A Rising Storm
When is sustainable energy not sustainable? When it threatens to despoil very large areas of wild and scenic landscape, undermining local livelihoods and even endangering rare bird species.
With hundreds of wind farm planning applications now in the pipeline throughout Britain that is the dilemma facing the conservation sector.
On the one hand, effective steps are urgently needed to mitigate climate change, and wind energy provides an alternative to fossil fuel consumption.
Equally, widespread evidence is emerging that the headlong rush to build new wind turbines is fueled more by heavy subsidies than by clear thinking – with limited impact on electrical generation and very minor reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
Key Aspects of Wind Power
Each wind farm involves a large-scale engineering development – with turbines, access roads, individual bases and transmission lines to power stations. Wind farm investment is heavily supported by a consumer levy on electricity bills.
Wind farms represent only one aspect of a sustainable energy policy. Other approaches are not being adequately pursued – including alternative sources of renewable power (micro turbine, solar, bio and tidal power), energy savings, insulation and pollution control. These can be driven by a well structured combination of fiscal incentive, levy, subsidy, industry codes of practice (for buildings and emissions) and legislation.
The Foundation’s Position
The Foundation strongly supports the drive towards stabilization and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with Kyoto and other accords.
However an overview is urgently required – of wind farm location policy and energy strategy in general. This should incorporate evidence from other countries further advanced in wind power installation, such as Denmark and Germany .
Six Policy Pointers
- Onshore wind farms should be permitted only in landscapes already incorporating a significant level of built development. Greater emphasis should be directed towards micro-technology installations rather than giant turbine farms.
- The Foundation opposes the location of wind farms in areas where landscape is currently of wild, open, attractive, high nature conservation value or otherwise unspoilt aspect.
- Much greater emphasis should be applied to offshore locations, providing these do not despoil wild coastlines or marine environments – and where no significant concerns arise based on experience of similar locations already established.
- Planning permission for any wind farm should be preceded by a full Environmental Impact Assessment providing assurance on bird mortality, human health, landscape intrusiveness, and, where relevant, marine environment and coastal geomorphology. The long-term impact on local livelihoods and property values must also be taken into account.
- The underlying economics of the situation should be carefully reviewed. How much saving in greenhouse gas emission can be gained for a given level of investment in wind power as against other approaches? What are the relative cost-benefits of wind farms?
- There is a need to develop a coherent measure of the value of wildlands and landscape. Using maps of existing and prospective wildland, it should be feasible to devise an alternative location strategy that can be effectively represented on commercial as well as more traditional grounds.