| Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005. |
It is time to take a step back and call a halt to the rush to build wind turbines
Credit: The Herald, www.heraldscotland.com 27 December 2011 ~~
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
The apparent rush to build onshore wind turbines in Scotland to achieve global leadership in renewable energy is a matter of concern particularly with the inconsistent nature of wind power generation (“Scotland ‘running out of land’ for wind farms”, The Herald, December 26).
I can scarcely remember a more extensive period of turbulent weather than that which has occurred in the latter stages of 2011. How can we have a consistent supply of renewable energy with turbines shutting down or being turned off to prevent damage?
There is a perception that this rush to build turbines has been generated by the subsides available to landowners and the financial inducements available to communities. However, with the warnings that the landscape has reached saturation point in some areas, there must be real concern about the beauty of the Scottish countryside being corrupted for decades. Perhaps a pause is necessary to consider the best way forward with power generation.
Bob MacDougall,
Oxhill, Kippen.
So Scotland is running out of land for wind farms. Many people who venture outside our towns and cities have been warning for years that the pressure on our landscape from wind farm developments is unsustainable.
The destruction of our landscape is usually excused by the need to combat climate change. But Scotland contributes around 0.17% of the world’s man-made CO2 and less than 20% of that is due to electricity generation, so even making this carbon-free will result in such a minuscule reduction in our contribution that it will be wiped out in a month by developments elsewhere in the world. If the rationale behind wind farms is that they will replace finite fossil-fuel resources then we have time to develop more reliable, predictable and less destructive renewable sources like for instance, tidal flow. The sole reason for the feeding frenzy that is windpower development is huge, subsidised profits for big corporations and wealthy landowners.
Andrew Mitchell,
4 Glenpark Avenue, Prestwick.
This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.
The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.
| Wind Watch relies entirely on User Funding |
 (via Stripe) |
 (via Paypal) |
Share:
[ Short URL: https://wind-watch.org/news/?p=17072 ]
