Monstrosities? Just a minute.
Now, which one of these is the greater 'scar on the landscape'? It's not a trick question, I promise.
Once again the readers of Country Life magazine have entered the news by complaining rabidly about things most people don't mind. They have voted wind farms their #1 most hated eyesore.
These complainers might live in the countryside, but it's obvious that they don't give a damn about the environment. All they care about is their own environment, defined as what they can see from their patio. We invest money into developing cleaner sources of energy, and when the research pays off, these people quibble about the aesthetics? Never mind the fact that eight out of ten people in the UK are in favour of wind energy, or that most people think windfarms look unobjectionable, interesting, or even elegant.
I swear, if all that was needed to permanently eradicate war, disease and famine was the construction of a single structure, some people would still fight it if they would be able to see it from their kitchen window.
It's the same with everything... the people who feel the strongest always make the most noise, usually disproportionately so. Wind farms get a lot of negative coverage in the media because most of the people who are talking about wind farms are the tiny minority who strongly oppose them. I think we need to make an effort to redress the balance. So here goes...
I want a wind farm outside my house. I promise I won't complain -- in fact I'd support it completely. Wind based electrical generation is a good thing -- it's cheap, clean, and practical. I like wind farms!
What I write on this blog isn't going to make a bit of difference, of course. But shouting into the ether is surely no less Quixotic than tilting at windfarms.
There's a ton of information about windfarms and wind energy at the British Wind Energy Association website.
Your page seems to be very one sided. I am a realist and think Wind Power could be a very good thing. However you should take the info from BWEA with the full knowledge that they are NOT a government body but have been set up by the wind industry to talk on their behalf and to lobby for them. IE they are a totally one sided commercial concern paid for and run by over 290 private companies that build windfarms, acquire land, supply legal advice, supply equipment, finance as an investment, and those that own the wind farms or hope to make a profit from their construction.
Please also note that a wind farm is only about 23% efficient at best. IE they only produce usable power 23% of the time. Also that huge investment in the National Grid needs to be made first so that all the generated power can be used. Denmark has probably the best grid system in Europe and the longest running development history of integration of wind farms. BUT they are now considering closing those very wind farms because of the serious problems they cause with the supply system. This is not being anti wind farms..I am just saying yes lets have off shore wind farms but lets make sure their generated power can be used first and not rush in and build loads of wind farms that then have to be turned off because they cause overload power cuts.. It takes several years for a wind farm to recoup it's environmental (CO2-loss of land etc)cost if all the power is used. If it cant be accepted or leads to power cuts then the idea will be badly damaged and lose support. Do it right first time. Remember that their generated power has to be heavily subsidised as well. It would NEVER stand up on an economic basis if their power was sold at market value. Lots of people are making lots of money from wind energy, pity it cant all be put back in….
Leading civil engineers, ecologists and environmentalists have warned about this from the start. Wind energy can only every be part of a much larger effort to save the environment. Just putting them up will do very little on it’s own. You need to use all their power for the maximum amount of time. Arguments like, “Well at least we are doing something” are at best naive. If you build them and it turns out they are not working and their power cant be used we may never have another chance.
the evidence is documented and real
I agree with Andy T, wind power stations may help, but their very small, unpredictable contribution which does not replace any other generation is not worth destroying all our upland landscapes for. Other technology is coming on fast - for instance placing turbines in tidal streams is being tested and will produce reliable, plannable power which really will save fossil fuel generation. Hill-based wind factories are only a short-term fashion, produced through government subsidy and industry seeing a quick buck