PLANS for a 45m wind turbine in the heart of Wolds – which has inspired artist David Hockney – are being opposed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The owner of Tuft Hill Farm in Woldgate, near Bridlington, has already installed a 34m turbine in the same area after it was granted on appeal.
East Riding Council had rejected the original turbine due to the impact it would have on the Wolds countryside.
Now, there is further opposition and concern raised by the MoD, English Heritage and the Humber Archeology Partnership.
An MoD spokesman said: "The turbine will cause unacceptable interference to the radar at Staxton Wolds.
"The probability of the radar detecting aircraft flying over or in the vicinity of the turbines would be reduced and the RAF would be unable to provide a full air surveillance service in the area of the proposed wind turbine."
English Heritage is concerned the turbine is close to a number of important sites and could have a detrimental visual impact.
In submitting comments, the organisation said: "The application site is adjacent to a number of scheduled monuments and listed buildings and the Kilham Village Conservation Area."
English Heritage is calling for the application to be deferred as it does not feel there is enough information.
Humber Archeology Partnership has echoed English Heritage's concerns and is asking for a geological survey to be carried out to provide more information about the impact of the proposed turbine.
Rudstone and Burton Agnes parish councils have also opposed the application, believing the turbine would spoil the view along the ridge of the Wolds and are concerned because there is already a turbine on site.
But there has been support for the application with more than 20 neighbours backing the plans, claiming that there is an vital need for renewable energy.
In the design statement, landowner Harrison Farms said: "The second turbine would ensure that the energy needs of the farm are met in the long-term, as well as the aspirations of the Harrison Farm business be carbon neutral overall.
"The turbine would provide a number of economic and environmental benefits, enabling the business to absorb the energy demands resulting from its recent expansion.
"The business is also under pressure to introduce sustainable sources of energy linked to an agreement it has with a local growers' co-operative."
The first turbine was rejected by East Riding Council planners, who feared it would intrude on views across the countryside.
But, following a public inquiry, planning inspector David Pinner said the turbine's impact on the area would be "slight". Read the full story at scfwindturbine web.
2013年2月25日 星期一
Slender Inspirations offers technical assistance
The Lewiston resident worked out five days a week, often with a personal trainer. And she carefully watched her diet. She just didn’t seem to be making any progress.
Then she signed up for nine sessions with Margie Mokhiber of Slender Inspirations and finally, she said, dropped a dress size.
Along with diet consultations, Mokhiber, a certified nutritionist, provided Cold Laser Light Therapy (a non-surgical procedure) as well as full body vibration platform therapy. And while she uses what she says are some cutting-edge electronics, she added that weight loss under her guidance begins the old fashioned way, through diet and exercise.
“When my clients come in we first do a food and exercise plan, and then we do a cleanse,” Mokhiber said.
Each session involves a half hour on the treatment bed where she applies the laser delivery system, a series of wires attached to thin blocks placed upon the body treatment areas.
“They call it a laser-like treatment,” Mokhiber said of the cold light laser, which she says is pain-free and has no side effects.
While the patient lies on the bed, head phones deliver a positive message designed to encourage weight loss, created by Dr. Patrick Porter, a hypnotist. The patient listens to the messages as the light lasers pulse.
“What (the cold light laser) does is open up the fat cells and pull water from them. The water is dumped into the lymphatic system,” she explained. The lymphatic system is stimulated to eliminate the water through a full body vibration platform, which the client stands upon and which vibrates at rapid speeds to help the body rid itself of toxins, she said.
The combination of treatments provides the loss of inches and weight, Mokhiber added.
Each treatment in the series is 40 minutes and Mokhiber noted payment plans are offered. In addition, she has put out special offers on Groupon, the online coupon system. She estimates she got 50 percent of her clients from Groupon since she opened in January.
Mokhiber said she was trained in the program with Dr. Jams Fettig, a North Dakota chiropractor and author of “The Creator’s Manual for Your Body.”
Catherine Stack, RN, doctor of naturopathic medicine and owner of Journey II Health on Porter Road (also a Gazette columnist who appears today on Page 1C), has hosted Mokhiber’s nutrition business at her center in the past and believes Mokhiber is a positive addition to the center.
“I like how she incorporates nutrition with what she does,” Stack said. “And it seems people are dropping inches.”
Custode, who signed up for a second series of nine treatments, said she is happy with the 14 inches she has lost — in total — from her body measurements. She has signed up for more sessions.
“If I didn’t think it worked, I certainly wouldn’t have signed up for another series of treatments,” said Custode, who also follows a diet called the “Blood Type Diet,” which both Mokhiber and Stack recommend. The blood type diet recommends different types of foods, depending on the blood type.
