Wind farms

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daisycrazy

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Given that the climate change situation is very serious and increasingly being acknowledged by experts and politicians, I am very keen to see the development of renewable energy sources. I have to say I don't find wind farms unattractive and nor am I sure why horses wouldn't get used to them just as they get used to everything else we throw at them.

Does anybody really think they cause problems for the majority of horses or is it just a case of "not in my back yard"?
 
There is a lot of rubbish talked about the envioment, facts and mesurements twisted for political gain a great excuse for oppresion and new taxes, a lot of of presure groups and companys are making a lot of money out of the climate change scam.. These windmills are ineficent and waste tons of concete and steel and destroy peat bogs and the countryside... the cleanest renweable power is nuclear..
and remember green is the new red
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To make windfarms sustainable, you need hundreds of the bloody things.
However you wouldn't get planning permission for that. So apply for seven...once they are up...apply for another seven, and so on.

In Spain they are everywhere and the horses don't bat an eyelid. Cows and sheep are put out to graze right underneath them.

I'd rather have a windfarm than a nuclear power station in the backyard, and the way it looks from here I soon will, and I for one will not oppose it.
 
We have wind turbines near us, and the horses don't seem bothered by them - even my big spooky lump of a horse ignores them.

Having said that, I don't agree with the methods used to get these wind farms up and running. It seems that people in neighbouring properties' objections are totally disregarded and the planning bulldozed through regardless.
 
Windpower....

.... inefficient, ineffective, and expensive. Doubly expensive, because you still need to be able to generate 100% of your power needs from conventional power stations on no-wind days. Hence you still need other means of power production, and it has to be running all the time because it takes hours ir not days for a power station to come up to speed.

The fact that we all have to realise is that *all* forms of energy production have some sort of environmental cost, even wave and tidal.
 
We had a windfarm built on the moors of the big shooting estate next door to us, windmills are actually a couple of miles away from yard but the horses have never been bothered at all. Half the time you can't see them, and the estate had to upgrade all their tracks to get the machinery up there so good hacking now!
The one thing that did p*ss me off was the constant roadworks on our stretch of (very quiet) main road that i have to hack along, they spent a good 6 months digging it up filling it in and digging it up again.. road is like a farm track now!!
 
Interesting responses! So it seems they aren't actually a problem for anyone in and of themselves, but people object either to their validity as a source of energy (which is a debate all on its own) and/or to the approach taken by the proponents/developers?

The problem with the latter point is that these things inevitably seem to come up against acrimonious resistance wherever they go and the result is a battle that is going to leave a bad taste. Lots of people use the argument that they are not a very good source of energy, agree that climate change/burning of fossil fuels is a problem and yet don't go so far as to think about how it might be necessary for there to be some impact on their lives (and everyone else's) if we are going to limit the damage in any way. With regard to nuclear energy, am I very out of date or aren't there still intractable problems with disposing of the waste?
 
I dont understand why people think they're an "eyesore". I mean, they're not that bad - and not noisy either, I've stood right next to the ones near us and you can barely hear a thing. A few arent an issue surely? Would people really prefer a nuclear power plant than a few wind turbines?
 
Its not just a few though.

To create the same amount of power as your average nuclear power station, you would need to cover an area the size of Manchester in wind turbines.

I don't mind them, though I think care needs to be taken where to site them - offshore are good, actually tourist attractions! I've ridden right underneath 2 of them on an endurance ride and the horses didn't bad an eyelid though she was fascinated with the spinning shadow it cast on the field next to her!

Wind power isn't the answer on its own, but can be part of it, and its technology here and now whereas building new nuclear takes at leat 10 years in planning/building/commissioning. We need something to bridge the gap.

Sadly in the UK there just isn't the investment and legislation to make people/companies change to greener.
 
"Sadly in the UK there just isn't the investment and legislation to make people/companies change to greener." Couldn't agree more.
 
Alot would be a problem in-land. My point was coming from the massive fuss kicked up by one woman about the five turbines, yes just five, that are near where I live. Despite she knew about the plans for them before moving there. She tried to get all the locals to object but quite a few of them contributed to the project.
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The fuss was made purely because of how they look (something to do with a "funeral for the view").

I think they look beautiful.

Small scale I think they are good, apparently they provide power for 2500 homes. But I agree it wouldnt solve all our energy problems alone.
 
MooMoo I think they look good too - driving through France they look rather majestic and I really don't think they spoil the view.
 
There is a proposed one offshore up here in the north east, the NIMBY's are protesting it will spoil their view... which is currently British steel and the Ex-ICI works at Wilton... yup - can see thats a view to spoil. Numpties!

I pity you that woman who moved there though. In our little market town there was a chap got the pub opposite's entertainment licence revoked and complained about the bell ringing from the church next door. Why on earth would you buy a house there then????? Its called Church Square for a reason!!! Idiots...
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Oh, forgot to mention in one of the photos that accompanied the article (I did some research for my photography project on this - its not very recent that the whole hoo-ha over it happened) there is a power plant visible behind the turbines that somehow she'd overlooked. Lol.
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I'll try and find one of the articles on it.
 
[ QUOTE ]
A few arent an issue surely? Would people really prefer a nuclear power plant than a few wind turbines?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not really getting that argument. The governments current target is to achieve one sixth of our power generation with wind farms.

To accomplish that you would have to cover an area the size of Wales in wind turbines.

And the visual impact and moss of amenity is only part of the story. You have to build access roads to them &c causing massive ecological damage. It would be like building a business park the size of Wales.
 
[ QUOTE ]
apparently they provide power for 2500 homes

[/ QUOTE ] That's one of those oft misused statistics. What they are talking about is Electricity for those homes. The overall energy use per household is far greater.
 
Ok my point is mixed up.

Enough to match a power plant would be a problem. I said that in my second post.
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I should have said "would the person who so ferociously (sp) objected to the five near where I live, have prefered a power plant instead?" or something along those lines.
 
[ QUOTE ]

I'm not really getting that argument. The governments current target is to achieve one sixth of our power generation with wind farms.

To accomplish that you would have to cover an area the size of Wales in wind turbines.

And the visual impact and moss of amenity is only part of the story. You have to build access roads to them &c causing massive ecological damage. It would be like building a business park the size of Wales.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sadly being blinkered and short sighted is a particular "strength" of this government...

Wind certainly is not the answer on the scale they are pushing. It can be part of the answer and some of the Carbon Capture and Storage plants with enhanced oil recovery schemes are technology we could be installing now - far more efficient and will extend the life of north sea oil fields. No real push and funding though Teesside has got one on the cards, just sorting out financing and land deals I believe...

There are also the ideas of community systems, using food waste and anaerobic digestion; combined heat and power units; biomass boilers; hydrogen fuel cell systems. AND nuclear.

Just need a cohesive strategy and some government cash, and a big stick to beat the energy companies with to use profits to get this stuff off the ground.
 
[ QUOTE ]
These windmills are ineficent and waste tons of concete and steel and destroy peat bogs and the countryside... the cleanest renweable power is nuclear..
and remember green is the new red
wink.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with this totally. I think wind farms are a total waste of time. We have heaps of the bloody things scattered round our Scottish countryside.
 
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