Green energy group gets blue-blooded support on turbines

The Renewable Energy Foundation is a green organisation that can count on financial backing from some of the richest UK businessmen and landowners.

The lobbying group, which wants to restrict the number of wind farms being built in the UK, has not publicly declared who its backers are. As a registered charity, it does not need to, counting contributions as "private donations".

But revelations of heavyweight and blue-blooded backing from major landowners will infuriate environmentalists lobbying for more wind farms.

Campbell Dunford, chief executive of the REF, told the Independent on Sunday that the Duke of Westminster had offered to make a donation to the organisation, which last year received just over [pound]200,000 in individual gifts, according to its accounts. The group has also received an unknown amount from Sigrid Rausing, who owns land in Scotland and is the daughter of the Tetrapak billionaire Hans Rausing. She has also opposed plans to build wind farms near her estate in Scotland.

Mr Dunford said another donor to the REF is the Cadogan family. Cadogan Estates - chaired by the 8th Earl Cadogan - runs the family's Chelsea estate, which includes Sloane Square and Cadogan Square.

Vincent Tchenguiz, the property tycoon-turned environmental investor, has offered an estimated [pound]250,000, which includes payment for research carried out by the REF. He has also offered to provide new London office premises to the outfit.

Mr Tchenguiz said: "REF is an independent charity and puts a lot of hard facts into the public domain. This has upset some people, but it would, wouldn't it?"

According to REF publicity, it "relies on private donations for its funding, and has no political affiliation or corporate membership".

Mr Dunford insists that all the donations were made in an individual rather than corporate capacity. "What we are about is getting the balance of renew-ables right. Wind is an appropriate renewable in a supporting role. It's unfair to wind - it has been oversold. It should not be asked to do the heavy lifting."

But a spokeswoman from the British Wind Energy Association said: "Transparency of remit is the issue - why does an or-ganisation that calls itself the Renewable Energy Foundation oppose the one technology which is demonstrably delivering large-scale clean energy in the UK?"

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