It is clear from my recent visits to the sea front and views from various parts of the Downs that the Rampion windfarm is fast developing, with apparently over half the turbines already in place. Last weekend I visited Lancing beach and it was great to see that Moby Dig had finally disappeared which seemed to offer a much safer venue for the kite surfers. The digger originally got stuck on the beach as part of the process of bringing cables to shore. It is really exciting to see the wind farm taking shape, and on visits to Eastbourne to see their three land based turbines now in operation. Along with these turbines there are acres of solar farms across Sussex, many of which are hidden from easy view due to the landscape but which can be glimpsed from certain locations. One of my first jobs at the end of my studies was in Lancing for a Company that manufactured flight simulators, the team I was part of included a colleague who after a visit to Sellafield was inspired to apply to work there which he duly did. Clearly if all of the Sussex based wind and solar devices were located on the same site, the opportunity to visit them and see the impact of the wind and daylight on our energy needs might be equally inspiring for future engineers. However because of the dispersed nature of the technology including the numerous wind and solar units located in peoples homes and at business locations, it is not currently possible to visit one place that contains all of the data and which displays all of the technology. Around 11,000 people visited the British Science Fair held last week in Brighton which indicates that there is a healthy appetite for better understanding technology. We need to find ways of harnessing this interest and encouraging young people to consider ways in which they can participate in such an important industry. Sadly there are many people who write articles in papers or who are interviewed by broadcasters who either complain about such awesome technology or deny the need for reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. In the last few days Radio 4 once again was debating the value of inviting Nigel Lawson into its studios to enable him to pontificate on climate change, a subject he is clearly deeply ignorant about. My friend who I lost touch with after he moved to Cumbria went to work for an industry which even then was becoming unpopular. However his passion to help ensure that energy was produced in the most efficient and safe manner was hard to argue with, whatever the views people had about nuclear energy. Thankfully we now have a much safer and effective way of producing energy than existed in a meaningful way in the 1980s. It would be fantastic if some form of real or virtual visitor centre existed that could help explain how much power is being generated from the various sources in Sussex and how people can work in the industry, and indeed come up with new ways of producing power in a form that can help light and heat our homes, but which does not damage the environment.