Custode said that her blood type, Type O, responds better to a diet that includes red meat and so, after a lifetime of avoiding red meat, she has happily included it in her weight loss regimen.
Custode continues to work out about five times a week, but now she feels she is finally seeing results from her efforts.
“I was killing myself at the gym and the pounds wouldn’t come off,” she said, adding the sessions with Mokhiber, about three times a week, have helped her lose a total of ten pounds.
Then she signed up for nine sessions with Margie Mokhiber of Slender Inspirations and finally, she said, dropped a dress size.
Along with diet consultations, Mokhiber, a certified nutritionist, provided Cold Laser Light Therapy (a non-surgical procedure) as well as full body vibration platform therapy. And while she uses what she says are some cutting-edge electronics, she added that weight loss under her guidance begins the old fashioned way, through diet and exercise.
“When my clients come in we first do a food and exercise plan, and then we do a cleanse,” Mokhiber said.
Each session involves a half hour on the treatment bed where she applies the laser delivery system, a series of wires attached to thin blocks placed upon the body treatment areas.
“They call it a laser-like treatment,” Mokhiber said of the cold light laser, which she says is pain-free and has no side effects.
While the patient lies on the bed, head phones deliver a positive message designed to encourage weight loss, created by Dr. Patrick Porter, a hypnotist. The patient listens to the messages as the light lasers pulse.
“What (the cold light laser) does is open up the fat cells and pull water from them. The water is dumped into the lymphatic system,” she explained. The lymphatic system is stimulated to eliminate the water through a full body vibration platform, which the client stands upon and which vibrates at rapid speeds to help the body rid itself of toxins, she said.
The combination of treatments provides the loss of inches and weight, Mokhiber added.
Each treatment in the series is 40 minutes and Mokhiber noted payment plans are offered. In addition, she has put out special offers on Groupon, the online coupon system. She estimates she got 50 percent of her clients from Groupon since she opened in January.
Mokhiber said she was trained in the program with Dr. Jams Fettig, a North Dakota chiropractor and author of “The Creator’s Manual for Your Body.”
Catherine Stack, RN, doctor of naturopathic medicine and owner of Journey II Health on Porter Road (also a Gazette columnist who appears today on Page 1C), has hosted Mokhiber’s nutrition business at her center in the past and believes Mokhiber is a positive addition to the center.
“I like how she incorporates nutrition with what she does,” Stack said. “And it seems people are dropping inches.”
Custode, who signed up for a second series of nine treatments, said she is happy with the 14 inches she has lost — in total — from her body measurements. She has signed up for more sessions.
“If I didn’t think it worked, I certainly wouldn’t have signed up for another series of treatments,” said Custode, who also follows a diet called the “Blood Type Diet,” which both Mokhiber and Stack recommend. The blood type diet recommends different types of foods, depending on the blood type.
Custode said that her blood type, Type O, responds better to a diet that includes red meat and so, after a lifetime of avoiding red meat, she has happily included it in her weight loss regimen.
Custode continues to work out about five times a week, but now she feels she is finally seeing results from her efforts.
“I was killing myself at the gym and the pounds wouldn’t come off,” she said, adding the sessions with Mokhiber, about three times a week, have helped her lose a total of ten pounds.
2013年2月24日 星期日
Author explores pros, cons of wind turbines
The pros and cons of wind turbines on ranching in West Texas is explored in “Viento: Wind, Turbines & Ranchland” by Scott White of Texas Tech’s National Ranching Heritage Center.
The book, which features interviews with West Texas ranchers, offers a balanced assessment of the turbines that have certainly changed the rural landscape. Some ranchers applaud the clean energy and see the revenue from wind energy as a way to keep their ranches solvent and family-owned. Others deplore the way the turbines have defaced the countryside and worry about their long-term effect on ranching.
“The purpose of this project,” White writes, “was to record, through a series of oral history interviews, the opinions and feelings of ranchers about wind turbines, the accompanying transmission lines and how those fit with their philosophies of land care.
The interviews, he said, offer “insights into why some have chosen to have wind turbines on their land, while others oppose them being on their ranches or anywhere they might be seen.
“Either way, wind turbines have altered many ranchers’ perceptions of the future of ranching.”
Money alone, he found, is not the only issue, although it certainly plays an important role in the discussion.
“I tell you what,” said Raymond McDaniel, whose family has had a ranch near Abilene since 1928, “wind energy saved the lives of a lot of farmers and ranchers around here. Absolutely saved their lives.”
Riley Miller, whose ranch is near Justiceburg, said: “That check, according to how much the wind blows, coming every month makes a difference in what you can do on the ranch. For some of these people it saved their land. You bet it did.”
