Alternative energy source in Galway where windmills are being used to generate electricity.
Dudley Stewart from the Galway based company Alternative Energy, believes that windmills can generate electricity to be used in conjunction with the ESB supply source.
Alternative Energy believe their generators could be used by houses and farms which could switch between wind sourced energy and the national grid as required. The company is already developing a wind system for Inisheer (Inis Oírr).
Dudley Stewart acknowledges that wind has been used in the past to generate energy but became less popular when cheap fossil fuels became available. The cost of fossil fuels is rising again and wind could offer a cheaper alternative.
Alternative Energy believes that a wind power system could meet up to fifteen per cent of the country's energy needs. The National Board for Science and Technology says that only £1, 000,000 is being spent this year in Ireland on the research and development of alternative power. Greater investment is required.
To date, Alternative Energy has received no assistance in the form of grants.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 29 November 1978. The reporter is Kieron Wood.
