Winds of change

by Greg McDonald

Across the misty fields beyond London the beast looms, a ghostly monolith feared by the local children, its face expressionless and strange, a darkling phantom against the darkening sky.

No, it’s not Peter Mandelson, but one of the thousands of 300ft-high wind turbines the Government is bringing to Britain.

Critics of wind farms, who claim they disfigure our countryside, need to wake up and smell the manure – if we fail to act now on climate change, there won’t be a countryside to preserve.

The Government, it seems, has finally woken up and smelled just what world leaders have spread over green issues, with meaningless targets set at long after they’re all dead.

And so today’s green energy revolution – which aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 34% within 11 years, create four environmentally friendly eco-towns across England, allow the Government takeover of electricity grid connections, and create 1.2 million new green jobs – is fantastic news.

Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, is right to tell rural Britain’s Nimbys that the wind turbines at the heart of the plan “have to go somewhere”.

And if Ed wants to build one in my back yard, he can send the builders round any time he likes. Wind turbines don’t only represent the promise of a future for our children, they will power 15 million homes in the next 11 years, and we should welcome these haunting additions to our landscape with giant open arms.

Comments

[... ... ... ...]

Don't be in such a rush with the hole and tonnes of concrete for the windmill Greg McDonald we are saving your backyard to dump the radioactive nuclear waste.

[And truth can NEVER be aired when censorship prevails.]

And truth can NEVER be aired when censorship prevails.

[Old Indian Proverb]

We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.

[WHY?]

WHY?

Because if you tell the truth you can not be a politician.

And truth can NEVER be aired when censorship prevails.

[WHY]

WHY???

Why don't you stand for election and put it all right?

[Shafted Briton]

I agree what you say does have merit but I am rather perturbed by my country being akin to a Monopoly Board with France and other countries having bought up the 'Utilities'.

I think we need to bring these back into our control before even considering the nuclear power programme.

[les lee]

you do make some good points and observations shafted briton .
whilst i do not personally like nucleat power it is in the main probably the most efficient way to power the world in future years ......
i think you will find that soon nuclear waste ...as it is now... will become a neccessity for uses still to be discovered .
yes it is dangerous at this moment in time ... but then so is the human race !!
probably it is the fear of nuclear fision that frightens those that have not lived through dangerous times as my generation has .....
when compared to nuclear energy surely this particular labour government has proved more dangerous to britain than anything else in history ???

[Shafted Briton]

Dot according to you, the quota of windmills per house is one. One windmill, one house.

According to Greg MacDonald we need enough windmills to power 15 million homes in the next 11 years. Seems to me to be a lot of windmills, holes in the ground, tons and tons of concrete and many miles of conrete roads.

The other issue we have to consider is just how much will all this concrete in all these many holes poison the ground itself? I don't think the earth will come away unscathed.

Eirian Rhys Williams has seen first hand the damage done to the environment erecting windmills and the vast quantities of concrete needed to support them and the way the wetlands have been poisoned and disturbed.

harryh is correct in saying that we need an alternative to fossil fuels but can windmills really be the answer?

les lee seems to favour nuclear power but the emissions from nuclear power are insidious and in whose backyard do we bury the waste?

Nobody seems to want to use less fossil fuels than they do right now. We all see the world in crisis but nobody wants to do the right thing and not use our cars and perhaps 'walk' (now there's a four letter word for you), use a bus (a three letter word even), dry clothes on the washing line (a bit of extra work there pegging out).

Is building windmills really the way to work our way out of recession or should this idea remain firmly in the realms of Don Quixote?

As for waking up and smelling the manure why arn't we piping the methane emissions for domestic use and putting the solids back on what little countryside we have left.

What is so amazing is that windmills do not harness the windpower as efficiently as we are led to believe. They are not the answer to our fuel shortage afterall since when wind speeds exceed 55mph they have to be stopped to avoid damage to the turbines. Whilst we might live on a windy island with lots of wind to exploit windmills to the full we have to find a way to control windspeeds to not exceed 55 mph.

Now there's a thought!

[Real Bogus Anon]

This has got to be the source of Gordon Brown's promise of jobs in the Green industry, the erection of millions and millions of windmills!

