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Current Projects and Surveys
Current work
I’m currently engaged in work for Entec UK Ltd on a
potential wind farm site in Mid Wales. I’ve been
contracted to undertake spring and summer ornithological
surveys that involve vantage point and moorland bird
survey methodologies.
Also for Entec, I’m continuing to
undertake extensive surveys on a sensitive coastal site
in the south-west. These have taken the form of breeding
bird surveys, intertidal/shorebird and a series of
walkover field surveys.
In Shropshire, I’ve been contracted to carry out
ornithological, great crested newt and bat surveys for a
potential wind farm site in the north of the county for
Baker, Shepherd & Gillespie Ecological Consultants.
Assessment of the site is ongoing and reptile survey
work will commence later in the summer.
Work is also set to resume in a big way offshore with
the government’s recent plans for an increase in energy
generated by offshore wind farms (see below).
Pre-construction survey work/assessment will be a major
chunk of work at these sites for at least a year (often
longer) in order to produce an appropriate impact
assessment.
UK Government plans huge offshore wind farm expansion
The UK government has today given the clearest signal
yet that it is serious about significantly bolstering
the UK's renewable capacity, unveiling proposals that
would see vast swathes of the country's coastal waters
used for offshore wind farms.
Speaking to the European energy industry at a conference
in Berlin, business secretary John Hutton said that the
UK would open up its seas to 33GW of offshore wind
energy, enough to power 25 million homes by 2020.
Currently, eight gigawatts of offshore wind capacity
have been approved, including the one gigawatt Thames
Array project, but the new plans would see an additional
25GW added by 2020.
Hutton said that the proposals would be subject to a
Strategic Environmental Assessment, but argued that if
approved, the plan would make a significant contribution
towards meeting the EU's target of generating 20 per
cent of energy from renewables
by 2020 and provide power equivalent to that used by all
the UK's homes.
"The UK has some of the best offshore wind resource in
the world, a long history of design, installation and
operational expertise in the offshore environment and
the skills and manufacturing capability to transfer to
this exciting new sector," he said. "The challenge for
government and for industry is to turn this potential –
for our energy and economy – into a cost-effective
reality. This will be a major challenge."
The proposed expansion of offshore wind is expected to
focus on the North Sea, western Scotland and possibly
even the Channel and will open up "the vast bulk of the
UK's continental shelf to large-scale development".
To help drive the development of the proposed wind
farms, the government said that in addition to
bolstering subsidies for offshore wind, tidal and wave
power through its renewables obligation scheme, it would
also instigate a new regulatory regime designed to make
it easier for offshore wind farms to connect to the
onshore grid.
Morocco Birding Trip
In late March to early April
2008,
myself and a colleague visited Morocco for 10 days and
had a wonderful bird filled holiday albeit slightly
tiring having covered nearly 3000km in the 10 days!
We
saw 187 species during our stay.
Report can be viewed
HERE (pdf file)
Trip reports
Czech Republic in 2005; report can be viewed
HERE (pdf file)
Southern Turkey in 2004; report can be viewed
HERE (pdf file)
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