Over recent years the polarising impact of wind turbines seems to have become an every day occurrence in the media.
But why are people so against wind turbines? And why is the UK so hell-bent on persevering with it as a technology?
In the following blog I am going to look at some of the issues that people have with them and whether they do have a future in our energy mix – but first I am going to provide a quick recap on what they are and why we have them.
What is a wind turbine?
On a very basic level a wind turbine comprises of rotor blades positioned at the top of very high towers. They spin as wind hits them, which produces electricity.
The rotor blades are much like the propellers of aeroplanes, however in the case of commercial wind turbines they tend to be much much larger. Blade Dynamics, a company that specialises in making the rotors of wind turbines has recently announced the D49 – with a rotor diameter of 100m, so technology is always advancing and units are getting bigger and more efficient.
The reason for maximising the length of the blades, is that the larger the swept area of a turbine (this is the circle that the turbine produces while spinning) the more wind it will catch and therefore this increases the energy it can create.
The reason for situating the turbines atop high towers, is that wind speeds tend to be higher at altitude and the power contained in the wind is proportional to the cube of the wind speed, so for example if a the wind speed is 3mph then the power is calculated as such 3 x 3 x 3 = 27. If the wind speed doubles to 6mph then the power is 6 x 6 x 6 = 216.
So since wind turbines catch more wind if they are bigger and there is more power in the wind at higher altitudes, companies looking to take advantage of wind energy make their wind turbines huge, for example the one proposed by Blade Dynamics will be 270m tall.
Why are wind farms built in the first place?
Wind farms are just a collection of wind turbines – they are now pretty common across the UK. They are being built as a result of the Government trying to decarbonise our energy industry. In the past we have relied on fossil fuels and nuclear energy to meet our energy demand, and to be honest this is still the case.
But as part of the Kyoto agreement that was signed in 1997, the UK agreed legally binding targets to lower our carbon emissions as part of an effort to combat climate change. I think this then brings the discussion to the first issue that some people feel pretty strongly about!
Why All the Hate?!
Reason 1 – People think that Climate Change doesn’t even exist
In my opinion it probably does – we can see changes in our climate – across the world there are extreme weather situations happening all the time. But climate change still remains one of the most polarising subjects of our time. There are people who will argue till they are blue in the face that the changes in weather are just a natural cyclical event and not the result of anthropogenic carbon dioxide. So these people are obviously questioning the need to decarbonise the energy industry and therefore the reason for having wind turbines in the first place.
This unfortunately is not something I can counter – it is true that you can use science to allegedly prove anything – I once read that men with beards are statistically more likely to get cancer – obviously complete rubbish. This issue is however that even though decent scientists have all written publications on their findings, these scientists sit in both camps – believers and non-believers – so actually how do we know who to believe!
Reason 2 – The landscape gets scarred
I think another major reason that people hate wind turbines is that as I mentioned before they are huge. The wind companies are looking to maximise the energy they can produce so they build them big and people in the vicinity feel that they are a blot on the landscape.
I can’t sit here and argue that they don’t change the way an area looks. I think it is more the issue that people are ingrained to hate change. As a child growing up now, they must see wind turbines when they travel across the country and so these things must now be normal to them. I think this is where we will see a step change in acceptance. As our youth grow up, there will be generational acceptance of wind farms – they are the norm, just as a big coal power plant or nuclear power plant have been for us growing up.
Reason 3 – They are just sat there not spinning
This is the nature of the beast unfortunately – if the wind ain’t blowing, then the turbines ain’t going to be spinning. Therefore people assume they are useless and don’t contribute to our energy mix. This is a bit like a coal or gas power plant having no access to their required fuels – now I know this is ridiculous since we have always had a steady supply of coal and gas, but what if this were to change, the supply was interrupted – we need to have some capacity in our grid that we can use that doesn’t rely on a tangible fuel (e.g. gas, coal or uranium). This means that if everything dropped through the floor – at least there would be some means of making electricity on a commercial scale.
So yes sometimes wind turbines aren’t going to be spinning, but most of the time they are at least contributing something to our energy mix, and let me be quite clear I am not saying get rid of all energy from fossil fuels, I think we need a sensible energy mix and wind in my opinion has an important role to play.
