Wind farm on Lewis

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handofdave H
handofdave Feb 8, 2007 17:03:17
Replying to fitzcoraldo

fitzcoraldo wrote:
On the BBC news just now

"Councillors back Lewis wind plan
A proposed wind farm that has sparked rows about its threat to birds and how many jobs it will create has won approval from councillors."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/6342773.stm

I'm all for wind power. I think it shouldn't be too difficult for the designers to figure out some way to scare the birds away from the towers with some sort of sonic frequency or even an active warning system that detects a bird via radar and warns it off with some sort of channelled sound wave or something.

The people who fight against nuclear power, fossil fuels, hydroelectric, and every other means of power generation today, and then complain about viable renewable energy, need to weigh all the facts before scuttling a real solution to global warming we can build right now.

F fitzcoraldo
fitzcoraldo Feb 8, 2007 19:07:18
Replying to handofdave

Like yourself I have no great problem with wind energy although there is an ongoing debate regarding the energy expended to create a farm vs energy recouped.
What really bothers me is that the location of the farms.
Wind farms are not just a matter of the turbines themselves, there is a whole infrastructure including access roads to each turbine, H/V cables and substations to be taken into consideration. A wind farm on a bleak hillside of say 200 turbines requires a number of main access roads plus a permanent access road, capable of carrying heavy construction vehicles, to each turbine. Thats well over over 200 roads being built through a wilderness area.
Personally I think we have a responsibility to protect our last few areas of wilderness from any kind of industrial development that could harm them. I would rather see windfarms located offshore with a tie-into to wave generation.

S slumpystones
slumpystones Feb 8, 2007 19:09:33
Replying to handofdave

handofdave wrote:
fitzcoraldo wrote:
On the BBC news just now

"Councillors back Lewis wind plan
A proposed wind farm that has sparked rows about its threat to birds and how many jobs it will create has won approval from councillors."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/6342773.stm

I'm all for wind power. I think it shouldn't be too difficult for the designers to figure out some way to scare the birds away from the towers with some sort of sonic frequency or even an active warning system that detects a bird via radar and warns it off with some sort of channelled sound wave or something.

The people who fight against nuclear power, fossil fuels, hydroelectric, and every other means of power generation today, and then complain about viable renewable energy, need to weigh all the facts before scuttling a real solution to global warming we can build right now.

Grudgingly, I tend to agree. We have evolved into an energy-hungry society, and have spent far too long ignoring the obvious. Wind farms, though unsightly on remote Scottish islands, are accepted across England when people have to look at them from their windows, and is the least of all the evil alternatives. Birds are not stupid, they don't tend to fly into buildings that often, and I am sure they will be able to work it out.