On the other hand, Albany rancher Cliff Teinert suggested that the wind turbines ought to be located in cities that need the electricity, not on ranches. “Put them on top of those big buildings, and they can generate their own electricity. That way we would have to look at ugly sights, and everybody would be happy.
“People make a bunch of money off the wind, you know; it’s better off than cattle. But boy, it sure defaces the country.”
Ross McKnight of Throckmorton called the turbines “a scourge on the ranching industry. I think it takes away from the quality of life, which is the one thing that we have to offer. They’re giving away the beauty of nature for a short-term dollar.”
Others, like Abilene’s Phil Guitar, are taking a wait-and-see attitude, understanding the problems — “They ruin the looks of the ranch. And they kill the value of the ranch.” – yet acknowledging that “it just hasn’t played out that the developers have come to us with good deals.”
Guitar and other ranchers questioned the long-term economic viability of wind energy, which has to be heavily subsidized to operate at this time.
Author Scott White will talk about his book and the wind energy issue at the Abilene Public Library at noon on April 8 as part of the library’s Texas Author Series. He will sign copies of the book after his talk.
The book, which features interviews with West Texas ranchers, offers a balanced assessment of the turbines that have certainly changed the rural landscape. Some ranchers applaud the clean energy and see the revenue from wind energy as a way to keep their ranches solvent and family-owned. Others deplore the way the turbines have defaced the countryside and worry about their long-term effect on ranching.
“The purpose of this project,” White writes, “was to record, through a series of oral history interviews, the opinions and feelings of ranchers about wind turbines, the accompanying transmission lines and how those fit with their philosophies of land care.
The interviews, he said, offer “insights into why some have chosen to have wind turbines on their land, while others oppose them being on their ranches or anywhere they might be seen.
“Either way, wind turbines have altered many ranchers’ perceptions of the future of ranching.”
Money alone, he found, is not the only issue, although it certainly plays an important role in the discussion.
“I tell you what,” said Raymond McDaniel, whose family has had a ranch near Abilene since 1928, “wind energy saved the lives of a lot of farmers and ranchers around here. Absolutely saved their lives.”
Riley Miller, whose ranch is near Justiceburg, said: “That check, according to how much the wind blows, coming every month makes a difference in what you can do on the ranch. For some of these people it saved their land. You bet it did.”
On the other hand, Albany rancher Cliff Teinert suggested that the wind turbines ought to be located in cities that need the electricity, not on ranches. “Put them on top of those big buildings, and they can generate their own electricity. That way we would have to look at ugly sights, and everybody would be happy.
“People make a bunch of money off the wind, you know; it’s better off than cattle. But boy, it sure defaces the country.”
Ross McKnight of Throckmorton called the turbines “a scourge on the ranching industry. I think it takes away from the quality of life, which is the one thing that we have to offer. They’re giving away the beauty of nature for a short-term dollar.”
Others, like Abilene’s Phil Guitar, are taking a wait-and-see attitude, understanding the problems — “They ruin the looks of the ranch. And they kill the value of the ranch.” – yet acknowledging that “it just hasn’t played out that the developers have come to us with good deals.”
Guitar and other ranchers questioned the long-term economic viability of wind energy, which has to be heavily subsidized to operate at this time.
Author Scott White will talk about his book and the wind energy issue at the Abilene Public Library at noon on April 8 as part of the library’s Texas Author Series. He will sign copies of the book after his talk.
2013年2月17日 星期日
Helping Hands Ministry provides fashionable gifts of love
No matter where she may live, nothing can bring a smile to a little girl’s face easier than a new dress. With that in mind, a group of women based in Slidell have spent the past two years sewing close to 3,000 pillow case dresses for impoverished young girls across the world.
The women behind this effort, under the title of the Helping Hands Ministry, are led by Betty Thomas. Thomas was attending her church’s Holy Convocation in 2010 when the speaker asked each person in the audience, "Do you have a vision?"
“It just struck me and I said, ‘God, I don’t have a vision and I need one’,” said Thomas.
Later she was looking at sewing entrepreneur Nancy Zimmerman’s website and saw Nancy’s plan to try to give every little girl living in Africa and in need a new dress. “I knew then I could help with that,” said Thomas.
An avid quilter and seamstress, Thomas started sewing the simple sleeveless dresses at home. She then encouraged her fellow members of the Camellia Quilters Guild to add to the stack of finished outfits ready for mailing. Soon brightly colored fabrics and pretty ribbons were becoming new dresses at sewing workshops with the Picayune Piecemakers Quilt guild, and at community churches in Slidell and as far away as Varnado, La. She keeps a scrapbook of photos from each workshop.
