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Uni powers in twin wind turbines bid
A university believes a pair of giant wind turbines which will tower over the M6 motorway will slash its energy bills.
Lancaster University has unveiled 5m plans to create the 100m-high turbines, which would provide 4.1 megawatts of power to supply a third of the energy needed to power its student village.
They would sit to the east of the M6 on the university's Hazelrigg campus.
Environment and sustainability manager Jonathan Mills said it was also planning to install a biomass boiler to heat parts of the university.
But he admitted a round of public consultations this week had seen worried locals raise fears about the impact of the turbines.
He said: "People living close to the proposed sites for the turbines have raised concerns about the visual impact they would have, but we have been able to show them that they would not break the horizon.
"We have looked from points like Jubilee Tower and Quernmore and worked out that the impact would be minimal.
"The other concerns over noise have been reduced a lot by recent new technology and the other worry was about when low-angled sun gives a shadow flicker from the turbine blades.
"All these things we will have to take into account, but I do not believe there are any problems raised which are insurmountable."
He said he believes turbines could soon become commonplace in rural locations with some house builders now working them into developments.
A new 'feed-in' tariff which will allow people to claim cash for pumping home-generated power into the National Grid is due to start in April.
Officials from the university have been staging public consultations around Lancaster this week in preparation for a planning application due to be submitted in early 2010.
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Weather for Preston
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -4 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South
