The Danish Experience

Denmark's Wind Power Experience: Costs and Consequences

Watch this interview on YouTube with Martin Agerup of CEPOS and Hugh Sharman of Incoteco discussing Denmark's experience with wind energy.

Denmark produces the equivalent of 20% of their electricity from wind,
but they must export most of it to neighboring countries.
Often this electricity is sold for much less than it costs to produce it, and the Danish taxpayer pays the difference.

More on Turbine Noise.

Here is a quote I have taken from the Comments under an article to be read here:

http://www.windturbinesyndrome.com/news/2011/what-the-hells-the-matter-with-you-people-massachusetts/

The quote is from a Comment by Barry Funfar:

"The fact that the effects are cumulative and increase in severity as time goes on is major. Someone siting on our porch for 30 minutes is just not going to get it. And foolishly some do drive-byes expecting to hear some loud noises. Loudness is not generally the issue. It is the special characteristics of the noise that drives one crazy."

The article and the Comments both ask why it is that developers, the wind industry, some Greens, and other supporters of wind power ignore the distress of those who are suffering from wind turbine noise.

Shale Gas

A good article by David Rose in the Daily Mail here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-2053686/UK-shale-gas-Coal-industry-tatters-gas-running-alternative.html?ITO=1490

This is a quote from the article, about a shale gas plant costing £500 million, at Hoo St Werburgh in Kent, that will produce 1000MW, enough to power a quarter of the homes in London. It is compared to the 217 turbines of the London Array, the world's biggest offshore wind farm.

"Covering 90 square miles, this too will have the capacity to generate 1GW (one billion watts). The turbines’ construction has been priced at £2 billion, four times as much as the Kentish gas plant, although this does not include the cost – perhaps a further £500 million – of connecting them to the National Grid, via 300 miles of undersea high-voltage cables.

Without the labyrinthine system of ‘green’ taxes and Government subsidies known as the Renewables Obligation, which is already adding an estimated £100 to the cost of every British household’s electricity bill, and an average 20 per cent to the charges paid by businesses, the wind farm could never be built, because it would be hopelessly uneconomic.

As well as being more expensive, the turbines will not last nearly as long: about 20 years, half the time of the gas-fired power station. A gas plant, moreover, will produce electricity 24 hours day; the turbines won’t. British windmills can be expected to generate power only 27 per cent of the time. That figure falls to just ten per cent in the calm conditions of a bitter Arctic high, such as that which covered the entire UK, causing record low temperatures, for several weeks last December."

Fullabrook Noise

This photograph was taken earlier this week, on a calm day.

Martin Hesp has spoken to people on Fullabrook and this is his article:

http://www.thisiswesternmorningnews.co.uk/mind-panorama-ndash-listen-turbines-noise/story-13697583-detail/story.html

Here is a quote from Martin's article:

"Sue Pike's bungalow is just 600 metres from one of the 110-metre turbines at the new wind-farm and she says: "It is dreadful – the main sound is like a huge great cement mixer going around – then you get the loud whoosh and also whistles and hums."

On the day that I took the photograph above, there was very little wind. It was possible to stand near the turbines, and hear the birds singing. You could hear the turbines as they turned - slowly - and the person who was with me said he could understand how the noise could become irritating, despite the fact that it wasn't loud. But I am happy to state that on this day, when there was very little wind, the turbines were not very noisy. In fact, later, I spoke to several people who live on these hills, and they each said what a relief it was that the turbines were quiet that day.


As in this article, those who support the wind industry often say that they have stood near turbines and heard nothing. What is sad is that when they say this, they are betraying their ignorance of the subject.

I can understand why the Wind Industry doesn't want to admit that there is such a thing as wind-turbine syndrome, but it is hard to understand why members of our local Green party seem to close their minds to this problem, especially when Green activists in other parts of the world such as Denmark and the USA are facing danger and arrest as they protest against the environmental damage caused by "Big Wind."

Green heroes

http://www.7dvt.com/2011occupy-lowell-mountain-despite-court-order-opponents-camp-near-gmp-blasting-zone

According to the article by Ken Picard, on the Seven Days website, www.7dvt.com (link to this seen on www.wind-watch.org) one of the protesters on the mountain said:

“For me, coming up here is connected to [Occupy] Wall Street,” she says, “the push to buy the Nelsons out, then threatening to sue. We need to stand against that.”

And her son agreed, saying “It’s the big corporation pushing the little guy around.”

Npower appeal

Npower have appealed against
North Devon District Council's decision on Batsworthy Cross.

At the fanatastically supported meeting at Bishops Nympton last May,
NDDC unanimously refused planning permission for npowers proposal
to build 9 x 103m tall wind turbines at Batsworthy Cross.

Npower have now challenged this decision.
This means there will be a Public Inquiry as there was for Bickham Moor and Three Moors.

And just in the last twenty four hours, on BBC Spotlight, Merlin Hyman said there wouldn't be more large onshore wind farms in the region. What does "large" mean, then?

Fullabrook Noise on BBC Spotlight

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006pfr1

There is a clip at the beginning, more later on in the programme (timings will be posted shortly)