But just for the record in June this year, wind accounted for over 5GW of power – more than 10% of our energy demand – and that number can’t be sniffed at.
Reason 4 – Wind energy is expensive to produce
Currently producing energy from wind costs more than producing it from traditional fuels. This is mainly due to Government grants being paid when the wind turbines are in operation.
The thing is though, in theory once a wind turbine is up, the electricity it produces only requires the wind to blow. If we could introduce economies of scale to drive down the cost of installing the turbines – then surely we are on to a winner – the problem is that to get there we need to increase production to drive down prices so at the moment we are going to have to suck it up and pay higher prices.
On another note, we currently import much of our gas and coal from the world market, but the proportion that we import is going to increase significantly over the next 5 years. As we saw in our extended winter this year, our gas reserves ran dangerously low and we had to spend big to secure additional supplies.
The way it has played out with North Sea Gas in that everyone pretty much now has a gas central heating system. Unfortunately North Sea Gas isn’t there anymore, now you have probably heard about the potential of shale. I think I can say with some certainty that this isn’t an immediate fix. Even if we can access large amounts of gas and the alleged environmental impacts are unfounded, this supply of gas is not going to become plentiful for the next 5-10 years.
Now fuel prices are already ludicrous in my opinion, rising at 10% a year for the last 8 years, and if you think fuel prices are coming down then I think you are probably living in dream world. So how long before the tipping point is reached. Not necessarily by the cost of wind installation coming down (although naturally this will) but rather the price of producing energy from traditional other fuels rising.
As a final thought….
Google recently acquired Makani power, a Californian start up wind Power Company that is trying to harness wind speeds thousands of meters up in the air by tethering ‘wind kites’ to the ground. The theory being: that if these wind turbines sit at such altitude then they can be much smaller in size, because they would then utilise higher and more consistent wind speeds. The Google bods tend to make fairly sensible investment decisions – so it must point to wind having a future, it just might be in a much more evolved form!
I hate nimbys!
They are a disgusting breed of time-wasters who should have their phones cut off.
You hate NIMBY’S?
Do you live next to a wind farm? Probably not, otherwise you would never make a asinine statement like that.
Move next door to a wind farm with turbines so close to your house that you can’t sleep at night from the noise, or focus on anything during the day because of the shadow flicker and noise, and then maybe you will be in a position to “hate” NIMBY’S.
Until then, keep your uninformed and uneducated opinion to yourself.
Hello mark. I am writing to you to say that you are an arrogant prick. I have lived next to a wind farm for 50 years going onto 51 and I’ve got to say that they are like sticking your penis in a shredder, painful.
Hi Barry,
Thanks for your comment – agree, it makes it hard to get things done with these guys!
Good! We’re here to stop you. If we make it harder for you to make money from spoiling nature, then it shows we’re winning. Now why don’t you just give up and get a proper job that doesn’t involve ruining people’s lives for profit.
I think they are wonderful as they help the enviroment and are are a cheap way of producing energy
i personally feel wind turbines are amazing
I hate them because people unfortunate enough to live anywhere near them suffer tremendously. Constant noise and low frequency vibration is so damaging it literally kills people over time, and this of course destroys property value. Power companies will hire every lawyer, make every threat, fund every study, rather than compensate people. Wind power is monstrous.
Hardly generate any noise (only audible when within 30 meter radius of a turbine, which is far shorter than the distance they are built from anybodies home. EVEN then, all you will hear is a low “whoosh” as a blade passes in front of the tower above you (similar sound to swinging a stick in the air extremely fast). low frequency vibration? No, just no. You are listening to “facts” declared by people who manifest their hate into self fulfilling illnesses generated by the mind. They do not vibrate. there is no “engine” as some less educated individuals may claim. From the base of the turbine you will feel almost nothing from the gearbox assembly spinning above. 80 metres of solid steel takes care of almost any minute vibration long before it makes its way to the ground. I have been in and out of at least 500 of these in the past 2 years and can speak volumes against both of your arguments. The simple truth is that people seem afraid of change, and do not like to see their world moving so fast around them, even if it be for the best interest of sustaining a planet so that our sons and daughters can continue to enjoy this rare and perfect world.
