The Anonymous Widower

Coalition At War Over Wind Farms

This headline is on the front of today’s Sunday Times. The row is also reported here in the Telegraph.

It is to be expected.

I must be one of the few green individuals, who is totally opposed to onshore wind farms. Offshore ones are a different matter.

I’ll give you a simple personal example, which is not about wind farms, but about visual intrusion.  My previous house had one of the best views in Suffolk.  But it wasn’t perfect, as a water tower on the horizon spoilt the view. Now I only joked about it and on some of the photos, I air-brushed it out.  And it was after all several kilometres away on the outskirts of Haverhill. If they decided to knock it down, I’d have bought drinks all round. Now that was one water tower, how would I have felt about a line of wind turbines on the intervening ridge. It would have probably made my house unsaleable.

So I can understand why people get upset about visual intrusion.

But let’s face it too, most who live in the countryside are some of the most energy wasteful people you could want to meet.  Many have large uneconomical vehicles that they drive up and down from London every weekend. And they often live in large energy-inefficient houses.  So asking them to accept wind turbines is like asking a vegan to eat meat every day.

No wonder the countryside, which generally votes Tory,  doesn’t want wind turbines.

In fact I find it rather surprising that anybody, anywhere in the world, wants wind turbines on a beautiful landscape. It’s just like sticking fake moles all over the Mona Lisa.

I am surprised that wind farms haven’t come under physical attack from their opponents.  But I can’t find any incidents on the Internet.

Offshore wind farms though should be developed.

There is so much less visual intrusion and I believe innovative designs can make them bigger and at less cost per watt. I’m possibly back to my old favourite of the Balaena.

November 25, 2012 - Posted by AnonW | World | Energy, Onshore Wind Power, Technology, Wind Power