It already has 200,000 hits a month and includes an integral search engine and Green shop. New media are allowing us to meet the growing global need for green solutions from our base here in mid-Wales. Of course there have been failures, too, such as trying to produce methane from waste on a domestic scale. But these are a vital part of our work in practically testing out technologies. It's always been our aim to pay our own way, such as through admissions charges, mail order, subscriptions to Clean Slate magazine and consultancy services.
External income is sought for large-scale capital projects and research and development.
As demands from all sectors of society increase, and green solutions develop faster and faster, it gets harder year by year to do everything that's required from us on what we earn. The type of work carried out is very varied. To take just two examples, British Rail commissioned us to design and cost a prototype system to provide power for lighting at isolated railway stations, and we were part of a project team that developed a weather-proof roof covering composed of PV cells for the University of Wales. We try to get across the fact that many solutions, such as solar water heating, are both technically and economically mature, and that there are many more in the pipeline. It's also important, particularly with young visitors, to help them see the world and themselves differently, so that they'll behave differently as a matter of course.