A Rant From France
I received this comment last week and feel it should be posted.
Hello Anonymous,
I came across your blog whilst doing my daily research regarding wind farms.
I live in rural France and now have six x 140 metre high wind turbines…….one of which is under 600 metres from my home.
The value of my property has dropped by around 40%? Exactly how this percentage is arrived at I do not know. I can say the estate agent I asked to come and see my property was “shocked”! by the size of the turbines and the close proximity of them to my home.
He was also amazed that I was not getting any money for having them so close to my property.
He declared that I had a lovely home, beautiful garden and extremely attractive gite, he then said what a pity about the windfarm…….getting people to come to the house would be the biggest hurdle as the turbines loomed from every angle over my property,enough to put most people off before they even got here. He felt ( and I can only agree) that given a choice most people would not choose my property over a property without a wind farm so close. Now how bloody obvious is this!!!? For goodness sake…….so here I am with a blighted home, with a mortgage, with noise issues. I am just one of many in this situation.Our neighbours host the turbines on their land and receive around 25,000 Euros a year plus, the village 2.5 kilometres from where I live also receives around the same amount. I have received absolutely nothing apart from a complete change of circumstances as to how I now live my life. There are of course worse things in life then having a wind farm next door but it is the way “we” are simply overlooked and referred to as selfish! that I cannot understand.People need to “wise up” as to just how crushing it can be to have turbines so close to them.I am forever reading about people not understanding why turbines can be so unpopular……it is only the people who have to live next to them who really know why.Visiting a wind farm is not anything like living with one and yet again and again groups of people are taken on a visit for a couple of hours so they can make an “informed” decision about having a wind farm near them………please everybody wake up! bit of a rant I suppose.?
All I can do is sympathise!
My views on wind farms are detailed here.
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.
LED Street Lights In Sheffield
BBC Breakfast is covering this story in detail.
All street lights in the city are being converted to LED ones, that can be centrally controlled according to the conditions.
I can’t find the story anywhere on the web.
Does it show how low green issues sit in the minds of the average journalist?
Having used LED lights for years, I can’t understand this indifference to a technology that should be rolled out across the country.
An example was given, where Sheffield say they will change the light levels around evening football matches. Bright as they arrive and leave and low during the match.
How for instance are sensible lighting levels going to help in the fight against crime?
Fuel And Energy Prices
I had a stroke two years ago and being unable to drive, I moved from my large house in deepest Suffolk to the centre of London. My new house is fully insulated and my fuel bills have gone through the floor.
Some of those moaning at costs, should look at their lifestyles. Why should I subsidise the 4×4’s and heat-inefficient houses of others?
There’s Something Wrong With This Central Heating
According to my air conditioning the temperature outside is 11°C. I have the central heating set to 18°C downstairs and switched off upstairs. But the floor is distinctly warm although my thermometer shows 23°C and 47% humidity. The latter figure agrees with the aircon.
So it looks like the aircon and the underfloor central heating are fighting against each other. Luckily the aircon seems to be winning, as that is set to 23°C.
It surely doesn’t all add up!
Are The Best Ideas Started In Garages?
The storage of electricity has always been a problem and it’s one that will get worse as we get more renewables like wind-power, that tend to produce electricity at variable times.
So this article on the BBC web site caught my eye. I particularly like this bit.
The technology was originally developed by Peter Dearman, a garage inventor in Hertfordshire, to power vehicles.
Just like Hewlett-Packard, which started in a garage.
What is the most significant fact, is the IMechE have got involved.
This might be one of those ideas that runs and runs.
It has a lot of things going for it.
- It’s all technology we have had around for years.
- It doesn’t require large amounts of land.
- The plants could also be used to say produce liquid carbon dioxide, nitrogen or oxygen, where they are needed, instead of bringing it in by tanker. On the other hand liquid oxygen is dangerous stuff to have around.
I shall be watching this story in the future.
Open House – SELCHP
SELCHP or the South East London Combined Heat and Power energy recovery facility, is a refuse incinerator, that generates up to 35 MW of electricity. I went for a look round during the Open House weekend.
It’s a long time since, I’ve been given free rein in an industrial plant. The last one that generated power was probably Cliff Quay or Sizewell A. Or it certainly was in the UK, although I have visited two others in the US; AEP Cook and Beaver Valley.
The site was impressive and I think they do a good job, getting rid of London’s rubbish. For those who object to incinerators on principle, it can’t be that bad, as they have now got resident peregrine falcons to keep down the number of pigeons. All I can find is this in a forum.
There’s also a bird of prey of some sort that nests at SELCHP, the incinerator opposite Millwall football ground. They provide it with special nesting boxes. Apparently, the high, bare walls look like the cliffs that are its natural habitat!
But the building probably looks no different to peregrines as does Tate Modern.
Open House – The Limehouse Hydraulic Accumulator
Rather a unique building available for view was the Limehouse Hydraulic Accumulator.
I managed the climb up the tower quite easily and as you can see some pictures were taken of the view from the top.
The machinery in the tower was originally built by William Armstrong and was used to provide hydraulic pressure to the cranes and other machinery around the docks.
Did Betfair Lay Down The Model For Social Lenders?
Zopa, Funding Circle and Ratesetter, think they are unique, but did they just borrow the principle from the betting exchange, Betfair.
In all four, you can play both sides against each other, although the purpose of Betfair is different.
The same principles could also be applied to an energy exchange. Let’s say a town or an area got together and pooled their energy needs and say they wanted a particular price, which the energy suppliers could then bid for.
I don’t see too much difference.
The Anonymous Widower 