Wind turbines – love 'em or hate 'em?

Oh yeah wind turbines…

I remember some relatives what live in Cornwall talking about the ‘outrage’ over a wind farm constructed on some bleak, desolate windswept moor, how it was ‘unsightly’.

FFS.

So, how you gonna power yer homes then you selfish bunch of NIMBYS?? Jeeze. So it’s ok for some power plant in a far away place to belch out fumes, not to mention the mammoth logistical task of laying power lines etc, at incredible expense, so that they can sit in their nice rural homes far from all the pollution of the city, and gloat about how wonderful their lives are. Yet still be able to sit there behind their lace curtains tutting about stuff about us inner city scum pon television. Bastidz.

If you ask me, all rural folk should have to produce their own leccy. Would make it a lot cheaper for the rest of us. You choose to live out there in such Godforsaken places, so suffer it and shut up. And if windfarms need to be built near you, then tough. Oh, it’s ok for roads to be built everywhere so’s youse can buzz about in your planet-raping poison producing cars to get into the cities when you need yer tweed and Barbour, innit? Or so’s huge lorries can transport all the stuff you actually need to live on, y’know, like food and clothes and building materials and medicines bikes and that. Hypocrites.

I like pylons, me. Elegant symbols of Mankind’s endeavours.

Ooh! Me pizza’s ready! 😀

*The onions expressed above may not necessarily reflect a rational, considered point of view, and may very possibly more likely be the deranged rantings of a tormented mind…

I can assure you most will be walking up it. I bloody will for a start!

That’s somewhat reassuring.

Cougar all STW rides are more competitive for the lantern rouge [ last rider] than for first.

That’ll be easy, it’ll be me or Lou (OH) competing for last place. I’ve no delusions of adequacy, just don’t want to be a millstone for everyone else.

Binners et al, might I respectfully suggest a new thread for this?

If you ask me, all rural folk should have to produce their own leccy. Would make it a lot cheaper for the rest of us.

Sounds fair. Local electricity generation. I presume London also has to generate all its own electricity – no importing it from outside. Same goes for food, clothes, etc. I like your thinking.

Cougar. You’ll be facing serious competition to be the slowest. I’ll sort out the arrangements for this one and bung a post up next week for this

I do feel quite guilty that we’ve hijacked Harry and Dereks pleasant ride

If anyone doesn’t know wahat we’re riding then look on the cover of this months mag

Can we make this the (un}official Singletrack 10th birthday ride? seeing as this is their featured route/location this month?

Woosh!

What’s that sound, Aracer?

The blade of a windmill as it kills a migratory bird?

Turbine Ride thread.

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/ramsbottom-wind-turbine-ride-saturday-april-2nd

wind turbines dont kill birds it was on QI last night amongts other sources and is the view of the RSPB. Site sensitivity is an issue killing birds an urban myth though it makes goats lungs explode!! I guess things that fly are quite good at avoiding things.

They most definitely do kill birds

As pointed out (somewhere) it would depend where they are placed. The badly placed wind turbines in the S/West of Spain are killing raptors. The problem is, as the authorities are trying to hide it, no-one really knows how many. Then again one adult from an active breeding pair of endangered eagles is one too many.

I’ve no idea about goats lungs but have seen Moroccan children inflate goat scrotums like a balloon. 🙂

Moroccan childen with a foot pump and a nervous goat were seen leaving the schene just before this happened.

The problem is, as the authorities are trying to hide it, no-one really knows how many.

Does your bike helmet have a tin foil lining:
RSPB: Wind farms

Birds lost in action. Annual bird deaths in Denmark caused by wind turbines and cars, and annual bird deaths in Britain caused by cats. Numbers from Lomborg (2001). Collisions with windows kill a similar number to cats.

Well what on Earth was that dozy boid doing flying around the turbine ffs? It could easily have avoided it.

I’m all for protecting endangered species and all that, and yes, care and consideration needs to be taken when siting such things, but if boids are gonna dice with death like that, then it’s their own stupid fault.

Scotland don’t have any nuclear power? Why not? I’d have thought it the perfect place to site power stations; remote, far away from populated areas, lots of water to cool stuff down and that. Could put them inside mountains. And if they do blow up, it wouldn’t really matter so much.

Would it be possible to harness Rain Power? Cos then Scotland could be a World leading power producer.

Pity moaning can’t be harnessed for it’s power producing potential, cos again, Scotland would be a World leader. And the North.

If you want/need power, then you have to accept there will be environmental consequences. Some folk just want to have their cake and eat it. Bloody rural folk want all the benefits of modern life, but none of the negative aspects. Moan about a wind farm, yet they’re out poisoning badgers and using all sorts of hazardous chemicals on their farms, shooting birds of prey, all sorts. And they’re subsidised by us city folk, the miserable sods. Build workhouses, bung em all in ’em, I say. Would solve rural unemployment too.

Quite why I’m not in charge of things, I have no idea.

Scotland already harnesses it’s rain power, Elfin.

Really? In what way??

Oh, you mean they use it to keep foreigners out. I get it. 😀

TooTall

No foil hat. I work with ringers, guides and scientists all who work closely with the local bird population and migratory populations. I spent 8 hours out in the field with one yesterday who is a registered guid and is monitoring rare and endangered birds in the area for the local authorities. Your graph is useless. I was referring to a certain type of bird, raptors, and certain migratory paths. Unless you can provide a factual graph with these points just adding the number of all bird deaths is misleading and pointless.
Wind turbines wont kill birds which don’t fly that high in that area similarly your average domestic cat won’t be killing Golden eagles or Egyptian vultures.

roper

If you read the link that also appeared in my post, you’d see more detail and a bit more meat about the responsible siting of wind turbines from the RSPB:

The available evidence suggests that wind farms can harm birds in three possible ways – disturbance, habitat loss or damage (both direct or indirect), and collision. Poorly sited wind farms have caused some major bird casualties, particularly in Tarifa and Navarra in Spain, and the Altamont Pass in California. At these sites, planners failed to consider adequately the likely impact of putting hundreds, or even thousands, of turbines in areas that are important for birds of prey. Tragically, killing many hundreds of birds as a result.

If wind farms are located away from major migration routes and important feeding, breeding and roosting areas of those bird species known or suspected to be at risk, there is a strong possibility that they will have minimal impact on wildlife.

Which seems robust enough to cover what the graphic didn’t.

TooTall
That quote from the RSPB above confirms what I have been posting so hardly paranoia or tin foil hat territory is it?
It also shows the graph is useless to demonstrate the danger of wind turbines to raptors, the main type of bird being affected by them.