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Gloucestershire Business News

New West surfing Mecca's waves (of publicity) generated by Gloucestershire business

Never one to miss a trick when it comes to raising its profile, green energy firm Ecotricity is currently atop of the wave of publicity generated by a new in-land surfing venue.

The Wave, Europe's newest inland surfing venue, is due to open tomorrow (October 26), with it's 1,000 waves an hour generated not by the magical pull of the moon but Stroud energy firm Ecotricity.

Small alongside the big energy suppliers it might be, but its ability to harness publicity wherever it may surface means its claim to be Britain's greenest energy company is a regular refrain.

Chris Hines, head of sustainability at The Wave and founding member of environmental campaign group Surfers Against Sewage, said: "We are delighted to be partnering with Ecotricity as our energy provider. From the outset of this project eight years ago we had always said that we must be powered by renewable energy.

"It would be simply unacceptable for relatively comfortable UK surfers to surf waves powered by fossil fuels which would contribute to climate change and specifically sea level rise and acidification of the oceans.

"That would lead to major impacts on some of the financially poorest people on the planet. Even if you were to look at this purely from a surfer centric position it would be contributing to the destruction of the very things we treasure.

"I even stated at a Wave Park summit that it would be ironic, if not moronic, to power an artificial wave with carbon based fossil fuels."

There was no mention of the irony of a man-made environment designed to mimic the wonders of nature being powered by green energy.

The Wave, near the Almondsbury Junction of the M4 and M5, has a 180m surfing lagoon which promises an unrivalled inland surfing experience suitable for everyone from beginners to seasoned surfers.

According to the press statement: "Ecotricity and The Wave are going one step further in the fight against the climate crisis - by supplying the new venue with electric vehicle charging points, while Ecotricity's sustainability and energy specialists are advising on future installation of solar panels at The Wave."

The Wave will also promote Ecotricity's renewable energy and encourage its customers to consider going green to do their own bit to help save the planet.

Paul Sands, growth director, Ecotricity, said: "We're really excited to be partnered with The Wave and powering this new attraction with 100 per cent renewable electricity.

"Ecotricity is different to most other green energy suppliers - we're building new forms of renewable energy to build a greener Britain, and the more businesses like The Wave who join us, the more we can do to help save the planet."

* It remains to be seen whether the 'meaningful spiritual' activity of man embracing nature can make the leap to a new reality.
According to an article written by Nick Benson, in August 2019, on the website wired, surfing commands figures of 23 million surfers and global revenues of $5.5 billon to $7 billion, with revenues and profile growing significantly, particularly in the past seven years. Which possibly explains why in 2013 the Association of Surfing Professionals, the global governing body, was acquired by ZoSea Media. Its CEO, Paul Speaker, a former marketing director for the NFL. After repackaging the media rights to World Surf League it sold them to Fox for a figure Benson said was thought to be significantly more than $30m paid by the previous partner, Facebook.Surfing will be included in the Olympic Games in Japan in 2020 for the first time.

* Electric cars are currently the go to destination for the car industry, pushed to the public as a more environmentally friendly form of transport than the traditional petrol and diesel. As scientists point out, how green they are depends on where that electricity was generated (in China more than 70 per cent still comes from coal-fired power stations) and when it is consumed. As experts point out, power stations are not emission-free. A Guardian article called 'Why electric cars are only as clean as their power supply' noted that even in California, "60 per cent of electricity came from burning fossil fuels in 2015, while solar and wind together made up less than 14 per cent". Charging electric cars at night time, when they are generally not in use and power can be cheaper, is not always the best option environmentally, apparently. "The greenest power gets generated during the day, when solar power can feed the grid; solar doesn't work in the dark, windmills stop spinning if there's no wind and, in today's grid, there is almost no capacity to store solar and wind-generated electricity to use later. Grid storage is slowly expanding, but most electricity has to be used as it is produced."

*Accoirding to Friends of the Earth: "Renewables in the UK are growing at an astonishing rate - in the six years from 2010 to 2016, renewable electricity production increased from seven per cent to 25 per cent. Electricity generation from solar is consistently breaking records, with generation from solar meeting a quarter of UK demand on some summer days.  All this is good news for the climate. According to analysis by Cambridge Econometrics, a 2040 ban on new petrol and diesels would mean a saving of 42 million tonnes of CO2 in 2040. In comparison, the total emissions from petrol and diesel cars today is 60 million tonnes per year. If we made the transition more quickly, the savings would be even greater."

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