BBC NEWS | Business | Germany's wind farms challenged
OK, I'll admit something here. I really dislike windpower as a concept. I have never been near a giant wind farm, but from all photos of them, I think they are an aesthetic blot on the landscape. They are pretty noisy in a strong wind too, I believe. They must kill some birds, from time to time. What's worse, they spread their offensive features over large areas, not like a single power station that can be hidden behind a hill yet service an enormous area.
Apart from aesthetics, I think what annoys me is the idea of giving up so much control as to how much electricity is in the grid to mother nature. I don't trust her. Give me a power source that puts me in complete control instead. Put nature in its place, which is to serve us higher creatures at the pointy end of creation/evolution. (I could go on in that patriarchal, judaeo-christian vein, but it would only be worthwhile if I knew I did have readers that it would annoy.)
I guess the same could be said for the unreliability of solar power too. However, at least it has the good grace to not clutter up the landscape.
Anyway, any articles that criticise windpower will always be welcome here.
6 comments:
In addition, windfarms don't deliver a great deal of energy and are quite unreliable.
See, for instance, this document, The Case against Wind 'Farms'; in particular, sections 4, The problem of intermittency and need for backup and 16, Some comparisons - odious and otherwise.
Lots of problems sure - but as part of the puzzle surely worth considering. I also think they look spectacularly good (seriously) in ways that coal fired power stations just don't approach.
Geoff
Maybe one standing alone looks impressive and interesting. But heaps of them strung out along a ridge line or something and they lose any aesthetic appeal.
They didn't even look that good in Mission Impossible III; that action sequence was perhaps the worst handled in the film.
I know it sounds odd but I've seen them in NQ and on the SA coast and they look great. Seriously, if you get the chance, have a look.
Cheers
Geoff
Yes I have never seen or heard one either but I belive giant aliens shoot out of the and poo all over the landscape.
I love the informed opinions "I know nothing about them and have seen one but they are bad" Nice work. tool.
Well, just goes to show I can annoy readers without much effort.
Actually, the link provided by bettiwettiwoo was pretty good - at showing the downside to windpower. (Most telling point- if it is correct and it sounds plausibe - was that keeping conventional power stations ready to kick in means they operate less efficiently vis a vis CO2 production, thus the savings in CO2 are not as significant as they first appear. I guess that doesn't apply if the back up power is nuclear. But then, windpower is not saving any more CO2 than nuclear anyway.)
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