Wind Farms

Former Member

What do you think of Wind Farms? A Blight on the British Landscape or a great way to generate electricty without poullting the environment?

I think they look really pretty, but only seen them on TV .. would love to see some in real life!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/3242517.stm

Former Member

I think there good and they dont make a single difference to the natural environment.

They can also be built out at sea on rigs etc: where its more windy and doesn't effect those in the immediate surroundings who do not find them atttractive overall :thumb:

Former Member

i think there good..i have seen some off the smaller ones they have on the moors....

even thoses where humungous though..over all its a great idea...concidering the main fossil fuels will be gone in 35-50yrs

And people say there ugly i dont think they are..

Former Member

i heartily approve of the principle but i think that it would be more effective to use funds on the research of better power supplies such as Fission, or zero-point energy.

down with pollution!

Former Member

Originally posted by Docter Lurve
I think there good and they dont make a single difference to the natural environment.

They can also be built out at sea on rigs etc: where its more windy and doesn't effect those in the immediate surroundings who do not find them atttractive overall :thumb:

Actually I wonder why they can't put them on old ships and then sail them out to where the winds are strongest!!

But I guess they're just too tall and unstable to be anything but grounded into the sandbed.

I wonder if the turning of the blades makes much noise?? Anyone heard these before?

It's a shame Solar Cell Panels are so expensive and not that great at producing electricity.

Former Member

Originally posted by DiamondGeezer
I wonder if the turning of the blades makes much noise?? Anyone heard these before?

I drove right past a field full of them in summer, and couldn't hear anything.

I don't see what the problem is with them. I mean, people who complain about them being ugly - do they really look any worse than electricity pylons and power stations?

Former Member

Originally posted by Lil Laura
I drove right past a field full of them in summer, and couldn't hear anything.

I don't see what the problem is with them. I mean, people who complain about them being ugly - do they really look any worse than electricity pylons and power stations?

I think they look really elegant .. like huge flowers!!!

Maybe if they made the blades out of transparent plastic???

Former Member

Originally posted by Lil Laura

I don't see what the problem is with them. I mean, people who complain about them being ugly - do they really look any worse than electricity pylons and power stations?

:yes:

I'd expect it's just a load of grey old men in suits who don't like change.

Former Member

Originally posted by DiamondGeezer
I think they look really elegant .. like huge flowers!!!

Maybe if they made the blades out of transparent plastic???

I like them how they look. They look clean, they are clean, and there's just something kinda hypnotising about all the blades going round at the same speed, all together. I don't think they're ugly at all

Former Member

I think they are a really good idea. They look amazing too.

Former Member

Hi

They are pretty useless things! Plonked down here for only one reason - Large government/EU subsidies paid largely up-front. The wind power industry is small but the most commercialised of the alternative power community, well connected & largely foreign-based so something in the order of 80% of the subsidies goes abroad (there is a whole other issue over how they promise to spend millions in the local area to get planning permission then welch on the deals :mad: ) The companies then sell options to other generators so they can avoid penalties for non-investment & make it look like they are doing something about renewables. Any electricity generated is a bonus, so far no windfarm has met its generating target.

Edited to add: Noise IS an issue if you live near one plus the damage to birdlife can be terrible, especially on migratory routes.

Denamrk has recently stopped windfarm development & is investigating the connection between the 'persuassiveness' of the windfarm companies & the fact that they have the highest electricity production costs in Europe.

Anyone smell a rat?

If they have any chance of EVER being efficent, larger generators offshore is probably the way to go.

Former Member

they dont bother me, but like pylons they are uuuugly!

Former Member

when i had a small holding on anglesey the nearest turbine was around 500 yrds away ...the noise is minimal. they are clean. they are not ugly.
loads of farmers protested about damaging the landscape views ...the landscape had wilfa nuclear power plant in the background! a line of massive pylons taking the power across the island to the mainland! man always leaves his mark on the landscape. the farmers shut up when they were told that for each turbine on their land they would be paid i think ...8 grand a year ...some farmers have ten! 80'000 grand a year and they don't bother the sheep or take up much space ...the farmers voted for the windfarms ...buggar the landscape!
off the prestatyn coast ...near rhyl ...they have nearly completed a huge windfarm ...it's 8 miles off the coast and you have to strain your eyes to see them on a clear day ...still people protested against them! on the skyline are numerous oil and gass platforms ...
i'm all for them.

Former Member

I like the wind farms. Yes. More of them.

I imagine that they must make some kind of "whoooshy" sound.

Former Member

I think they're a good idea too - though there are people who say they create more problems than they do good.

But what really annoys me is the people who think they look ugly and ruin the landscape. Surely it's much better to have a few windmills than a dirty great power station?

It's funny, we were discussing this in one of my lectures last week.

Former Member

I think they should paint them in nice colours, although the standard white is quite nice.

I'm sure they're pretty inefficient at producing electricity, but you can't get much cleaner way of making electricity.

