Wind farms - pros and cons
To develop an informed debate on wind power I have put down some advantages and disadvantages. There are those that strongly support wind power and those, basically the ‘not in my back yard’ crowd, who lobby hard against wind power. Here’s an idea of the arguments on both side of the fence.On the positive side, wind power provide a renewable energy source. Once they have been put up, turbines provide a clean source of energy with no fossil fuel pollution and no waste products.
Even though the turbines are large, the towers have a small footprint. The base of a turbine occupies only a small area and farmers can still cultivate the land around them.
They are as easy to get rid of as they are to put up. When a turbine reaches the end of its life, or has been replaced by more advanced technology, it is easy to dismantle without harming the environment. The long term effects of fossil fuel power stations are not the same.
They can create jobs. If new wind farms are established on land and offshore then a manufacturing, installation and maintenance industry will also be created. This could bring a new source of employment to rural areas as the sites that are often remote or in rural communities that have high unemployment.
If we decide we don’t like them on farming land then they can be built offshore. New technology allows wind farms to be built off the coast and beyond the horizon line meaning that they are not visible from the shore.
The main negative is the fact they are eyesores. The best sites for wind farms are often remote areas and the turbines spoil the natural beauty of the landscape.
Wind power is expensive. Currently wind energy not as efficient as fossil fuel or nuclear energy and farms are expensive to set up.
They also cause noise pollution. People living close to turbines claim that the low level noise is causing stress-related illness.
The site must be considered with great care. Turbines can cause disruption to TV and radio signals and even the migration of birds when they are not positioned correctly.
The arguments often come down to whether the potential benefits overshadow the impact on the landscape. Some people near wind farms believe that most of the benefits are seen by the energy companies (who make a profit from their turbines) and the government (which gets closer to its carbon reduction targets), while the negative affects are all heaped on the local community.
