Wind farms: A nice money spinner?

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11/06/2009, 6:34 PM

Winkle Picker is not online. Last active: 30/10/2009 14:46:06 Winkle Picker

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Wind farms: A nice money spinner?

Am I the only one who thinks the ongoing row over wind turbines is a red herring? How many fields of turnbines have you seen go up in North Devon since they became fashionable?

No one actually wants to build the things. Developers and/or landowners are keen to go through the motions because there are such a raft of Goivernment grants and subsidies available to thsoe that apply.

You only need a bit of land, a planning application and bits of a prototype and you're on to a winner.

I can name more than one North Devon "turbine developer" who has been at it for 20 yaers or more... and yet has anyone seen fields full of turbines lately? Neither have I.

The way forward is wave power, or using rivers to harness their energy, but clearly someone at Whitehall has a another agenda and a nice turbine nest egg spinning them cash for a few more months before they get kicked out of office.

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25/06/2009, 9:32 AM

patregan is not online. Last active: 25/06/2009 08:25:57 patregan

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Re: Wind farms: A nice money spinner?

Yes - they are a waste of time.

• Many residents living in close proximity to these wind farms find the noise levels completely intolerable and are infuriated that assurances about noise given in advance turn out to be valueless. Doctors have suggested that turbine noise, which may be low key yet disturbing and unpleasant, may link to psychological effects, headaches and depression. Noise levels cannot be accurately predicted in advance.

• Authorities in Spain reported considerable numbers of birds of 13 species secluded under European Union law have been killed by wind turbines (Windpower monthly 2.2.94). Turbines in California have on average destroyed between 200-300 Redtail Hawks and up to 60 Golden Eagles every year, whilst it is estimated that 7000 migrating birds a year are killed at other wind turbine sites in Southern California. (Source -California Energy Commission).

• The wind turbine is regulated to generate power at low to moderate wind speeds, when the production is a trickle. As the wind strengthens and real power becomes obtainable, they have to be shut down or they may blow over.

• The two foremost European wind farms are close to each other in Powys, at Llandinam and Carno. Between them, they have 159 turbines and cover many thousands of acres. Jointly they take a year to manufacture less than four days' output from a solitary 2000 MW conventional power station. Together, they have a productivity averaging 20 MW (in winter, UK demand peaks at about 53,000 MW.)

• Turbines can interrupt TV reception. This was noted in 1994 when the BBC and the Independent Television Commission recommended the Department of the Environment to oblige wind farm developers to reinstate reception where wind farms caused intrusion.

• The main unfavourable impact that wind farm expansion is probable to have is on local economies depending on ‘tourism’. Wind speed sites are frequently positioned in the areas holding the premium landscapes. Wind developers are consequently targeting those localities where the sightseer trade consists of visitors seeking harmony and unspoiled countryside.

• One of the most dependable critiques of wind-generation of electricity to date is the Darmstadt Manifesto on the exploitation of wind energy in Germany. Its main influence develops from its signatories - over one hundred leading intellectuals in fields including - Medicine, Mathematics, Electrical Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Geography, Mechanical Engineering and Thermodynamic Science, Land Administration, and Agricultural Science.

• Health and safety (apart from noise pollution) is a factor too. Apart from the hazard of blades becoming disconnected or even disintegrating due to fatigue etc, there is a real danger that chunks of ice can form on them in wintry conditions and then be thrown considerable distances when the wind picks up and the blades begin to rotate. Three of these wind turbine ‘factories’ in the UK were closed for safety reasons in April 2000 due to metal fatigue.

• The RSPB has objected to 76 wind farm proposals (on and offshore) between 2000-2004 and has raised concerns about a further 129. The RSPB recently objected to a proposed 234 turbine wind farm on the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides, on an extremely fragile and special area for wildlife.

Many more resons exist why they are a waste of time - politicians however like them.

Pat

http://dirtypolitics.viviti.com

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