Windfarms are being deployed rapidly across the Province. These developments have apparently been moving ahead far outfront of precautionary research.These taller-than-400-foot towers have been installed in a formerly quiet and scenic corner west of Long Point on Lake Erie, requiring re-zoning from agricultural to industrial. Now, a further 30 towers along the lakeshore have been recently pitched to the Norfolk County Council, and been accepted.
The Province of Alberta has put a hold on these industrial sites until or unless the emerging problems are solved. Many countries in Europe are reportedly withdrawing from the use of this technology. In Ontario, we are forging ahead, “damn the torpedoes.”
The problems? Despite their $5,000,000-each cost, they are largely ineffective in adding power to the grid due to wind variability, which renders the indispensible traditional power backup less efficient.
The MNR has not yet developed its policy on windmill bird impacts, yet Long Point is one of the most significant migratory funnels in the world. The fast-moving blade tips [340 kph] are the size of a passenger jet’s wings, and apart from the potential of raptor, bat, and butterfly kills, the World Health Organization has reported that the transmitted noise”¦always identifiable but sometimes considered conditionally inaudible by ear in the traditional sense”¦ at 1/2 mile is 100X the sound level recommended for sleep, and at one mile, ten times.
There are suspicions of many lucrative under-the-table handshakes politically motivating this, and ultimately the public will pay”¦pay very much for very little. There is a claim [easily verifiable] that landowners who accept their downpayment and annual fees, signing on to accepting wind towers, also must sign not to disparage the technology. [And why would they?] The same goes for environmental NGO’s that accept donations from the promoters.
It’s time that TVO took a look at this, to give it the exposure it deserves.
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URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/04/01/windfarms-a-rapid-development-a-bad-idea/