The time of Human Eco Travel is upon us. It has become socially frowned upon to take the small trip to town using a fossil fuelled vehicle, and within our lifetimes it won’t just be the short trip looked down upon, it will be any trip.

The Wheel was one of the first ‘great’ inventions of man thought up an inconceivable 5200 years ago. Green uses of the wheel (horse and cart etc) were to fade out as the human obsession to do everything ‘Faster’ and ‘Quicker’ developed. “2 steps forward one step back”, could best describe the Human behaviour as we learn from our mistakes. Now in the 20th century we see Eco Car’s on the horizon and in general a change of attitude towards our environment. Whilst it might be hard to control the ‘speed’ of which we feel we need to do things (travel, communicate, work, live) it is a certainty that the way in which we do them is becoming more and more important.

The Netherlands often known as “The Wheel Deal” boasts one of the best attitudes towards Eco travellers. Windmachine’s Chris and Lew recently made a trip to Den Haag and were blown away by the smooth pave’s and rights of way over cars.

The long awaited “The Man That Touched The Sky” starring Windmachine’s Lewis Crathern was unveiled last month and is available to download via the Breathe Unity Network. Also featured in this month’s Kiteworld and episode of “The Kiteshow”. “It’s not just about Piers!” says Lewis kean to push the eco values of the Film. “When John Vinicombe approached me with a film idea I just assumed that nothing would come of it like most film ideas. It became a reality, I’m happy about it, Yeah Real Happy.”

Recycling has been a major key word for our generation; whether that is your old clothes, newspapers, mobile phone or coal mines…….it’s all a great idea that everyone can get involved with!

The German state of Lower Saxony is now looking into reusing it’s coal mines to store wind energy. We were intrigued at the thought of this at Windmachine as the possibility of underground coal mines filled with moving air opens up a new possibility to kite somewhere out of the norm. Well it turns out that isn’t going to happen, but the plans are pretty solid. The idea is to use the mines to store water that is pumped up from lower levels by wind turbines when it is windy, then release that water to a lower level. As it travels down under the power of gravity it will pass through turbines that will harness the power and pump it into the grid. It’s the same theory as the Ffestiniog (opened in 1963) and Dinorwig (opened in 1983) Power Stations in North Wales (expect they rely on using normal grid electricity, at off-peak times, to pump the water back up).

So although not a new concept, it is definitely a new take on it. The german engineers propose that this could be a ‘closed’ system (using the same water over and over) and will be completely contained within the old mine workings, unlike the Welsh equivalents that utilise reservoirs and lakes on the mountain sides. Because of this minimal impact on the regions landscape, and the re-use of the old mines it is being fully supported by environmentalists, governments and local residents – almost unheard of when it comes to inland power generation projects! “The tradition of mining is so great in the Harz region, that they want to see the mines back in use again, so there are practically no critics of the project,” noted Mark Schmidt an engineer for the Lower Saxony Energy Research Center.

Schmidt, has identified six locations in the Harz mountains that could be used for the scheme, with a pilot site being the Wiemannsbucht mine shaft in Bad Grund. The plant has estimated costs between 170 and 200 million euros and a 3 to 5 year build. It should be able to store up to 400 MW of energy – enough to power 40,000 homes for a day.

Regeneration of areas like this that once were rich industrial towns would be great for the local economy and a possible source of tourism as witnessed at Dinorwig’s ‘Electric Mountain‘ – if you haven’t been it’s a pretty impressive complex and well worth a visit.

Whilst most top kitesurfing destinations talk of wind in Season’s one country delivers week upon week all round the year. England- Statistically the windiest country in Europe is pumping right now, even over the Summer Months. June’s statistics have become reminiscent of a summer 3 years back where kitesurfers reportedly kited for 29 days out of 30. Wind Expert Gavin Baylis explains, “Well It has to be down to the Jet stream which lies over the UK. That combined with the low pressures which track over the atlantic and a good Thermal Difference between land and sea in Summer is the reason we have good wind all year round”.

Lewis Crathern a kitesurfer from the southcoast region shares his thoughts: “It is becoming extremely unusual to use a 13m here even in summer. A typical seabreeze will produce enough power for my 9m or even a 7m. Combine a seabreeze with actual wind and I will probably be flying 7m or even 5!”

Local Resident Ed Vinicombe who has lived on the south coast for over 50 years and runs ‘Ice To See You’ Ice-cream Parlor says, “I’ve just about had enough of it, I can’t even put a bloody sign outside the shop without it blowing off down the street. I have lost 10 signs over the years. Where do they go?

Bathers Flea from the beaches as the wind is set to carry on throughout the month of June. “It’s great, the wind blows and we get the beaches to ourselves”- Local Kitesurfer ‘Kev Maguire’.

‘Jezmondo‘ enjoying yet another kite Session With Pals this Summer in the UK.

How many of us rely on a localised sea breeze for our wind based sporting fix? Well if the research recently undertaken by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) based on Houston is anything to go by we could be seeing these local winds dying out as the cities and towns we live in grow.

They have found that the sprawling pavements, houses, offices, and shops are having a negative effect on not just the local wind but also the air pollution levels surrounding us. Their research points out that all the roads and pavements soak up heat during the day and release it at night.

This causes the air during the hours of darkness to be warmer – known as ‘Urban Heat Island Effect’. This causes a smaller temperature difference between the land and sea, causing weaker sea breezes that are needed not just for our wind powered antics, but to aid in clearing away the smog produced by us. You would think that this greater heating of the land would cause stronger sea breeze’s but that is not the case as this air is offset by prevailing wind patterns that blow toward the water, resulting in relatively little net movement in the atmosphere over the city. All of this is further hindered by the buildings breaking up the flow of the sea breeze.

So take note people…..the rapid population growth rate we are seeing globally could cause some of our much loved urban kiting spots to stop working!

Read the National Science Foundation press release here……..Air Quality Worsened by Paved Surfaces