Renewable Energy Foundation

The Renewable Energy Foundation is a front group or a think tank opposed to the widespread introduction of wind farms.

Dr John Constable, director of policy and research is reported as saying "The Government's plans for wind are wildly unrealistic. Wind power is going to be very expensive, very difficult and ultimately very costly."

Overview
The Renewable Energy Foundation provides "strong support" for local objectors to planning applications for windfarms. Dr Constable is reported to tour the country to give speeches at local planning meetings opposing wind farms on behalf of the REF. One environmental activist described the organization thus "The Renewable Energy Foundation is a sham organisation; it has nothing to do with renewable energy. It is a front for industrial lobby groups which have interests in fossil fuels and nuclear power."

The REF approves of the Conservative Party's approach to the economics of energy. Dr Constable, said “Subsidies in the energy sector have distorted investment patterns and left the UK with a dysfunctional and unbalanced electricity sector, as well as imposing disproportionate and rising costs on the consumer. ”

The REF has consistently and vociferously opposed the Renewables Obligation. The Renewables Obligation is the current main mechanism for supporting large scale generation of renewable electricity. Instead the REF argue that carbon capture and storage (known as clean coal) is a viable and mature proposition.

Charitable status and funding
The Renewable Energy Foundation received over £300 000 in donations in 2009, but the source of funding is obscure. It is reported that popular UK game Show host Noel Edmonds is a contributor, indeed his name appears on the Company's Annual Report.

The REF is registered charity number 1107360, the declared activity is :"to advance the education of the public in subjects related to sustainable development and the protection, enhancement and rehabilitation of the environment."

Trustees
Accessed May 2013:
 * Chairman: Guy de Selliers
 * Carol Bell
 * Colin Davie
 * Michael Starkie (Secretary)

Technical Advisory Group
Accessed May 2013:
 * George Aggidis, Helmut Alt, Hideaki Aoyama, Paul-Frederik Bach, G. P. Van den Berg, Richard Burrows, Alan Cowley, Paul Dupree, Ian Fells, Niall Ferguson, John Ffowcs-Williams, Robert Freer, Seamus Garvey, Colin Gibson, Sir Martin Holdgate, Mohammed Imbabi, Michael Kelly, Michael Jefferson, Michael Laughton, Richard Lindsay, Carole Nakhle, Chris Perry, Peter Randerson, Guy de Selliers, Hugh Sharman, Robert Skelton, Drew Stevenson, Henry Thoresby, Owen Yeatman, David White

Staff and trustees (old)

 * Dr John Constable, Director of Policy and Research
 * Dr Lee Moroney, planning director, Trustee
 * Timothy John Windham Hale, Trustee
 * Carol Bell, Trustee
 * Colin Davie, Trustee
 * Guy De Selliers, Trustee
 * Campbell Dunford, Chief Executive

The Technical Advisory Group of the REF contains many familiar names, some not otherwise associated with opposition to wind power, such as Professor Niall Ferguson.

Contact details
21 John Adam Street London WC2N 6JG Phone: 020 7930 3636 Email: press AT ref.org.uk Web: http://www.ref.org.uk

Company Registration Number 5222782 Registered Charity number 1107360

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Front groups

External articles

 * Leo Hickman, "Will the real Renewable Energy Foundation please stand up?", Guardian, May 18, 2011.
 * Robin Webster Anti-wind lobby group criticises DECC's projections on energy bills - are they right? Carbon Brief 22/05/2012

External resources

 * REF's submission to Parliamentary Energy and Climate Change Committee The Economics of Wind Power
 * Charity Commission overview
 * REF's Technical Advisory Group, REF, accessed August 2010.
 * REF's Technical Advisory Group biographies, REF, accessed August 2010.
 * John Constable, "We're not anti-wind farms - but they should be offshore", Guardian, January 11, 2007.