Re: wind farms, pros and cons, love or hate?
 

Yeah, well I can nominate my MIL....

In all seriousness, my friends father also living on their farm developed a strange and rare condition that normally on submariners suffer from, it's some sort of heart condition that develops in people who work the engine rooms - to do with the the "throbbing" of an engine in close quarters. While your brilliant thoughts of sticking old people next to 'em, maybe we need to spare a thought for the extra cost impact on the health systems and spare a thought for the meals on wheels ladies.

Re: wind farms, pros and cons, love or hate?
 

I don't dispute that an ill sited wind farm or turbine could have some impact on residents, but I can't imagine many such turbines have been that badly situated. If there is such a problem, they (or the residents) should be or could be moved. It isn't a reason to write off the whole energy source.

Re: wind farms, pros and cons, love or hate?
 

The wind energy contingent are not admitting that wind farms cause any ill effects from any noise pollution, environmental damage to wild life or any illnesses in people.

Lets think about the tobacco industry......... they denied any ill effects from their product for years, even though they knew it to be addictive and harmful to the users.

As soon as they take down a wind farm or relocate residents, they are admitting to problems.
It's a very lucrative industry. I wouldn't want to give up my golden ticket right now either. BUT you're looking at the "green energy" spin - they're not carbon neutral, they have a life expectancy of 10 - 15 years, and an estimate that they would become carbon neutral in 20 - 25 years. Harnessing wind power at sea may be a better way, but there is a long way to go to hone down the technology to make it cost effective and green.

Re: wind farms, pros and cons, love or hate?
 

Has there not been any government (worldwide) that has looked into the health effects from wind farms? They've been around for some time now so it must have been looked into.

Not sure about the 10-15 year life expectancy, that must be for the actual turbine itself, and not the tower and blades. They are certainly more carbon neutral than coal, and if you're going to start counting carbon from manufacturing, then you would have a massive carbon cost in the construction and servicing of a nuclear power station.

Re: wind farms, pros and cons, love or hate?
 

http://www.windturbinesyndrome.com/w...WTS-4-6-11.pdf

See page 11 of this....... there are plenty of contradictory reports, and because of the expansion of farms in populated areas the issues are becoming more apparent.

You don't seem to understand the term carbon neutral. Wind turbines impact the environment negatively. They are not the "marvelous green energy product" that they are billed as. I agree with you that other forms make bigger impacts, but wind turbines are not environmentally friendly either.

I don't know what the answer is. I'd love to have "clean energy" without an impact on the planet, but I've done enough research and know that the political spin on wind power is far more effective than the actual spin on the turbines, which under produce consistently.


Wind turbines are inefficient, have negative impacts on people and wildlife, are not producing the energy they were expected to have produced, they cost more to make and install and maintain than they save. They are not even at a technological point to make as much energy in their life time as was spent on their manufacture.

http://www.windturbinesyndrome.com/2...bine-syndrome/

Re: wind farms, pros and cons, love or hate?
 

I used the term carbon neutral imprecisely, but the fact remains, if you are measuring the amount of carbon released between two power sources, wind is undoubtedly the better option. You seem to be saying that because they are not carbon neutral (mainly due to manufacture, transport and installation) for a couple if decades, then their green benefit is in doubt. I merely pointing out that once you bring manufacturing into the equation, carbon neutrality goes out the window for many other energy sources.

Re: wind farms, pros and cons, love or hate?
 

All depends on which way you look at the issue from.

As an engineering firm we tend to take the view of cost/MW the wind farms and solar technologies are among the most expensive and therefore we do not want to sell these systems because of economics.

From an environmental perspective solar and wind sound good but ultimately each have their resources required. The resources ultimately require material which needs to be processed which consumes energy and makes them less efficient.

Hydro as I mentioned earlier is considered 'clean' energy but you have to destroy natural habitats AKA the environment to set it up.

Coal, oil & gas we are aware are obviously resource intensive and ultimately not clean.

Finally Nuclear which in my opinion is the best method, but it comes with it's drawbacks also.

The honest truth is there is no system which will be perfect, it will always be debated which way is the way forward. I personally would just like to see ourselves generating small amounts of energy wherever we can to help offset some of the energy requirements such as generating incinerators, generating sewer system & water treatment centers. If we start picking up electrical energy in all the systems we can we should hopefully reduce the burden on generating stations whatever method that may be.

Re: wind farms, pros and cons, love or hate?
 

Agree on the nuclear preference and generating small amounts of energy wherever we can.

Re: wind farms, pros and cons, love or hate?
 

I wonder where you read this nonsense?

Wind turbines offset the energy cost of production, transport and installation in about 6 months (onshore) and 7-8 months (offshore), not 20-25 years.

The energy return on energy investment is on average 18.5 and a good bit better for the largest turbines.

Their estimated operational lifetime is 35 years.

Hope that helps.

Re: wind farms, pros and cons, love or hate?
 

Are there any that have actually lasted that long?

Re: wind farms, pros and cons, love or hate?
 

No, hence the word "estimated".

Re: wind farms, pros and cons, love or hate?
 

This was information that came up surrounding the court case I was a witness in. I didn't feel the need to fact check it. Please source your info so I can update my knowledge. Looking forward to reading the reports you provide.

Re: wind farms, pros and cons, love or hate?
 

How did you send this telegram to the internet? :)

Re: wind farms, pros and cons, love or hate?
 

Oh, you were a witness in a court case and it just came up?

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/1863

http://www.eoearth.org/article/Energ...or_wind_energy

https://sites.google.com/site/anatom...a-and-analysis

http://www.resilience.org/stories/20...ity-generation

https://www.google.fr/search?q=eroei...w=1200&bih=607

Take that to court for a start.

Re: wind farms, pros and cons, love or hate?
 

That was my attempt at remaining polite when someone called my stuff nonsense but then didn't back up his view with anything. If I'm wrong, which I may be, don't be rude about it.

I'll happily look at his view point.

I've already said that these were things discussed around a court case, that I was a witness to. My friends had lots and lots of information, it was a hot topic of conversation, many times. I didn't do my due diligence and fact check everything, I didn't feel the need to at the time. There were some shocking facts that stuck with me. How right or wrong they were is open to debate, but don't be rude about it.

(Sorry if my response came across as a telegram, at least I was polite)