Very well written.
You are delusional. I hate the noise and look of them. I live near these disgusting industrial machines. It used to be a quiet rural area. Now it’s like an industrial park.
love wind turbines.
Bit late to the party here, but a couple of points.
Firstly, you missed out a couple of points why people hate wind farms.
(1) They hand control and dominance of environmental aims to deceitful, bullying big corporations from out-of-town. These are proveable statements. If we take Scout Moor, the largest onshore wind farm in the UK so a decent example, this is purely a money-making (from EU subsidies rather than genuine competitive capitalism) scheme for its German owners, who now monopolise Scout Moor. It’s degraded the beautiful unspoilt moor and ruined it for everyone who lives underneath it. The approval for wind farms is manipulated (names and addresses are collected of those who “in theory” support wind energy, and these are turned into bogus letters of support). The companies have been busted over and over again. And if a wind farm is turned down then the energy companies come back again and again with their appeals. They don’t get the message when they’re not wanted by a community, they ride roughshod over the wishes of the community and quite frankly they’re claims are not trusted, we all know they’re only getting involved to make money, they don’t give a damn about the environment as I have photographic evidence of.
Making money and saving the environment are mutually exclusive aims. You can’t save the planet by making a living out of selling things you’ve made. Wind farms are no exception. Every single wind turbine manufacturer wants to sell more and more, which left unstopped would see no wilderness left in Britain. Wind turbines are the enemy and destructor of wilderness, they bring industry and capitalism into areas of leisure, meditative reflection and above all unspoilt natural life. Peat bogs are ruined, access tracks scar the landscape, construction detritus is left lying around, the surfaces of the moors are ruined. I have photographic evidence of all of this.
The turbines themselves are not biodegradable, they’re huge inert DEAD contraptions inflicted onto landscapes where everything around them is alive. Hence the stench of death, decay and destruction surrounding these monsters. Lord knows how much white paint is used, and what effects that paint has on the moors.
I don’t really need a (2) – basically they’re horrible for the environment, they’re made and run by lying bullying sociopaths whose aims are to make money and get as many sold as possible rather than to save the environment (otherwise they’d provide their services for free, as a charity).
The person having a go at NIMBYs is clearly a city dweller. I wish I could say such points of view are too ignorant to be debated with, alas we need to win their hearts and minds. Let me just say you can’t be into saving the environment unless you start with the conservation of your own back yard. You need to be a NIMBY if you wanna do good in the world. You can’t just step over the stench of corruption on your own doorstep on the way to save the world.
I don’t really think there are any counterarguments, so join with me one and all as we go about getting these wind turbines removed and the lands restored to their original beauty and environmental benefits!
There are powerful financial interests at stake with industrial-scale wind projects. These wind developments are pushed by state and federal governments in the US as “economic stimulus,” even more than “saving the earth.” But, in actuality, industrial-scale wind developments are neither. They do not provide many jobs past the initial build up, and the cost to the natural heritage of the area is huge. These developments would not be viable without massive government subsidies, and Wall St. lines up for the handouts.
I ask wind development advocates to present one peer-reviewed, scientifically-published study showing that wind energy reduces CO2. That is the stated rationale for it. If wind development doesn’t reduce CO2, why are wind advocates in favor of destroying our rural landscapes for such a bizarre, unproductive scheme?
Some advocates of these wind proposals assume that the issue is “wind energy vs. fossil fuels.” Wind developments are an extension of the economic model of dominion over nature to maintain wasteful, inefficient power consumption. Degrading the land to extract a resource is not a “green” technology, and not a new idea. Industrial-scale wind developments are not a replacement for other defiling types of energy generation. Wind is an intermittent source and needs conventional plants to be kept online. The wind industry even admits that hey need 60 acres per megawatt, hardly a land efficient way to produce energy.. This “energy sprawl” that detracts from the value of landowners’ property in these locations.
Industrial-scale wind development is outstandingly inefficient. President Obama’s economic advisors, Carol Browner, Ron Klain and Lawrence Summers have said as much. In a memo they note that carbon reductions would have to be valued at nearly $130 per ton CO2 for the climate benefits to equal the subsidies. (And that is more than 6 times the typical CO2 valuation).