[Anon]

Tell me, Greg McDonald, just how many windmills are needed to power 15 million homes in the next 11 years.

The answer is going to be in the millions. Nevertheless, let's all read your nearest guess.

[Anon]

So TBD | 20 July 2009 at 08:17 How big is your back yard?

[TBD]

Has anyone noticed how we're all crying out for more efficient / eco friendly means of power generstion, but everyone has a reason / excuse for it not to happen.

Basically, 95% of reasons against the various methods of power generation come down to NIMBY...... Not In My Back Yard.

[Jb]

And dont forget all the foreign media such as SatTV and Newspapers.

This country used to lead the world in industry invention and innovation until the government stole and sold our family jewels and allowed the sale of everything to outsiders.

The only way is nuclear but they are afraid to make a decision WHY?

This government has done nothing else that the people of this country wants so why should it change now.

[Where has all the money gone ???]

Yes
We have foreign owned:- taxis,trains,buses,water,electricity,gas,internet,care homes,banks,building societies,housing associations,houses,pubs,countryside,corner shops,take aways,supermarkets,telephones,car makers,steel makers,electronics makers,and even the majority of the buildings in our capital city ETC ETC ETC.

There is only the roads and the air we breathe to be sold off now.
Even a foreign government and foreign royal family.

The population is increasing at a massive rate but it is not by native Britons.

STOP population growth and the demand slows as well.

And even censorship when blogs state the truth.

WHY WHY WHY ????

SOMEONE HAS HAD ALL THE MONEY FOR THIS WHERE HAS IT ALL GONE??????????????

[Eirian Rhys Williams]

I don't think the supporters of these wind farms realise the damage the construction creates. I live in mid Wales and in my area the windfarms are situated in the wildest and boggy upland areas of the Cambrian Mountain range. The construction of the foundations for the massive windmills we find in this area, plus the miles and miles of concrete roadways essential for access to them have caused untold damage to the wetlands surrounding them. These wetland and peat bog areas act as the natural "lungs" of the land, efficiently and naturally absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Tests carried out at one windfarm recently showed an increase in carbon dioxide levels directly caused by the disturbance of the mosses and peat of the land through road building and base construction of the windmills. These machines are inefficient in calm weather and from my home I can see up to one hundred of these windmills. During June this year nearly all of them were static for days. In winter when windspeeds in these exposed highland areas regularly exceed 55mph on most days especially in autumn months, again they have to be stopped to avoid damage to the turbines. In my opinion, they are ugly, inefficient and damaging to the environment, and their continued spread is something we will regret.

[Dot]

Honestly. What are you all on? I worked for years at an animal shelter that had one of the first turbines in the country. It saved the charity vast sums on electicity bills, and I can honestly say working under it day in day out - there was no noise and no turbulence and no one became ill working with it. In fact it became a part of life. I live several miles from it but when I walk my dogs across the fields at the back of my house I can see it in the distance and I actually find it quite a reassuring landmark - not a blot on the landscape. We have had windmills in this country for centuries. Our flour mills used to be turned by them. The technology is sound. I agree, they should be British if we have the technology. Do we is the question? I also think they should be sensitively sited. We are an island with above average length of coastline. What is wrong with offshore?
Climate change is a frightening and probably inevitable fact, but nonetheless we should all do everything in our power to protect the planet we live on instead of exploiting it to beyond its limits, as one day we will have to pay. I really dont understand what that has to do with Fascists?! Probably short sighted ignorant morons yes - Fascists no.

[les lee]

all this carbon footprint rubbish has been created by this government to put a smokescreen over their inability to build more power stations to keep this country in energy!!
it has not escaped some of us that perhaps the politicians that eagerly advocate wind turbines have a VESTED INTEREST !!

[Anon]

What we should really do is to put down wind turbines and all that concrete footings at the base of the coastline where the cliffs are eroding unmercifully fast. This way, we can justify all that concrete and all that steel.

However, what nobody seems to appreciate is all that NOISE THAT COMES FROM THE TURBINES AND ALL THAT AIR DISPLACEMENT FROM THE BLADES THAT CAUSES THE NOISE.

