Bristol UK Social Housing Bootstraps Wind Power

Against the skyline, giant cranes work next to the shafts of giant windmills under construction
Intense eh? photo by Bev Currie is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Two windmills under construction tower above the trees. You and your neighbours probably lack the skills to design and construct a giant modern windmill like these. But you might have more ability to create one than you think.

The world is scheduling the abandonment of gas and petroleum power. So bring on electricity! That demand is being energized by activists and, increasingly, by government. And when governments are demanding about the need for new energy solutions, but otherwise unhelpful — even obstructionist — what’s a community to do?

Organize and do-it-yourself is the somewhat surprising solution at Lawrence Weston, an impoverished housing estate in Bristol, England. The estate has pieced together sufficient investment, without government assistance or financial support, to build a landmark wind power project that will pour money into estate.

Social housing residents helpless and hopeless? Not, apparently, if they are willing to put their ambitions and persistence to the test. There’s a message here for public/social housing projects everywhere pressured to deal with governments on a mission that are offering all stick and no carrot. Don’t.

Read more in The Guardian: Bristol community secures funding to build tallest wind turbine in England