Plans for a giant wind farm on the edge of the Cairngorms National Park have been rejected by councillors – who travelled 3,600ft up the mountains to see its potential impact for themselves, as reported by The Independent.

Close encounters

A 100ft underwater turbine destined to form part of a major tidal energy project has been installed in the sea around Orkney.

The discovery of vast fountains of methane spewing into the atmosphere (report, 13 December), terrifying though this revelation is, merely represents the latest in a series of climate-change phenomena whose speed of development has been dangerously understated by mainstream climate policy analysts.

The Duke of Edinburgh condemned on-shore wind farms as "a disgrace" and accused those who support them of believing in a "fairytale".

Planning blight on the planet

The US billionaire Donald Trump has criticised a plan to build an offshore windfarm near his luxury golf resort in Scotland.

Investing in wind farms is more than hot air. It's a chance to use your cash to make a difference, while hopefully making a profit. But it's an investment where returns are at risk, not least from the vagaries of British weather. If the wind doesn't blow hard enough, the wind farm can't generate alternative energy or profits.

As soaring fuel bills force homebuyers to act green, many movers are opting for the lower running costs of a new-build property which, on average, are six times more energy-efficient than older homes. The message coming through is that you do not have to compromise on comfort, style and luxury, or even pay a premium, for a low-energy new home that offers a better, cheaper lifestyle.

It may not be Shakespeare but that was never the idea. A sentence which compares forgotten memories to the bloodied corpses of sparrows has won a prize for intentionally bad literature. The 2011 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, for which writers are invited to compose the worst opening sentence to an imaginary novel, was won by Sue Fondrie, a University of Wisconsin Professor. She wrote: "Cheryl's mind turned like the vanes of a wind-powered turbine, chopping her sparrow-like thoughts into bloody pieces that fell on to a growing pile of forgotten memories." The award's wesbite said that, at 26 words, the submission was the shortest winner in Contest history.

A sentence in which tiny birds and the English language are both slaughtered has taken top honours in an annual bad writing contest.

General Electric notched a better-than-expected 22 per cent rise in earnings, helped by strong demand for jet engines as well as equipment used in oil and natural gas production.