Wind Power: The Case Against On-Shore Turbines
Among other proposals, N-Power are proposing a 3-turbine wind power station on the Cheshire Plain affecting the communities of Eaton, Tarporley, Alpraham, Calveley, Rushton and Darnhall.
The future for Cheshire's landscape?? [Image: CPRE]
Cheshire CPRE are supporting local people in their objection to the wind farm proposal as we believe it is inappropriate, despite our commitment to cleaner, greener energy.
As part of contributing to a wider debate on wind power, Cheshire Branch hosted a talk by Geoff Baker on the drawbacks of this form of renewable power. Mr Baker is an engineer with many years experience in the power industry, who is now involved in making an informed objection to the above proposal.
He argued that there is a danger that commercial interests are "playing on" people’s environmental concerns to push though developments that are actually harmful to our landscapes, and even to human and animal health.
Mr Baker explained that even the wind power industry’s own journal agrees the public may have been misled on such issues as noise, visual impact, house price loss and the level of contribution onshore wind turbines make to green / renewable energy, and went on to make the following points:
Visual Impact
- 100 m turbines are the same height as Beeston Castle, or a 30 storey building.
- They could be seen from all over the Cheshire Plain.
- Roads and tracks will be needed for erection, maintenance and access.
- Overhead lines will be needed to connect the power stations to the grid.
- In effect, we are industrialising the countryside.
Noise
- The blades turn at 180 – 190 mph, producing a "beat" as they pass the tower.
- Noise is created by the laws of physics as the blades move the air past the tower, not by the technology, which has improved.
- In Cumbria, people who can’t even see the turbines from their homes are so affected by noise they can’t sit outside in summer.
- The noise issue is widely recognised: a major international conference on noise from wind power stations took place in Berlin in October 2005.
Health
- The turbines also produce "infrasound" – sound outside the audible range which is highly stressful to humans - it is used in siege situations to overpower terrorists.
- People near existing wind power stations, with smaller turbines, report a "strobe effect" as they turn in the sunlight.
- GPs in Wales (Europe’s 2 largest wind power stations are in Powys, N Wales) and Cornwall are writing a paper demonstrating that their patients’ health is being adversely affected by turbines in the area.
- The negative effects on health were noted as early as 1998, in the Darmstadt Manifesto, a document signed by prominent academics in Germany, a country in which wind power had been widely adopted.
- There is so much concern in Denmark, another early supporter of wind power stations, on adverse health effects and the uneconomic nature of onshore wind power stations, that further development has been halted.
Effect on property values
- The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors indicates a 25 – 30 % loss, reducing to some extent 2 years after building. Considering planning and construction time, property is therefore blighted for 3 or more years.
- The effect is worst in the planning and construction phases.
- There is a permanent loss in value.
- There are documented cases where compensation has had to be awarded for property becoming unsaleable.
The weakness of the engineering case
- Outside the wind power industry, most professional engineers consider wind power to be the "wrong road" in the search for renewable energy.
- Wind power is not a constantly-available source: The Royal Academy of Engineering produced figures for the government showing that onshore turbines are only available 20 – 25% of the time. Many other reputable sources put his closer to 11%.
- The current Cheshire Plain proposal states that "1600 houses" will be supplied: but doing the sums suggests the output will provide each of these houses with half a kilowatt over 24 hours – it takes 3 kW to boil a modern kettle.
- Wind power is very expensive to produce, and that cost will have to be passed on to the consumer in some way.
Despite all of this, the Government is actively encouraging the development of wind power stations, and Planning Policy Statement 22 on Renewable Energy makes it difficult for concerned communities to object.
Looking at areas where such proposals have been overturned, it seems that success lies in numbers, and in joining forces to protect the landscape and the communities that would be affected.
Get involved ...
Cheshire CPRE is setting up a small working party to conduct further research into the wind power issue, with a view to arranging a conference next year exploring all sides of this question. If you would like to be part of the team on this, whatever your view on the issue, please contact Debbie at the Branch Office.