Industrial scale wind developments are like the Kardashians; they are famous for being famous, yet they don’t DO anything. They will not help secure our species on a finite planet, all the while juxtaposed with an economic model predicated on unending growth. Wind developments are an expensive, destructive green symbol only. They turn formerly healing landscapes into areas from War of the Worlds.
You people on here who advocate for them — actually do some research. Studies show that the more people learn about wind energy, the less they support it.
After reading many articles and then reading many comments I can conclude that this particular instalment of both, characterises the collection succinctly. Once again we have the yay sayers looking forward with optimism at a future full of possibilities brought about through advancements in technology that is developed with every intention of making the world a better place and then we have the nay sayers dragging the issue down, pointing out the technological flaws, the costs, the damage to their sensibilities spuriously quoting skewed “studies” and flying in the face of intelligent discussion in order to justify their personal disbelief that we could ever attempt to make the world a better place by applying ever newer technologies. Do I need to point out that this latter group can and will always be looked at as the stagnant minority in history. They were the same people who in previous generations spoke out against computers and refused to get a mobile phone while opposing the development of communication towers. They object against GMOs without any perception of their own genetic make up or functioning of life’s intrinsic relationship with DNA and evolution. They refuse to believe in space programs while voicing their disbeliefs via satellites. They deny the indisputable anthropogenic incursions we have made on the Earth and belittle our participation in the ecosystem as a merely insignificant. Have they had their heads so buried in the sands of delusion that the mental gears of rational thinking have clogged and ceased to turn? Who do they think they are and why do they feel as if they have the right to dictate to the educated how we should progress? Wind power is just one of the many solutions the “thinkers” in society are proposing as a means of dealing with the future. I pity and despise those among us who cannot differentiate between forward or backward and choose make it a question of left or right.
The media tells us that everyone hates wind farms despite surveys coming up with data that contradict this view. There are people who believe that the subsidies paid to the wind farms makes our electricity dearer (it does….slightly) but aren’t aware of the tax breaks that gas, coal and nuclear power stations get. I find the windmills beautiful and I think that they are an essential part of the electricity generating mix. More wind power please (and more solar and more home insulation)
I agree
Hi Folks,
I am sending this missive to every wind turbine group in the country, requesting their help in getting signatures for an e petition to Parliament that I have put together. The petition reads:-
Reduction to Zero of Wind Turbine Subsidies
We the undersigned request of the Government the following. That all subsidies paid for new wind turbines should be zero; for both onshore and offshore turbines. Furthermore, that all subsidies for existing wind turbines, both onshore and offshore should be reduced by 25% a year. Thus after four years, there will be NO subsidies paid for electricity generated by wind.
This petition is now ‘live’ and can be found at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/106204
This present Government came to power promising to cut back on wind turbine subsidies, though presently they seem to be back pedalling on their promises. This petition, if we can get one million or more signatures is as good a way as we, the public have, of holding their feet to the fire.
In short, if I can misquote the ‘Grand Old Man’, it is designed to bring an end to the situation where. “Never in the field of human technology, have so many, paid so much, for the benefit of so few”.
Whilst I am trying to send this to every ‘anti Turbine’ group in the country, the information that I am working on is dated 2012. So if you know of individuals or groups that I have missed, then please forward the information.
Thanking you in advance.
Cheers,
Michael Penn
Ok so you get the signatures that you need and they do that. So why don’t you get them to do the same thing for the other companies then you know the oil company’s and gas
L0LLLLLLL ” They are just sat there not spinning ” BrUh Gr@mm@rrrrrr!!!!!
They really are quite ugly. They kill birds and bats. Some idiots remark that cats kill more birds than wind turbines, but the truth is that cats were killing birds millennia ago, and the wind turbine death toll is an additional death toll on top of a more natural death toll. They are also struck by lightning and catch fire, falling down and burning whatever surrounds them. The cost per Kwh is absurd, and on balance they are not worth it.
Uh, birds do have eyes, hardly any of them are actually hit, and it does not happen very often, if at all. Birds are probably more likely to die from being hit by planes, does that make easy transport also bad?
