{"id":404042,"date":"2025-09-22T11:53:30","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T09:53:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=404042"},"modified":"2025-09-28T23:31:44","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T21:31:44","slug":"a-picturesque-yorkshire-village-is-battling-an-ugly-net-zero-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=404042","title":{"rendered":"A picturesque Yorkshire village is battling an ugly net-zero\u00a0facility"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Aerial<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Paul Homewood<\/p>\n\n\n\n

h\/t Philip Bratby<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the Telegraph:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Article<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What happens when a picturesque village in West Yorkshire learns it is to be home to a huge new Battery Energy Storage System \u2013 a BESS? As one might expect, the residents react with anger and <\/strong><\/em>mobilise to raise funds and fight the plans<\/em><\/a>, despite being told it is key to Ed Miliband\u2019s quest to grow green energy, supposedly reduce bills and keep the lights on. They point out that the land chosen, which is used to grow food and borders a historic conservation area, isn\u2019t suitable. The BESS, which will look much like a large number of shipping containers lined up in rows, will scarcely blend in with the small village which is home to some particularly fine 17th and 18th century grade-listed buildings.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the fault line running through Labour energy policy as it careers towards a <\/em>95 per cent clean electricity target by 2030<\/em><\/a>. The grid needs increasingly to store and manage intermittent, highly variable supplies of weather-dependent renewable energy. Put simply, when windmills and solar panels are producing more electricity than is wanted, the oversupply can be used to charge up a BESS \u2013 and this avoids the need to pay renewables operators to stop producing power, a practice that <\/em>cost us all \u00a31bn last year<\/em><\/a>. When there isn\u2019t enough renewable output to satisfy demand, a BESS can put its stored energy back into the grid. No feasible amount of BESSs could cope with long periods of low wind and sun \u2013 the \u201cdunkelflaute\u201d phenomenon \u2013 but they are essential for ironing out shorter-term spikes and troughs in a renewables-heavy grid.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But back to Heath village near Wakefield. Labour has dominated politics here for generations and fierce local opposition to the scheme has panicked the party. A clutch of local MPs, including Foreign Secretary <\/em>Yvette Cooper<\/em><\/a> have rushed to oppose the plans alongside the local Labour council which unanimously rejected them.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately for them, more BESS capacity is a cornerstone of <\/em>Ed Miliband\u2019s troubled energy policy<\/em><\/a> and Heath is unlucky enough to have a good grid connection nearby. The developer of the mega battery has appealed the council decision so the Government\u2019s Planning Inspectorate will now decide whether to approve the plan. Local democracy will potentially be overruled.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full story here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heath is a lovely old village, as the drone footage brilliantly illustrates:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n