Towering ambition sees wind test reach for sky

Chris Allanson owns Z Cars, a performance engineering company in Aldbrough, East Yorkshire, that builds replica cars including the classic Mini and Lotus Elise.

With a full order book and customers around the world, Mr Allanson felt sure there was a way to cut energy costs and the carbon footprint produced by his 12-strong team, but was shocked when he investigated further.

"My business is quite unusual and our electricity bills are astronomical, so it was something I wanted to look at. The first thing to do is get a wind mast to collect data – measure wind speed, noise levels, quality of wind and so on. That needs to be in place for about a year to see if a full wind turbine is viable," he explained.

"But I couldn't believe it when I was quoted 25,000 for the mast – I thought there was no way it needed to be that expensive, but the salesman insisted it did."

Never one to listen to the word "can't", Mr Allanson set about designing his own mast.

A former policeman with strong engineering experience, he believes the version he has produced – which cost 15,000 – is better than the one he originally looked at.

"It's designed to be temporary – it sits on wheels and you can trailer it about, so you don't need planning permission," said the 52-year-old. "It's quick to put up and take down and is held in place with guy ropes – if you had a concrete base it could be permanent, but the idea is that it could be hired out, not just sold, and it would make the idea of green energy more accessible."

Mr Allanson's idea has already attracted interest from the United States and there may be the opportunity to do business overseas.

"I've done a lot of lateral thinking with the racing car business and that's given me the skills I needed to develop the mast," he said.

"We have a turnover of 1m a year with Z Cars, and who knows where we'll go with this idea?"

His own mast is now in situ on the farm where his business is based. Should the data prove a full-scale wind turbine would work for him, Mr Allanson believes he'll face a new challenge.

"We've got another 11 months of data-gathering, but I think a wind turbine would save Z Cars about 600,000 tonnes of carbon in its lifetime," he concluded.

"I've been told that would cost around 300,000 to buy and install – but I don't think it needs to cost that much. I'm pretty sure I could do it cheaper, if I put my mind to it – so watch this space."