You are wrong in that regard. Wind turbine companies (at least for the United States) have to purchase permits from the Federal Government to operate wind farms due to the amount of birds that are massacred. The comment made about “birds have eyes” is an idiot thing to say as well. Obviously you have no understanding of biology or just in general, the world around you. Migratory bird species don’t navigate based on eyesight; they navigate based on magnetic fields. Take a walk around one of these wind farms in America and see the carnage caused by them. Not really a time of the year you will find that the ground underneath them isn’t red or dead carcasses everywhere. Educate yourself more before you start spouting off nonsense.
Birds and other animals are often killed by wind turbines. Even though they are so tall how likely are they to be struck, burned and sent down in flames destroying the area surrounding it? I’ll be honest I looked into these as a climate change solution/a thing to help. I found they weren’t really the best. So… They could be improved a lot and we still could use some. Still what is the chance it would be struck by lighting?
Lots of opinions posed as facts. Care to quote any sources?
well you are wrong on most of what you just said.
Kill you in grand theft auto.
Haha – that they do! I imagine if you flew a plane / helicopter in to one in real life you might be in a bit of trouble too!
why!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
why!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!are you complaining.
I hate the wind turbines
Can you please explain why you hate the wind turbines because im having a difficult time in understanding why renewable energy such as wind and solar is not seen as a good thing?
Thanks
But I bet you have not had an industrial sized turbine planted in a field near you. The people who love them and profit from them never live next door to the horrible things. No they plant them next to people who get all the disbenefits.(noise, flicker etc) and live well away from them patting themselves on the back because they are saving the planet, which they are not.
I think they look nice, Never complained about traditional windmills
I heard people say they are actually loud. if you live close you can hear it?? I might be moving to a place where one is close
The very fact of asking WHY people are offended by wind turbines is disingenuous. It takes a ton of propaganda to frame such big machines as pro-environment. Nothing else on their scale would be tolerated if it actively emitted CO2.
They are an obvious industrial intrusion on landscapes, bigger than any structures seen before, except for (much scarcer) offshore oil rigs that are only seen from coastal areas, which wind turbines are also invading. They only have a green reputation because they (falsely) appear to be fighting fossil fuel emissions, which have become the “only” environmental problem in some eyes.
The ERoI of wind power is marginal at best when you consider their construction legacy and the need for backup power when the wind dies. They also cause disruptive noise and bird/bat mortality is growing with the number of turbines (over 250,000 now exist, with many times that number sought). Those who defend wind power generally ignore their downsides and chant Kumbaya as if they aren’t actually witnessing ruined landscapes. It’s inexplicable.
I love tubines
The farmers say their animals are miscarrying since the wind turbines have been installed near him, he isn’t saying this is certain why, just that it is happening.
yous dont like fossil fuels so why winge about this
Seriously! Everyone has their own opinion on wind farms! Just chill!
IN THE USA THEY ARE MOSTLY IN THE DESERT
i love wind turbines thanks nimbys
The most UGLY disgusting visual blight on the environment ever invented. They should be outlawed!
Im not sure but it seems wind farms are new to the UK, well I mean they haven’t been in UK as long as they have been in the USA. I live in the Midwest and there are LOTS of wind farms. I know a dozen or so people who live near them that appear to have many health issues from them. They say they can hear them even though they were promised they wouldn’t. When the government decides where they’re going to build a wind farm, they don’t take no for an answer. They force the farmer to sell the land needed to build them, no matter how much the farmer doesn’t want to sell. Keep in mind, some of these farms are century farms are close to. That means they e been in the same family for 100 years, people are proud of that and want to keep it intact. They have campaigns around here when people hear they are going to be built in an area near them, they have singns all over the place in question like political signs, saying things like VOTE NO for Polk County sind farm, etc My father is a farmer, he prays they never want to build on his land.
I’m not educated enough on the subject to be for/or against wind farms. I just came across this article and looking through it and the comments, it seemed to me that the USA has had these things a lot longer than the UK, and due to that, have more data in the long term effects of these, and being in the middle of wind farm country, I just wanted to pass along my unbiased observations. I live in Iowa. I am for renewable resources, but I think you can be for them/be green and still be against wind farms, the people I know appear genuine and not political when they share their experiences with the turbines near them. These are just my observations, nothing more