... £8,000 a year is pretty good for having them stick a windmill on your land!!

Former Member

Originally posted by DiamondGeezer

... £8,000 a year is pretty good for having them stick a windmill on your land!!

i said they could put as many as they wanted on mine ...bastard ...i was 500yrds outside the planned area!

Former Member

we had to do pros and cons of these on a science thingy.

aparently noise can be an issue depending on the size of them.
i think its a really good idea, and according to the textbooks, they need little maintainence, but the initial cost is large.

they want to build more at sea where they wont be an 'eyesore' etc
they have loads in greece when we drive back on the islands, they are kinda loud though

Former Member

I like them, there's some in Cornwall.

Former Member

I think they look good. There's a small wind farm out towards Spurn Point by an oil refinery. I was in the car, so didn't notice any noise. How effective they really are, and how cost effective they are, is still open to debate. But they're going to get better (more efficient & cheaper) as time goes on, and will hopefully make a valuable contribution to our electricity supply one day.

Mr_Wobble

Former Member

Originally posted by Screwtape
i heartily approve of the principle but i think that it would be more effective to use funds on the research of better power supplies such as Fission

:yes:

The thing is, these types of power sources look good on paper. But there's no way they can supply the same amount as the traditional power stations do. Either go nuclear, which will take about 3 decades to get to a stage where they can support the country, or go fission, which will probably take longer. But in those 3 decades our fossil fuels will be used up. So an energy crisis is on our hands, and the time window to start building for the future is now.

There is always the other option of significantly reducing our energy needs :chin:

Former Member

Originally posted by morrocan roll
i said they could put as many as they wanted on mine ...bastard ...i was 500yrds outside the planned area!

Ahh that's so sad .. If I had land I'll gladly let them put them on there ... then flipping retire!!! Travel the world or live abroad, £8,000 in countries like Inida and Thailand is a fortune!!

If you had just 4 of of them that's £32,000 - And I assume it costs the land owner nothing to have installed or anything!!!!

Former Member

We learnt about them in Spanish. I think theyre a realy good idea

Former Member

Originally posted by TheShyBoyInTheCorner
:yes:

The thing is, these types of power sources look good on paper. But there's no way they can supply the same amount as the traditional power stations do. Either go nuclear, which will take about 3 decades to get to a stage where they can support the country, or go fission, which will probably take longer. But in those 3 decades our fossil fuels will be used up. So an energy crisis is on our hands, and the time window to start building for the future is now.

There is always the other option of significantly reducing our energy needs :chin:

fission is nuclear. but it doesn't matter because i meant fusion and i'm always mixing the bastards up.

but also, necessity is the mother of invention, it's amazed what can be developed when the correct funding is supplied.

Former Member

Originally posted by Screwtape
fission is nuclear. but it doesn't matter because i meant fusion and i'm always mixing the bastards up.

but also, necessity is the mother of invention, it's amazed what can be developed when the correct funding is supplied.

oh yerrrrrrrrrrrrr. i mixed them up too. fuck.

I know them really. I just got confuddled. Your fault

Former Member

Cold Fusion. It's the only way.

Well, apart from solar, which is just a pipe dream.

Former Member

Originally posted by TheShyBoyInTheCorner
oh yerrrrrrrrrrrrr. i mixed them up too. fuck.

I know them really. I just got confuddled. Your fault

but fusion is also nuclear, so you're still a pillock, mate

Former Member

Originally posted by Screwtape
but fusion is also nuclear, so you're still a pillock, mate

I knew that. Fusion is where they fuse the atoms. Fission is where they split it. Simple.

I am not a pillock

Former Member

what about the self-building solar arrays in space? Then they can 'beam' the energy via a laser to the earth... this means they can stay in the suns light all the time, without wearther problkems and stuff. and also they can be far bigger because running out of space is not a practical problem.,

Former Member

trawsfynydd nuclear power station in .n.wales closed down. it is now far more dangerous than when it was running. no one has worked out how to rid us of clapped out ones. the cost and the length of time before they become safe is nigh on impossible to deal with. have you read about the most dangerous place on earth ...sellafield? there arte thousands of tons of waste ...some of wich is in a critical condition ...no one knows how to deal with it! some of it will remain extremely dangerous and threatening for the next quarter of a million years! wylfa on anglesey ...nuclear again ...shuts in 2yrs time and will again become even more dangerous ...anyone who advocates nuclear is completely ignorant of the facts or is slightly mad.

Former Member

I heard that there's a special kind of material only found on the moon that has the power to provide all the earth's need for electricity in a very safe way.

I heard 20 Tonnes would be enough to supply the USA for entire year with electricity and 100 Tonnes would be enough for the entire planet for 1 year. Which isn't really a lot when you think about it espacially if you used something like the Russian Space shuttle which carries far more then the American space shuttle....

.. of course if the whole man walking on the moon thing is fake then it might be a bit difficult to mine!!