership platform, who discusses the benefits of community-owned renewable energy projects. The video concludes by emphasizing the need for policy changes and community engagement to unlock the potential of onshore wind power and achieve the UK's renewable energy targets. *Summary* *The Potential of Onshore Wind Power* * 0:00: The video discusses the planned expansion of offshore wind power around the British Isles, but emphasizes that onshore wind remains a cheaper and more efficient option. * 1:23: A report by Friends of the Earth suggests that England could generate over twice the electricity used annually in homes from unused land representing less than 3% of its total area. * 7:13: Even with rapid expansion of energy demand, the UK could potentially meet its own needs and become a green energy exporter. *Challenges and Opportunities* * 1:02: Public perception of onshore wind farms is often negative, with concerns about aesthetics, noise, and impact on wildlife. * 2:02: Policy barriers, such as the de facto ban on onshore wind development in England, have hindered progress. * 4:27: Onshore wind farms can be built and operational much faster than offshore wind farms, offering a quicker solution to meet renewable energy targets. * 8:44: Community-owned projects, like those developed by Ripple Energy, can increase public acceptance and engagement in renewable energy. *Policy Recommendations* * 12:21: The ban on onshore wind development needs to be lifted. * 12:32: Regulations limiting pre-applications for wind projects should be revised to encourage development. * 12:45: Local authorities should identify suitable areas for renewable energy in their local plans. * 13:07: The process for obtaining grid access needs to be streamlined. * 13:29: Community engagement should be prioritized at every stage of development. gemini 1.5 pro Token count 5,564 / 1,048,576

How do you live with no power or low power supply on 100 or more days per year? - How do you imagine the UK will manage without nuclear power? - Wind is not the solution, it is an expensive problem.

A decade of wasted potential due to conservative leadership. I feel sick thinking how much we could have invested in green infrastructure while interest rates were so low. What a pity.

" Tail wags the DOG " ,,,same here -in USA and your facts show the truth. NOT in my back yard breaks down when educated ! Good info & program. Thanks

Great video

My question is... If the solar, wind and others eco friendly net zero power generators are geting cheaper and cheaper, why is cost of electricity in houses getting more expensive every year...

Great video, Dave!

Thanks Dave, great info as usual!

Thanks for another great video. It really sounds like there's genuine momentum in Britain to carry out the energy transition. Despite political opposition (that's probably bought by the fossil fuel industry, and is the same as in any other country) you seem to have companies willing to build the new infrastructure, an investment community willing to fund those companies, and a general public that doesn't have any major objections to it. I wish that combination of factors could be copied in other places. If anybody here tried to copy what Ripple is doing, the cries of COMMUNISM would echo throughout the land. By the way, I remember a previous video describing an enormous solar energy project in Morocco that was planned to export electricity to Britain. Seems like the economics of that project don't make sense any longer, since it's far cheaper to build the infrastructure and generate the electricity at home.

We had 100% wind and solar in 1600 AD. Life was horrific.

wind and solar does help a bit, but still we need to fabricate and install those things, that is creating pollution. later on we need to replace them when they are end of life, more pollution. then we have the things that we power with that energy, all those things need to be fabricated and many of those things create pollution in use also. so we need to reduce power use of the whole country by 90% and we only need to generate 10% of the power and that is 90% less pollution right there. my point is having a large population high energy consumption civilization is not sustainable.

Germany tried going down the "Wind and Solar" road and now people are finding out how "great" EVs are. Now i'd like to talk about a bridge in Brooklyn i have for sale and some beachfront property in Arizona.

Beyond excited for the impact that iron nitride permanent magnets in generators and perovskites solar will make to the energy game.