The Forres Gazette is reporting on its front page this week:
"MORAY Council is considering proposals for the construction of a controversial wind farm on the Logie Estate, south of Forres, which if it gets the goahead would be one of the biggest installations of its kind in Scotland, the biggest on the Moray coast and visible from as far away as Forres, Findhorn, Nairn and Elgin."
Nothing on the paper's website yet so you'll have to get the paper to find out more about the plans for the (64m tower) wind farm proposal. Laurie said at election time ""Nairnshire is not the place for rotating monuments." Well perhaps we are becoming the perfect place to look at them in the distance. Maybe we should have a nuclear power station or a coal fired conventional one down on the Links instead if we don't want any windmills ourselves?
14 comments:
At least they would work!
Or photovoltic panels(sunny side up) on Sandown. Step forward NICE again please?
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/2801649
'ABERDEENSHIRE Council has revealed plans to build its own wind turbines – just weeks after its planning chief called for a six-month freeze on new developments. The local authority has been “overwhelmed” by more than 800 similar applications in little over a year – more than the rest of Scotland combined.
Now, the council has identified four sites across the region where it wants to erect its own masts to make money.'
A report was prepared several years ago on the potential economic effects of wind farms on tourists and hence on tourism. However as far as I can tell there is no detailed and more up to date report available. The Report did not cover all of Scotland and the P and J item seems to indicate that there are now many more applications across the country. Perhaps we should do as the report suggests and give wind farms a better press and make the presence of wind farms a significant tourist draw.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/214910/0057316.pdf
The hysteria has started already ... "one of the biggest installations of its kind in Scotland" - what a ridiculous claim, Whitelee and Clyde wind farms have over 100 turbines each and there are dozens of wind farms with 10-20 turbines in Scotland already.
How long will it be before we get the usual rubbish about how wind farms don't work, how they're inefficient etc.
Let's discuss the local issues but please can we keep The Gurn free from the usual propaganda - there are plenty of existing anti-wind farm NIMBY forums for that.
Shame Gurn is blinkered by SNP propaganda. This isnt about NIMBY, its about the Scottish Government selling out to big business while way pay for it all on our bills.
NO wind generation company is interested in generating cheap energy, its all about making money...lots of it.
We have allowed our land to be blighted for future generations all so big companies like SSE and Powergen can improve their profits and share price. Bought and sold for Edinburgh's gold.... Monorail anyone?
I'm just perplexed Rob as to how mankind can keep up its addiction to energy without destroying the planet. Coal/oil fired generation will help global warming fry us all and nuclear power is hardly a safe alternative either.
Any suggestions yourself? Turn off all the internet connections perhaps?
Scotland is surrounded by so much potential generating capacity, in the form of the sea.
Whether wave or tidal, the scope for producing power is massive.
Why do we not see multiple applications to the Crown Commission for permission to install various large scale generating systems out at sea?
Because the companies won't get the same return they are guaranteed they will get by building onshore wind farms.
The subject polarises people and somewhere in the hype from both camps lies the slumbering corpse of the truth.
The industry could help its cause by ensuring policy on proxmity of turbines to houses was set in sensible tablets of stone, which it isn't and also getting its arse into gear and adopting a set of noise guidelines that weren't 15 years old and, primarily due to the increases in the size of wind turbines, almost comically obsolete.
As a cynic on most matters it seems obvious to me that it isn't in their interests to do so ; if they are sincere in their claims to actually give a toss about anything other than money, they really should.
My business is tourism based but I'll not challenge the recent claims made by the renewables industry which stated that 80% of tourists would continue to holiday in Scotland, even if there were more wind farms.
I still haven't seen anyone try to explain to the Scottish tourism industry how they are meant to cope with a 20% reduction in the number of visitors though....
Excessive subsidies for on shore wind currently encourage an easy option for those looking for a return on investment . Hopefully offshore and tidal or wave generation schemes will come to the fore over the next few years.
@Rob
I have no-idea as to what propaganda you yourself Rob have been blinded by, but we've not had any nationalised industry in the UK for many years in the power sector, and ALL power companies are there to make money. The reward is particularly sweet for any that are foolish enough to pick up the nuclear option, as the Westmninster government would dearly love to have investment in new nuclear reactors
Wind farms may blight the landscape for a few generations, but nuclear does it much better for thousands of years as Japan is now finding out to its cost
The great majority of us want cheap energy and lots of it. No political party is willing to challenge that, so energy policies tend to be fudges and short term when what we really need is investment way into the future
Wind farms bring the reality of energy creation to our doorstep as we look at them out of the window
How many of us have managed to make a serious dent into decreasing our energy consumption, very few I suspect, we like to be able to flick that light switch without thought for where the power is coming from
There isn't one 'good' form of energy creation, all have their negative points, using less is the only positive saving you can make
I believe people should be warm in their homes within reason, and we shouldn't have fuel poverty which effects a huge percentage of the population
Mt solution to energy creation? I would place a community wind farm on the land at Sandown and watch the pounds roll in for the benefit of us all
Offshore wind is still at least 5 years away from commercial delivery, wave and tidal 10 years. In the meantime onshore wind is a proven technology which will deliver on carbon reduction in the short to medium term.
"NO wind generation company is interested in generating cheap energy, its all about making money...lots of it" Blimey Rob, sounds like you're not shy of a bit of propoganda yourself. Wind farms are for the benefit of ALL in the long-term. Get yer specs on. We should support new sustainable forms of energy, not aim the same old cynical muck at new technology. It's not big and it's def NOT clever... P xx
"Offshore wind is still at least 5 years away from commercial delivery"
Absolute tosh.What about Whalney, Thanet,Robin Rigg, Gunfleet Sands etc.....?
On shore wind simply offers quicker and easier return for investors.
Future changes in ROC subsidies may well shift the current dynamic of on-shore wind being lauded as global panacea.
It would make far more sense if more of the money that is currently fed to massive companies in the form of tariff payments for the electricity produced was used to improve the insulation of our housing stock and making real attempts to encourage more sustainable forms of transport.
I tried googling, "the truth about wind farms" and here is a selection of the items that came up. There were far fewer links than I thought there would be and here is a small selection covering 'both sides of the argument'.
http://www.svep.org.uk/?p=448
http://www.backlocalwindfarms.co.uk/
http://monitor_cs.elsevierlb1.intuitiv.net/view/21946/conference-against-wind-in-scotland/
http://www.harland-consulting.co.uk/?gclid=CKmz2c_kwLACFSYhtAodzECeXQ
http://www.communitiesagainstturbinesscotland.com/category/cats/page/3/
I have also tried googling,
"in favour of wind turbines"
http://higreens.org/blog/wind-turbines-personal-view
http://www.aspectuspr.com/blog/2011/07/wind-turbines-blight-beauty-or-basic-necessity-for-combating-climate-change/
there are many more links to look at Happy Reading
There are ways for local people to earn money from wind turbines, as Off Switch has mentioned a community wind turbine will earn money for those who invest, in larger wind farms the operating company encourage locals to invest money into the scheme with a guaranteed annual return. Wind farms bring money into the local communities from the construction stage all the way through to the maintenance stage. Businesses such as B&B's, shops, pubs/bars and local supply companies all benefit as well as local employment. Wind farms are here to stay, unless of course you want nuclear power stations built in the field next door.
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