Energy is essential to just about every aspect of life; however, burning fossil fuel releases the greenhouse gases that are most responsible for driving climate change. We all need to take urgent action to power our way of life in cleaner, greener and more efficient ways.
Glyndebourne recognises the enormous impact of climate change on the world and feels that it should do all that it can to protect the planet for future generations. The proposed wind turbine would enable Glyndebourne to generate the equivalent of all the electricity the opera house uses each year from renewable sources and developing the proposed turbine would significantly reduce Glyndebourne’s annual carbon dioxide emissions, a saving 855 tonnes of carbon dioxide. It is our hope that, as an international organisation, our commitment to renewable energy might encourage similar initiatives globally.
'There is a great beauty in seeing humanity working together with nature rather than
against it. How paradoxical it is that while most people think eighteenth century windmills are beautiful, some consider these twenty-first century windmills to be ugly. Wind turbines provide a most valuable way of reducing our carbon dioxide emissions and I fully support Glyndebourne’s initiative.' Sir David Attenborough
Glyndebourne has considered alternative sources of renewable energy, but in the Glyndebourne context, only wind power is capable of making significant carbon dioxide footprint reductions while being developed economically.
Glyndebourne is currently engaged in a variety of other ‘green’ initiatives. Considering the recommendations of a Carbon Trust study, low energy lighting and a gas fired condensing boiler have been installed, and energy saving changes have been made to the air conditioning system. Steps are being taken to reduce water usage, a paper baler is to be installed to improve the recycling of all waste paper, cardboard and plastic and for many years, a bus service has been made available to staff and opera-goers to and from Lewes train station.
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Planning Application for a Wind Turbine
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