All those air molecules bouncing about causing great big waves on our eardrums and all those vibrations that cause NOISE.

Ask that man who lives on an island somewhere off the coast of Scotland what he thinks about the noise when the wind is "in that direction"! Undescribable.

In America they have information regarding living too close to the turbines and the illnesses that can be caused by the perpetual turning of the blades and the shadows and the blinking red lights as the turbines slide past the static lights.

It is not so clean a green producer as you may think. The emphasis is GREEN meaning no carbon. That's all. No other environment aspect is taken into consideration. You are all being hoodwinked into these stupid producers of green energy (nuclear as well) that are really environmentally unfriendly.

Who wants an electric car anyway?

[Well I never, what a swell party this is.]

Well, that's ok then, more is less, more blackouts less carbon emissions.

Don't drive gas guzzlers but small cars with less emissions. Owners of small cars to catch buses.

Hang out the washing on the sunshine line.

Say no to nuclear and no to windmills and yes to solar panels.

Everybody has to plant a tree to mop up the surplus carbon emissions.

Pipe methane gas from cow compost heaps to cook the Sunday lunch.

[william smith]

How green are these turbines.I would be interested to know how much energy is consumed in their manufacture. For instance the production of 1000 tons of concrete for each base and the steel for the towers and blades

[Richard Lock]

What a load of hot air. Supporters of the windmills are as lacking in vision as those who run the country. It is a short-term,inefficient method of producing electricty for a population which will reach around 75million in very short order.
The answers are out there but we are not trying hard enough.
I'm sure Greg Macdonald would have one of those bloody great things in his back yard! The much cheaper and less environmentally disastrous option is already available but I dont suppose GM has enough upstairs to realise that.

[Jim]

Windmills can never meet all the needs of Britain. Only nuclear can do this and its been left much too late. There will be blackouts before the supply matches the demand as the present generating stations reach the end of their working lives. Man's activity is not the only cause of global warning. A part and maybe a large part is a natural cycle which we cannot do anything about. People and animals breathe out vast quantities of carbon dioxide and the effluent from farming animals produces lots of methane. It isn't just energy production and industry!

[Dot.com]

Exactly, why do we want or need foreign companies selling us back the power generated by windmills on UK soil to UK citizens?

Whose barmy idea is this anyway?

In this country we have an army of good engineers can't we do this for ourselves?

[WE DONT WANT FRENCH WINDMILLS]

Yes we have a windy country and a host of people in government that are windbags who could easily power the windmills.

BUT THEY ALSO WANT THE WINDMILLS BUILT BY B***** FOREIGNERS.

WE DONT WANT FRENCH WINDMILLS.

[mum from Kent]

we have the windest country and we are an island - why rely on others, we should make our own cheap power supplied by windmills and use the tidal water too. This earth is for our children and grand children too nuclear power has dangerous waste, so keep it clean.

[Anon]

harryh | 19 July 2009 at 18:34

Please list what you consider in your opinion to be extremist views, please.

[harryh]

Some of the extremist views in this discussion completely miss the point.
Do we need alternative power sources - YES
Can wind turbines play a part in this - YES
Are there substitute solutions available in the more sensitive and historic areas - YES
ALL of us need to be a aprt of the cessation of use of fossil fuels. WE need to think about the future - which, judgeing by some of the comments is absolutely impossible for some.
WE need to make the right decisions today to balance the power needs of the country against the needs for a divers environment.
If people cannot understand this basic observation then we, as a race, deserve whatever we reap.

[Anon]

Windmills are also physically disturning to watch. They have also been shown to cause health problems

The most beautiful windmills are in Holland, let's leave them all there.

No room in this country for such an eyesore.

The best way is not to use more electricity than we need. How about hanging washing out on the line to dry instead of just bunging it in the tumble dryer?

Towels don't need washing after every single use. There are other ways of saving fuel if only you want to apply a little thought.

Do we really need street lights on ALL NIGHT? If you are scared without them on, don't watch horror movies on the tv then you won't think about it. Besides which, even in the 'dark' you can still see.

