Windfarms on my doorstep, What can you do?

Brooner said:
Are wind turbines really that green??

As far as I am aware, the wind turbines are largely made of aluminium, and that needs huge amounts of electricity to refine....what powers the smelters....etc....

Bottom line, whatever you do, has a negative effect of some description :rob
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The one on the next island up from me is mostly German steel with a bit of glassfibre for the blades.

Aluminium smelters are, AFAIK, powered by hydro electric schemes.
 
Blackal said:
So windpower can't provide the base-load that areas require? So what? If it reduces the reliance on gas/coal/nuclear power - that has to be good. :thumb2
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I doesn't though, because people want power on tap the gas/coal/nuclear has to be running on standby in case the wind stops blowing...
 
just off the coast of yarmouth

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wully said:
I doesn't though, because people want power on tap the gas/coal/nuclear has to be running on standby in case the wind stops blowing...
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I may be wrong, but in recent years, I am led to believe that Denmark generates
around 26% of it's electricity in winter using wind power & up to 46% in summer.
 
arcboutant said:
oh dear ,my turn now !

Our coastline needs the waves to cleanse and aerate the water of all waste material e.g. dead vegetation, dead creatures and now that man walks and squats -sewage.

If you absorb energy from the waves our coastline will stagnate!
Ok it may take a while - even the impact on the hillsides caused by the energy absorption of wind turbines will take some time to show- but it will.

I do not say changes will be for the better in all cases but certainly our coastal areas will suffer the most.

Remove the cleansing, purging, aerating effect of waves and sit back and watch.

I suppose it is the butterfly effect but even moving a stone on the ground impacts the area where it lay.:rob
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Is there any science behind this, or is it just your opinion?

While I'll concede that there is no such thing as free energy and that tidal power generation must have some impact, I find it hard to conceive the notion that the British Isles will sit in a stagnant pool if we deploy the various means that are currently being developed.

Of the varieties that I've seen, the turbine type use the currents to drive large blades under the surface and the boom-types use the motion of the waves (on the surface) to generate power a bit like a bicycle pump.

In both cases, the tidal action may be reduced but it isn't calmed completely and in both cases, either the surface is not utilised or the lower currents are not disturbed. The surface booms ride the waves, they don't stop waves because without the wave, they wouldn't work at all.

Energy from tidal action is far preferable to wind turbines because the tide is constant.
 
In answer to the original question, it seems you need to research the full consent process, which will no doubt be considerable, then find out exactly where they are in the process, then plan your attack.

I understand that there is a new law in place for planning consent re. wind farms greater than 50MW, where this is done by central government.

You need to play the system as best you can. Chaining yourself to railings and protesting will do sod all.
 
cheb said:
The one on the next island up from me is mostly German steel with a bit of glassfibre for the blades.

Aluminium smelters are, AFAIK, powered by hydro electric schemes.
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Steel mills burn fuel for their smelting, dont they? (I watch 'How Its Made' on Discovery), and the mining for iron ore can 'scar' the landscape.

Generally speaking, hydro power schemes require huge amounts of concrete, steel etc to build the damn, pipework, turbine housing, infrastructure etc, then you are into flooding a vast area of the countryside to make the resovoirs to store the water.

Whatever power generation you use, nothing is 100% efficent. There is always energy 'waste', be it in light, heat, sound, friction etc.

I suppose to answer Raggitash's orginal question, write to your pertinant planning officer stating your objection to the development (sent recorded delivery, so they cant deny recieving it) and get any local like minded people who will be affected to follow suit.
 
Anyone who thinks that man can take enough energy out of the incoming waves (with offshore floating converters) to effect coastal flushing has a pretty high opinion of what we can do... and a very low estimation of the shear amount of power that hits the shore in the form of waves...

Same goes for the 'cutting of the wind' by wind turbines...

These are simply weak, stupid sounding arguments used by NIMBYs to find some reason to raise alarm when faced with power generation being moved from someone elses backyard to their "own"....

The equaly weak argument about having to run conventional power on standby is just as weak... Yes you need to keep a base supply running... yes you may even need to keep your quick response supply running... but the power that is generated can and is used by consumers... so what is the problem?

