Wind turbines are farcical
Northumberland Gazette, www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk 17 May 2012
As a student of Biology and a scholar of natural history, I, like many of the population, am greatly concerned about climate change and support endeavours put in place to tackle these problems.
However, I believe onshore wind turbines are not the way forward in this issue and though they may appear to be a positive step towards renewable energy, the consequences and damage caused for the countryside are not worth the risk.
As a native Northumbrian and active member of the community, I can inform you that the general consensus on the proposed windfarm plans in rural Northumberland is causing a huge amount of distress. I feel that many of the upcoming proposals are created by large outside energy companies which don’t pay enough attention to the concerns of local communities and site turbines in inappropriate locations.
The current proposed windfarm sites would ensure that there will barely be any site in Northumberland where you cannot see these monstrosities, which will hugely impact the natural aesthetics of our fantastic county.
I am confident that the windfarms are merely a quick and easy way for the Government to make their renewable energy goals in 2020, but due to their lack of efficiency and huge cost, I feel they are a waste of time and money. The future of renewable energy should lie in technology promoting biomass, etc, as they can tackle two concerns at once.
In addition, I am also aware that Northumberland is meeting its quota for creating renewable energy and know that many other counties won’t allow windfarms to be built within them, so why is Northumberland seemingly a hotspot for this ridiculous waste of money?
As an ecologist, I know about the risks windfarms pose to wildlife, not only due to physical collisions, but other horrific means of death. For example, bats are unable to detect pressure changes around windfarms and when they fly into these locations they are subject to barotrauma, whereby their lungs explode and cause internal bleeding.
A gruesome fate that could be avoided if we say no to windfarm proposals. I have also been informed that close proximity can cause physiological problems for citizens of the county and debate that the citizens of Northumberland could suffer huge adverse effects thanks to the number of windfarms being built here.
I am also aware that due to current technology for wind turbines being so poor, the turbines are incredibly inefficient compared to other less intrusive renewable energy. I am also aware that they cost more money to run than they can assume in energy creation – why on earth are we investing time, money and effort into these farcical eyesores?
I have written to our MP through the CPRE website, www.cpre.org.uk, calling for strong leadership on this matter, and I would like to encourage other readers to do the same.
Miss Sarah Marley,
Hartlands,
Bedlington
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/05/17/wind-turbines-are-farcical/