Thomas was hauling sewing machines and supplies to the Slidell library for the weekly quilt guild bee to increase interest in the project. Due to the great number of weekly volunteers who committed to the project, Thomas now has the ladies meet at her home. Whirling sewing machines cover her dining room table, cutting boards are used on the living room floor, and ironing boards line the kitchen counters.
The dresses, and now short sets for boys, have gone to Uganda, Honduras, Haiti, and beyond. During a recent workday, Thomas received a message from a missionary in Mali that received a shipment of dresses. “The war in Mali is impacting everything,” said Thomas.
Working together in the Thomas home on a recent Tuesday afternoon, more than a dozen women sat cutting, pinning, sewing and enjoying the camaraderie. Some had known Thomas for years through church gatherings, and some were sewing with the group for the first time.
“We didn’t know anything about quilting when we started. But Betty was our teacher and now we’re teaching others,” said Mildred Strickland, while tying a brightly colored quilt destined for a local homeless shelter. She and fellow quilters Shirley Rudolph and Geneva Carter have known Thomas for decades through church.
The workday was the first for Betty Van Tuyl. She had learned of the project at the library and wanted to help. “This is my first day and it’s a lot of fun,” sayd Van Tuyl, as she put cute 101 Dalmatian fabric for a pair of little boy shorts through the machine. A good-natured vibe ran through the house, along with the chugging of sewing machines in action.
All the dresses, shorts and quilts are made from donated materials. The group welcomes donations of fabric, ribbons, clean used jeans and trim to turn into the clothes and quilts that are needed and appreciated by their recipients, said Thomas.
The women behind this effort, under the title of the Helping Hands Ministry, are led by Betty Thomas. Thomas was attending her church’s Holy Convocation in 2010 when the speaker asked each person in the audience, "Do you have a vision?"
“It just struck me and I said, ‘God, I don’t have a vision and I need one’,” said Thomas.
Later she was looking at sewing entrepreneur Nancy Zimmerman’s website and saw Nancy’s plan to try to give every little girl living in Africa and in need a new dress. “I knew then I could help with that,” said Thomas.
An avid quilter and seamstress, Thomas started sewing the simple sleeveless dresses at home. She then encouraged her fellow members of the Camellia Quilters Guild to add to the stack of finished outfits ready for mailing. Soon brightly colored fabrics and pretty ribbons were becoming new dresses at sewing workshops with the Picayune Piecemakers Quilt guild, and at community churches in Slidell and as far away as Varnado, La. She keeps a scrapbook of photos from each workshop.
Thomas was hauling sewing machines and supplies to the Slidell library for the weekly quilt guild bee to increase interest in the project. Due to the great number of weekly volunteers who committed to the project, Thomas now has the ladies meet at her home. Whirling sewing machines cover her dining room table, cutting boards are used on the living room floor, and ironing boards line the kitchen counters.
The dresses, and now short sets for boys, have gone to Uganda, Honduras, Haiti, and beyond. During a recent workday, Thomas received a message from a missionary in Mali that received a shipment of dresses. “The war in Mali is impacting everything,” said Thomas.
Working together in the Thomas home on a recent Tuesday afternoon, more than a dozen women sat cutting, pinning, sewing and enjoying the camaraderie. Some had known Thomas for years through church gatherings, and some were sewing with the group for the first time.
“We didn’t know anything about quilting when we started. But Betty was our teacher and now we’re teaching others,” said Mildred Strickland, while tying a brightly colored quilt destined for a local homeless shelter. She and fellow quilters Shirley Rudolph and Geneva Carter have known Thomas for decades through church.
The workday was the first for Betty Van Tuyl. She had learned of the project at the library and wanted to help. “This is my first day and it’s a lot of fun,” sayd Van Tuyl, as she put cute 101 Dalmatian fabric for a pair of little boy shorts through the machine. A good-natured vibe ran through the house, along with the chugging of sewing machines in action.
All the dresses, shorts and quilts are made from donated materials. The group welcomes donations of fabric, ribbons, clean used jeans and trim to turn into the clothes and quilts that are needed and appreciated by their recipients, said Thomas.
2012年12月12日 星期三
Siemens increases revenue from green technologies
The company's ecofriendly products and solutions are now generating faster revenue growth than its other businesses. Green technologies, which have been consistent growth drivers at Siemens since 2008, now account for 42 percent of the company's total business. In fiscal 2012, offerings from Siemens' Environmental Portfolio enabled customers to cut CO2 emissions worldwide by 332 megatons – an amount equal to 40 percent of Germany's total annual CO2 emissions.