If the power grid is engineered properly, and since people make money from every aspect of it, it is... Every MW generated from the wind is a MW not generated by fossile fuels. It's not complicated.. it's math. All arguments against on the above grounds are the same as saying I don't believe the engineers and I think they are full of it...

Just say you don't like the way they look.. (they don't make more noise than the wind either IMO) and be done with it...

Al...
 
Brooner said:
I suppose to answer Raggitash's orginal question, write to your pertinant planning officer stating your objection to the development (sent recorded delivery, so they cant deny recieving it) and get any local like minded people who will be affected to follow suit.
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Oh, and copy it to your MP and MSP, then hope they arent tree huggers.
 
Horizons of Change

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/innovation/2009/0904/1224253754937.html

Interesting article, excerpt:

Over 5,500 wind turbines are now operating in Denmark, supplying more than 20 per cent of the country’s electricity demand. They include vast offshore installations like Horns Rev, up to 20km off the west coast of Jutland, where 80 huge turbines – with a 70m hub height – generate 160 megawatts (mw) of power at full production. Plans are being made for a much larger (4,600mw) offshore wind power project in the Baltic Sea that would link Danish, Swedish and German “wind parks” in an international electricity grid.

This project, Kriegers Flak, is estimated to cost €1.3 billion, partly funded by EU aid from the European Commission’s renewable energy budget. During a storm in 2005, wind power met 100 per cent of Denmark’s electricity demand, though it had to be shut down when wind speeds exceeded 25m a second, according to Lars Aagaard, managing director of the Danish Energy Association. When that happened, hydro power from Norway flowed in to keep the country supplied.
 
Bin Ridin said:
Horizons of Change

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/innovation/2009/0904/1224253754937.html
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One of the interesting things in the article is the reference to EU grants, and US grants being awarded.
Anything seen as being green has money thrown at it as climate change (despite it happens naturally...) to give a veneer that governments are doing something to combat it, as it is good for the opinion polls.

However, the technology will only get better by implementing it and improving it with each generation.

We will need countless turbines, wave generators etc to power the hydrogen manufacturing plants we will need to power the hydrogen cars that are coming....
 
I am waiting for the "let's have another look at that nukelar idea" moment.
Surely we can fire the waste off to hell in a rocket?
Even sweden which vowed to go non-nuke after Chernobly has rowed back.
Ireland should have gone nukelar and saved us all the pollution of the turf, coal and oil fired stations.
 
Perhaps its time to bite the bullet and construct a european wind farm, choose one country thats struggling a little, perhaps an underpopulated rural based economy perhaps romainia or ireland, cover the whole place with windfarms, and just let them sell the power to help trade themselves out of insolvancy. Sure it will look ugly but there will be no better excuse not to visit there, and think of all the places that will be saved from further green energy based development.

Shep
 
What we found on Skye was the "white settlers" with there holiday homes that spent just a few weeks a year on the Island were the ones shouting the loudest.
Jeremy Isaacs being one, who were tryin to use there name to bully and influence any development plans.
Windfarms up and running and Amec are suing the likes for the disruption caused:thumb

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Shep said:
Perhaps its time to bite the bullet and construct a european wind farm, choose one country thats struggling a little, perhaps an underpopulated rural based economy perhaps romainia or ireland, cover the whole place with windfarms, and just let them sell the power to help trade themselves out of insolvancy. Sure it will look ugly but there will be no better excuse not to visit there, and think of all the places that will be saved from further green energy based development.

Shep
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So..........it is being built in the right place then!!!:augie
But at least it may keep the "white settlers" from staying?:aidan
B1ff
 
H.R.H. OONYACK said:
What we found on Skye was the "white settlers" with there holiday homes that spent just a few weeks a year on the Island were the ones shouting the loudest.
Jeremy Isaacs being one, who were tryin to use there name to bully and influence any development plans.
Windfarms up and running and Amec are suing the likes for the disruption caused:thumb
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In situations like this, I hope the jobs for maintaining the windfarms have been given to locals.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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