Creyr
|
Wind Farms
May 09, 2007, 18:00
|
Just seen this on the telly
http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/journallive/thejournal/tm_headline=couple-say-no-to--6m&method=full&objectid=19061945&siteid=50081-name_page.html
Good on them for turning down the money, but looks like they'll be surrounded by three other turbine farms anyway : (
|
rocknicker
|
Re: Wind Farms
May 09, 2007, 21:51
|
|
Yeah I usually love windfarms but putting them there would be bad news.
|
Hob
|
Re: Wind Farms
May 09, 2007, 22:17
|
The local anti-windfarm campaigners were getting het up about the company that's building them. There were claims of dodgy behaviour by the same firm a few years back on the continent, and questions about where the electricity would go, all a bit murky :(
I still can't get away from thinking that all that tidal power would be a better choice in the long run.
|
handofdave
|
Re: Wind Farms
May 09, 2007, 22:57
|
I'd love to see some windfarms built around here. I find it insanely ironic that the same people who claim to be environmentalists are fighting windfarm development. Classic NIMBY behavior (Not In My Backyard).
At some point they will have to deal with the hard facts of physics. You can't get something for nothing. It's obvious to me that windfarms are preferable to smokestacks.
|
Hob
|
Re: Wind Farms
May 09, 2007, 23:17
|
I'd be quite happy to have a windfarm in my backyard, but having read up on some of the background to the ones proposed for North Northumberland, I was struck by the fact tha the company who stand to make the profit seem to have a bad rep in Denmark, where they'd been just about run out of town (or so it seemed from the reports, admittedly, these were reports fro anti-windfarm nimbyists...).
I guess the thing is, if it's gonna be done, it has to be done properly, and for the right reasons, not just because some ddgy bunch of venture capitalists see the opportunity for a quick buck by providing an inadequate product, then bogging off after the whole concept of renewable energy has been tainted by a badly implemented get rich quick scheme.
Im sure I remember reading* that tidal power is ultimately more effective, but much more expensive to develop at present. Hence, if it's being done for profit, it won't get done until other more cashworthy, but less useful options have been foisted on an uninformed and disempowered (npi) public.
The couple who own Duddo have turned down 6milion squids, so if that was the buy-off on offer, how much rofit stands to be made? This aint about clean electricity, it's about rich folk wanting to get richer.
*Could be totally wrong there, I have a crap memory...
|
moss
|
Re: Wind Farms
May 10, 2007, 09:25
|
|
Hob wrote:
Im sure I remember reading* that tidal power is ultimately more effective, but much more expensive to develop at present. Hence, if it's being done for profit, it won't get done until other more cashworthy, but less useful options have been foisted on an uninformed and disempowered (npi) public.
This aint about clean electricity, it's about rich folk wanting to get richer.
...
From whatever the angle that it is approached from, i.e.profit making capitalism ;) we still need a different form of energy, windfarms are part of the small term self sufficient answer for various parts of the country. Climate change is'nt going away, Nimbys should not be so selfish as to mess up the future for the following generations. The Severn Barrage is also mooted, in this case environmental damage, marinas, roads and the full works of those 'cute' little houses will surround a rather bleak but beautiful part of the estuary - whatever the answer, we need solutions pretty quickly...
|
fitzcoraldo
|
Re: Wind Farms
May 10, 2007, 09:33
|
"This aint about clean electricity, it's about rich folk wanting to get richer."
Well said Mr H. Some sectors of the wind farm industry definitely have a dubious reputation. also the benefits of wind farming vs the environmental impact do seem to be glossed over in many cases. I have nothing but admiration for the Duddo farmers.
The way to go in the UK are subsea mid current turbines. This technology is currently under development and is proving to be far more reliable than wind power as it exploits the unfailing tidal streams that surround our islands.
Before accusations of nimbyism are hurled, within a radius of twenty miles of my home are a nuclear power plant, two 'dash-for-gas' plants, one conventional oil/coal plant, one waste incinerator/generator, one wind farm and a soon to be commisioned biomass generation plant.
cheers
fitz
|
nigelswift
|
Re: Wind Farms
May 10, 2007, 09:33
|
we need solutions pretty quickly...
Well of course we have one - cheap, quick, kind to the environment..... reduce consumption.
But what politician will get elected on that platform?
|
Creyr
|
Re: Wind Farms
May 10, 2007, 20:52
|
|
nigelswift wrote: we need solutions pretty quickly...
Well of course we have one - cheap, quick, kind to the environment..... reduce consumption.
But what politician will get elected on that platform?
Totally agree with you there.
I have heard it said that if industry was to reduce the energy it wastes ( that's WASTES, not USES) by 20%, we wouldn't need to generate any more power.
This might be completely incorrect, but I'm sure the gist is right.
It seems clear to me that currently windfarms are about economic growth, not environmental sustainability.
|
wolfnighthunter
|
Re: Wind Farms
May 10, 2007, 22:13
|
|
fitzcoraldo wrote: "
Before accusations of nimbyism are hurled, within a radius of twenty miles of my home are a nuclear power plant, two 'dash-for-gas' plants, one conventional oil/coal plant, one waste incinerator/generator, one wind farm and a soon to be commisioned biomass generation plant.
cheers
fitz
Thats a similar situation over on the solway coast Fitz, we have a soon to be blown up nuclear plant (Chapelcross May 20th 9am, get your cameras ready), we have a soon to be finished biomass plant, a number of wind farms, and more planned, a waste plant up and running, all within a short distance .
I do not mind wind farms, if it means for a cleaner sources of power, if it perhaps one day lowers fuel bills,(will it ?). As long as the wind farms do not harm any ancient monuments or perhaps areas of natural beauty, then surely we cannot object?..can we?
I am not saying i would love a 100ft wind turbine in my back garden, but i would not think twice about having a domestic unit in the garden.
|
