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The National Trust speaks out against wind turbines

(7 Posts)
bagitha Mon 13-Feb-12 09:32:17

thegwpf.org/uk-news/4957-national-trust-comes-out-against-public-menace-of-wind-farms.html

gangy5 Thu 29-Mar-12 08:54:48

For what little power is produced from these monsters it is not worth the scarring of the countryside. I am against them for this reason. We are surrounded by a force of water - why are we not utilising this.
I am extremely fortunate to live in a beautiful part of the country but my view out to sea could be blighted if a proposal for 300 wind turbines goes ahead.

* Wind is not always blowing but the sea is always in motion*

Mishap Thu 29-Mar-12 09:38:26

What a difficult question - it is almost heresy to say that you do not support a green energy initiative. But.....our local village school put up a wind turbine, which does provide their energy (and they sell back to the grid) and many of the villagers are very unhappy about it - it truly is astonishingly noisy on windy days - it really is like a helicopter landing. I would not like to be living near it - we are lucky to be far enough away not to hear it.
I am not a scientist and do not know what the answer is, but it would be good to find one that might not be such a blight.
Having said that I do not find turbines particularly ugly, but then I only drive past them and am unlikely to finish up with one in my backyard.

Charlotta Thu 29-Mar-12 10:20:28

I don't like windturbines either but there is a lot of wind in the UK and we have to have something. Waterpower is fine but how are you going to get it to the big cities which need the energy unless you build pylons. The answer would be to transport the power underground but that's going to make mess of the countryside as well.

susiecb Thu 29-Mar-12 10:32:00

I like them. I like the look of them, they feel peaceful to me and very clean.

crimson Thu 29-Mar-12 11:28:47

I find them beautiful and will never forget the first time I saw them at Delabole in Cornwall a long time ago. But the noise aspect does concern me. They were very noisy in those days, and I believe they have improved greatly in that respect, but a 'mistral' type noise where I live would drive me barmy.

FlicketyB Thu 29-Mar-12 22:01:01

The problem with wind turbines is that they only produce power when the wind is blowing, providing, of course it is not blowing too hard. So when it is very cold and demand for power is at its highest wind turbines are often inactive because cold weather is usually associated with very still weather conditions.

More importantly wind speeds can vary enormously minute to minute and the resulting power surges are very difficult for the electricity grid to handle increasing the possibility of a grid collapse, when large areas of the country could end up with no power at all until one of the good old-fashioned power stations can get its black start generators going and start restoring supply.