"As the revenue development of our Environmental Portfolio over the last few years demonstrates, the market for green technologies offers attractive business opportunities. In fiscal 2012 alone, revenue from our Environmental Portfolio increased ten percent to over 33 million – a new record. Since 2008, the Portfolio has grown by over 50 percent. We're extremely pleased to have been ranked the most sustainable industrial company in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index as well as by the recognition that our sustainability strategy is receiving from other important external organizations," said Barbara Kux, member of Siemens' Managing Board and the company's Chief Sustainability Officer.
Siemens' Environmental Portfolio includes products and solutions from all four of the company's Sectors: Industry, Energy, Healthcare and Infrastructure & Cities. Enhancing energy efficiency is a major driver for sustainable development worldwide. And here Siemens is making a key contribution with products and solutions for the entire energy chain – offering everything from systems for energy production, power generation in highly efficient combined cycle power plants and wind farms to power transmission technologies, power distribution systems and energy-saving solutions for consumers in industry, cities and the field of transportation. The company's future-oriented solutions also include the intelligent management of energy flows via smart grids and systems to improve energy efficiency in buildings.
Siemens' pioneering role in ecofriendly technologies is illustrated by the following examples. Since July 2012, the company has received 16 orders for a total more than 270 onshore wind turbines in Europe and South Africa. In Düsseldorf Harbor, Siemens is building the world's most efficient and ecofriendly gas-fueled power plant for the Stadtwerke Düsseldorf, a public utility in northwestern Germany. Partnering with Siemens, Taipei 101 – the tallest building in Taiwan and the second tallest worldwide – has been awarded LEED Platinum certification. As Siemens AG said, the company is also participating in the modernization of Carnegie Hall in New York, one of world's most famous concert venues.
The revenue volume of 33 billion generated in 2012 and the revenue of 3.9 billion from Osram have already put Siemens well on the way to achieving the Environmental Portfolio's growth target for 2014. Initiated portfolio adjustments and innovation-driven impacts have, of course, not yet been taken into account here.
In September 2012, Siemens received two awards for its performance in the area of sustainability. For the first time ever, it was ranked the most sustainable industrial company in the Industrial Goods and Services category of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, a grouping that includes more than 200 enterprises. Siemens also captured a leading position in the rankings of the Carbon Disclosure Project.
"As the revenue development of our Environmental Portfolio over the last few years demonstrates, the market for green technologies offers attractive business opportunities. In fiscal 2012 alone, revenue from our Environmental Portfolio increased ten percent to over 33 million – a new record. Since 2008, the Portfolio has grown by over 50 percent. We're extremely pleased to have been ranked the most sustainable industrial company in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index as well as by the recognition that our sustainability strategy is receiving from other important external organizations," said Barbara Kux, member of Siemens' Managing Board and the company's Chief Sustainability Officer.
Siemens' Environmental Portfolio includes products and solutions from all four of the company's Sectors: Industry, Energy, Healthcare and Infrastructure & Cities. Enhancing energy efficiency is a major driver for sustainable development worldwide. And here Siemens is making a key contribution with products and solutions for the entire energy chain – offering everything from systems for energy production, power generation in highly efficient combined cycle power plants and wind farms to power transmission technologies, power distribution systems and energy-saving solutions for consumers in industry, cities and the field of transportation. The company's future-oriented solutions also include the intelligent management of energy flows via smart grids and systems to improve energy efficiency in buildings.
Siemens' pioneering role in ecofriendly technologies is illustrated by the following examples. Since July 2012, the company has received 16 orders for a total more than 270 onshore wind turbines in Europe and South Africa. In Düsseldorf Harbor, Siemens is building the world's most efficient and ecofriendly gas-fueled power plant for the Stadtwerke Düsseldorf, a public utility in northwestern Germany. Partnering with Siemens, Taipei 101 – the tallest building in Taiwan and the second tallest worldwide – has been awarded LEED Platinum certification. As Siemens AG said, the company is also participating in the modernization of Carnegie Hall in New York, one of world's most famous concert venues.
The revenue volume of 33 billion generated in 2012 and the revenue of 3.9 billion from Osram have already put Siemens well on the way to achieving the Environmental Portfolio's growth target for 2014. Initiated portfolio adjustments and innovation-driven impacts have, of course, not yet been taken into account here.
In September 2012, Siemens received two awards for its performance in the area of sustainability. For the first time ever, it was ranked the most sustainable industrial company in the Industrial Goods and Services category of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, a grouping that includes more than 200 enterprises. Siemens also captured a leading position in the rankings of the Carbon Disclosure Project.
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