Stories About Wind Power
I don’t like large onshore wind turbines, as I believe they destroy wonderful views and the economics are not very sound.
On the other hand, when they are offshore, they are less intrusive and the economics might be better. But even so the arrays have to be properly designed and sited.
The real place for wind turbines is to provide distributed power to difficult places, where a small amount of electricity is required and running a cable would be expensive.
I’ve not been happy on the effect of turbines on birds ever since, I read several articles about how in the United States, wind farms kill eagles and other large birds. Yesterday The Times published a similar article about their effect on bats.
I’m always sceptical about the reasons for publishing these articles, as I’m pretty certain, that they are very much the sort of story that pleases Middle England, who feel the turbines will make their house drop in value.
The Times also published a story about a wind turbine on the Welsh Assembly, which is also reported on the BBC. This is the first paragraph.
A wind turbine that cost the Welsh government £48,000 to buy has been generating an average of just £5 worth of electricity per month.
It all goes to show that wind turbines may not be as economic, as their proponents say they will be.
One thing I’d like to see is an open database on the Internet of all turbines, with their detailed cost, subsidy and revenue, so anybody who wanted to, could check the efficiency and economics of any turbine.
Only if that information wee to be freely available, would we be able to know if they were money well spent.
And People Worry About HS2 And Other Developments!
I do sometimes worry about the grip some people have on sense. Look at this article, about the damage done by the slag heap from a coal mine to the railways near Doncaster.
We should have got rid of our coal mines just after we found we had North Sea Gas and Oil, and probably developed nuclear power for most of or electricity. Instead we struggled on with the world’s most polluting fuel for many years.
Now the Nimbys don’t want any developments, be they fracking, nuclear power, wind power or even new railways like HS2. I suspect, if you had a vote on new motorways it would pass, provided they didn’t build one near to the voters.
But how many people will call this trouble with the trains near Doncaster, an environmental disaster caused by not getting rid of coal years ago? I will!
Are Wind Farms A Good Idea?
A wind turbine in Devon has collapsed in high winds according to this article on the BBC.
I suspect engineers and investigators will find the cause of the collapse, but it illustrates one of the problems with turbines.
Failures like these stiffen the resolve of people, who don’t want them nearby, making the costs of the installation even more uneconomic.
If we need to develop renewable power sources, there are better systems available, than putting multiple blots on the landscape.
Is This A Serious Or Crazy Idea?
There has been a story today about large numbers of very large wind turbines being built in the Irish midlands and the power generated being exported to the UK. Ireland would get quite a few jobs.
I think it could be one of those schemes, that may be al right in theory and budget, but doesn’t perform as it should, when it is built. In the article on the BBC web site, there are these closing paragraphs.
Richard Tol, professor of economics at University of Sussex, said he felt that the whole scheme was “crazy” and would not work in the long term .
“From an Irish perspective this is not selling the family silver; this is giving it away. There is no money staying in Ireland that I can see.
“But from the British perspective it is a good deal,” he said.
It would appear it’s being very much imposed on the Irish people and the Irish are not stupid.
So I would be very surprised if the scheme is ever fully implemented. But then I don’t like blots on the landscape, whether I can see them or not!
If we are going to have large wind farms, in my view the best place for them is offshore.
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.
RBS, Donald Trump and the Dreaded Wind Farms
The more I read about Donald Trump and the wind farms, I just think how funny it would be if either the golf course or the wind farms had been all or part funded by the Royal Bank of UK Taxpayers.
After all something Sir Fred did is going to jump up and bite us, so when it does, it might be something with a good laugh in it.
Scots Put Wind Up Donald Trump
I can’t say I warm to Donald Trump and I don’t think, that I’d want to be anywhere near his golf development, as it will probably attract a lot of the sort of people, that I find odious.
So I read the report about his spat with the Scottish Parliament with interest and a small bit of pleasure. I’m not really in favour of wind turbines and especially those onshore, but offshore ones, if the economic case is there are a much better option. Let’s hope he gets a nice line of pylons across his golf course.
RSPB and Wind Farms
The RSPB is usually to be found on the list of those organisations lined up against a wind farm.
But now they are oputting up a wind farm on their headquarters site.
Can they have it both ways? It would appear they can!
I’m not a fan of wind power, as I believe there are much better methods like using tides creatively.
The Anonymous Widower 