Barnstaple Town Centre :: Local and Community News

Power to the people

22/12/06 - Update For more information or to express your support or ability to help please click here http://hydrogravitizer.proboards91.com/index.cgi

WIND turbine protestors are being offered the chance to invest in alternative renewable energy technology currently being developed in North Devon.

The Co-operative Renewable Energy Company is being set up by Bideford engineer Paul Hewitt, who has spent the last two-and-a-half years developing a natural self-sufficient renewable energy system that he says could replace existing coal and gas fired boilers in power stations.

Mr Hewitt is willing to licence the "Hydro Gravitizer" to the co-operative and hand over the sole rights to the people involved.

"I'm handing it over, lock, stock and barrel to the people who count," he told the Gazette.

"The technology will be owned by the people who are fighting the current alternatives.

"I'm not doing this to make any money for myself - I have found it impossible to raise the £130,000 needed to build a prototype model to prove that the technology will work and enable further assessment and trials.

"I'm hoping the idea will attract a big response and enable the thousands of people who are protesting about wind farms to convert their physical energy into something positive.

"The co-operative will give those people the chance to play the big power companies at their own game and say 'we don't need your technology - we can challenge it.'

"This has got to be the next move if we are to ever provide a real alternative to what power companies are currently offering us. It could even become bigger than the wind turbines themselves."

As reported by the Gazette in September, UK grant funders - including the npower Juice Fund and the Government-funded Carbon Trust - have rejected Mr Hewitt's applications for support.

Despite that setback, Mr Hewitt said that the technology was currently being assessed at Ballarat University, Victoria, Australia, and that local volunteers from Environmentalists Against Turbines had already come forward to pledge their support.

According to Mr Hewitt, the Hydro Gravitizer would use only air and water to generate a constant carbon-emission-free power output of 500kw, and is the only renewable energy system that relies on its own environment rather than external sources such as tidal flow or wind.

"The system can be manufactured for half the cost of a small wind turbine and uses only the natural resources around us," he said.

"The Cooperative Renewable Energy Company will enable anyone that wants to have their say to step forward, take direct action and invest whatever they can.

"At this stage, I'm looking to get the ball rolling but hopefully in time, we will be able to expand the cooperative nationally."

Anyone interested in wanting to get involved can contact Mr Hewitt on (01237) 476497, 07773 948260, or write to him at omtecdev@aol.com or 121 Devonshire Park, Bideford, EX39 5JF.

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