In what is being touted as a "global first in sporting history", the Manchester City Football Club (mcfc) is set to power its City of Manchester stadium and neighbouring facilities in East Manchester with wind energy. The stadium was built for the Commonwealth Games in 2002. The "SportCity Wind Turbine Project" is said to have the uk' s largest land-based wind turbine. Ecotricity, a private power company, will provide the three-bladed turbine, which would convert to one single point on less windy days and produce about 2 megawatts electricity.
"The carbon emission savings... would be equivalent to that of at least 2,000 homes and would really make strides into the long-term goal of making Manchester a truly green city," says mcfc chief executive Alistair Mackintosh. A club release adds: "Manchester City has been engaged in extensive local consultation in the past 12 months which will now be followed up with a series of formal consultation processes. Planning consent will be sought in the autumn."