[john]

I agree with the writer.
There won't be any countryside
to preserve if we don't act now!
Windmills? The ones that are
left in Holland are now national treasures. Windmills
have been about for a thousand years. Wind turbines
are graceful. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[les lee]

carbon emissions are NOT likely to damage our planet as much as the over infestation of the human species does !
the stupidity of the human species is obvious when you look at the way they deem the human life as so much more than any other animal on earth .
the so -called lesser species of animals regulate their numbers to correspond with the available rescources the planet has to offer at any given time..... this of course is absolutely essential to maintain the staus quo and not to overpopulate , and therefore maximise the damage to their environment ..........
perhaps if mankind was to take a retrospective view of the damage it has done to this wonderful planet by ... for instance ..constantly giving aid to countries that have , by their own incompetence and lack of a proper contraceptive policy, have created an area of famine then the worlds problems would not be so great as it now is

[... ... ...]

I have to agree that nuclear power does produce zero carbon emissions which is good for the Green Cause but the main issue with nuclar power is that it emits nasty radioactive particles that remain radioactive and destructive for millions of years. Nuclar power is dirty.

The best way is to use less products which cause carbon emissions.

But of course, that's just too much for the human race.

The phrase used to be 'tighten your belt' when the food harvest was poor.

Need to do the same with carbon emissions.

[... ... ...]

To myview:

Did I hit a nerve?

I'm sorry No, but I can see that I hit one of yours.

[les lee]

also mcdonald you still ave NOT answered the fundamental question that i asked of you initially ( what is eco about covering green fields with concrete jungles? ) although you thought to have the question deleted to save you further embarrassment...... did you not ????

[les lee]

actually nuclear power is the only viable power source available to the world.. and produces zero carbon emmissions.....all the other sources have the ability to produce excessive carbon footprints courtesy of constant replacement of their components whilst being manufactured ...plus of course their inability to produce CHEAP power at the touch of a switch !

[myview]

Did I hit a nerve. I'm sorry.

[... ... ...]

myview

I am a NIMBY I am also a walker and travel by bus. How do you do it?

[myview]

Nimbyism shows its head yet again. Everyone wants the benifits, nobody wants to be inconvenienced. It is the same with mobile 'phone masts, nobody wants them near, but the protesters all have a 'phone in their pockets or handbags. Let's see how they would cope if the mobile 'phone companies
theatened to turn them off in their area, or the power companies decided to charge more for supplying electricity to the areas that want the service but not in their backyards

[Another Fascist Prat]

TO: In case you have forgotten

I am quite comfortable with being a xenophile. I have yet to hear a good argument as to why I should not be. I'm not even sure that it's illegal. My choice, my country.

Please post your comments above.

[FORGET IT !!!]

GREEN energy owned by indigenous peoples in a WHITE country FANTASTIC !!!

GREEN energy owned by foreigners in a country over run by foreigners FORGET IT !!!

[Another Fascist Prat]

To: In case you have forgotten

"who keeps changing his/her username to avoid taking responsibility"

I see that you are not too embarrassed at using a pseudonym either!

[Another Fascist Prat]

To: In case you have forgotten

PS it would have been nice to read your own views on green energy instead of knocking those who might know just a bit more than you do.

[Another Fascist Prat]

TO:In case you have forgotten

It is only your opinion that this blog site if full of fascist prats the rest of us believe that we have the right to protect ourselves and OUR OWN COUNTRY. We are sick to death of being sold out to foreign nationals by those who should be protecting us from such treacherous acts.

[TonyC]

Global warming? When the sun goes supernova the human race will, if it has survived that long, will cease to exist. There are already too many of us for one planet to support. Global warming will continue whatever we do. Taxes are taxes, Global warming is just another excuse for yet more taxes under another, "You know it makes sense banner." Wind Farms are expensive, cost per watt of energy produced is prohibitive without subsidy. Standby for yet more price increases, the goverment has already begun to condition you to it. Pay up and be miserable you have no choice.

[In case you have forgotten]

In case you have forgotten this blog is about green energy, and whether wind or nuclear power is best. However, it appears to have been hijacked by a fascist prat who keeps changing his/her username to avoid taking responsibility for his/her xenophobic views

[!!!!!!!!!!!]

Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox said: 'It is now irrefutable that LABOUR'S £1.4 BILLION CUT TO THE HELICOPTER BUDGET IN 2004, IN THE MIDDLE OF TWO WARS had an extremely serious impact on the number of helicopters available for operations in Afghanistan, and potentially on future operations.'

[Vote for SELF RULE.]

The Indigenous BRITISH person is FAST becoming outnumbered by even faster breeding immigrants.

There will soon be a minority of white Christians in a white Christian country.

Vote for SELF RULE.

[Good Idea.]

Good Idea.

WE NEED TO KNOW WHO IS BRITISH.

We need a LAW that prohibits ANY foreigner to become an MP or Councillor.

We need to GOVERN ourselves.

[FOREIGN]

OUR ROYAL MAIL is going FOREIGN soon.

["Made in Britain"]

The only things "Made in Britain" today are immigrant offspring.

[Shafted Briton]

Get rid of the foreigners who own our utilities.

We don't want nuclear. And we don't want French nuclear.

We don't want windmills. And we don't want foreign windmills.

We want our water back because we don't want the french to own our water.

We don't want the French to own our refuse collection operators and lorries.

Bring back Sir Walter Raleigh. Lets just get rid of all the fleas who feed off us.

We don't want foreigners supplying to us what we can supply ourselves.

[here are two]

foreign taxies
foreign populated CITIES

[Etc,Etc,Etc,Etc.]

YES

Foreign electric
Foreign gas
Foreign water
Foreign trains
Foreign internet
Foreign health service
Foreign government
Foreign steel
Foreign football
Foreign made army uniforms
Foreign banking
Foreign run exam boards
Foreign run passport service
Foreign "royal" whatever that means family

Etc,Etc,Etc,Etc.

Please add to this list all the other things I have missed.

[WE HAVE NOTHING BRITISH anymore.]

Orange is french as well.

WE HAVE NOTHING BRITISH anymore.

Thanks to our foreign government.

[THE WASTE]

And it is a FRENCH COMPANY that will build and own and make all the profit from our next nuclear power station.

The only thing we will get from it will be THE WASTE.

This was decided by our FOREIGN government.

[We dont own much]

Foreign built.

Foreign owned.

Foreign profits.

We dont own much of our countryside either.

[Bob]

I don't see the problem with them they're not that ugly more of a modern version of the old windmill.
I have more of a problem with ugly mobile phone masts and electricity pylons which maybe contributing to the cancer increase but yet people don't seem to get upset over them.
As for Nuclear power stations are you supporters on drugs? The amount of pollution these things cause is unbelievable not to mention the devastation to man and the planet when these things go up.

[... ...]

Poor Person

There would appear to be grants available for solar panel installation. Apart from that I don't see what choice you have got other than to leave your name and address with the nearest wind power company. I'd much rather you had them than me.

[Poor person.]

I wish I could afford solar panels. Have you seen the price of those things?
If it was a straight choice between wind turbines or a nuclear power station, I know which I'd rather look at and live near.

[Anon]

Nuclear Power is not the way to go. Neither are turbines.

The answer is DON'T USE AS MUCH!!!!

DON'T USE THE CAR AS MUCH!!!

Install solar panels.

It's too late to wake up and smell the coffee all we can smell now is the smoke from the bottom of the percolator.

Get used to burning there's going to be a lot of it.

This information was available years ago but nobody took it seriously. Now everybody is panicking. Don't build a windmill in my back yard. I AM A NIMBY. My choice is for solar power. It's up there and it's beating down on us. Use it.

[les lee]

and mcdonald ...... the one question idiots like you need to address is ......
WHAT IS E.C.O ABOUT TURNING GREEN FIELDS INTO CONCRETE JUNGLES ?????

[les lee]

actually mcdonald ... it is the likes of people such as you that need to wake up and smell the coffee!!!
just ONE decent sized nuclear power station would make far more electricity than all these wind turbines put together ...... AND AT HALF THE COST ....
nuclear is the only way to go as the so .called carbon footprint is ZERO......
once these power stations are up abnd running the energy required by britain would be adequately produced ........
the only people to benefit from wind turbines are the LANDOWNERS who get a substantial rent for having them on their farms .........