The second tallest wind turbine in the UK may be built in West Yorkshire.The 125m tower will be constructed in the car park of Asda's distribution depot in Normanton, if plans are approved.
The turbine would be taller than Big Ben, and only slightly smaller than Blackpool Tower and the London Eye.
Asda who are part of the Walmart group says it may face opposition to the plan, but sees it as part of its eventual aim to become 100% dependent on renewable energy.
"The turbine will completely pay back the energy it takes to build it in just eight months, and then will continue to produce carbon-free electricity for the rest of its life."
As the chair of 'Wakefield's Sustainability Advisory Group' I have got to be excited that one of the biggest companies in the world is taking environmental sustainability seriously.
Do any of you remember last weeks headline?
Supermarkets' sweatshop shame.
The claims in a report, 'Fashion Victims', based on interviews with workers at six factories which employ more than 5,000 people in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.Wages in the factories start at just £8 a month. They can rise to £16 a month for sewing machine operators but workers complain it is still not enough to cover food, housing and medical bills.
The working day is a minimum of ten hours but some staff work every day in the factories, clocking up to 96 hours a week. Some staff work up to 140 hours unpaid overtime a month and are threatened with dismissal if they refuse.
Can a company like Walmart not afford to pay these guys more out of their 11 billion pound profit they made last year? Can a company take responsibility for it's CO2 but not take a responsible view on employment?
The area of 'Emergy' when it comes to supermarkets is huge.
I am not going to start to unpick this now - you can just ponder a company that can do both these things. Over the first months of the new year I will start to unpick this . . . . . . .
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