SACS acknowledges the need for ‘Green Power’ to help counteract the threat of global warming, but considers that we need a sensible balance between a number of different such sources, including solar power, wave power and offshore wind farms.
Power generation from renewable sources should also be accompanied by substantial improvements in energy-saving, both in the home and by industry and commerce. It should also be borne in mind that Scotland would be capable of producing all of its electricity from hydro-electric schemes.
A recent Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) report suggests that the current system of substantial Government subsidies to land-based wind farms gives no incentive to developers or landowners to consider alternatives. 97% of all proposals for renewable energy production in 2005 are for land-based wind farms!
The Scottish Executive has promised to generate 40% of Scotland’s electricity using renewable sources by 2020, as part of its efforts to tackle global warming. This, however, is not being done in a balanced way, taking into account the horrific effect wind farms have on the beauty of our natural environment here in Scotland.
The Highlands will bear the largest burden, with 64 actual or proposed wind-farms already. The proposals include one for a 500-turbine site on the Morven Peninsula, and another at the north end of Mull. More than 2000 objections have been lodged with the Scottish Executive against plans to build one of the largest wind farms in the world on the Isle of Lewis.
In Scotland we already have 35 land-based wind farms in production, under construction or approved. Plans are ongoing for a further 250 wind-farms across Scotland, which, if approved, would lead to a total of 6472 turbines. In addition to this, yet another 268 schemes are known to be at the ‘pre-application’ stage.
The Scottish Wind Assessment Project claims that the growth of wind-farms will lead to over-capacity. Existing evidence from Denmark, Germany and Ireland shows that because wind-power is intermittent and unpredictable, overall a National Grid System can’t safely rely on more than 10% of its input from wind power.
If all wind farms go ahead as planned, Scotland would exceed 100% capacity by 50%!
The physical size of wind turbines is also set to rise: Currently, turbines are around 50-70m high. The new generation of turbines in the planning system is up to twice the size of current models – that is over 100m high, with the full height to the tip of the blade being 140m.
Jim Wallace, the Enterprise Minister, denies that the Executive is in thrawl to wind development, but a spokesman for Views of Scotland said “This is a nightmare – if this is not being in thrawl, I don’t know what is!”
Over-capacity could make many sites redundant and the appalling waste of public money and despoliation of countryside may be a far worse fiasco than the infamous Holyrood Parliament Building could ever be.
The following information has been taken from an editorial in ‘Trout & Salmon’ in January 2005:
“A proposed wind farm with an estimated 47 turbines each over 100metres high will stretch for 15km along the top of the Grumack Hills from Glass to Cabrach. This is one of the biggest (wind-farms) but, more importantly, it is likely to have a devastating effect on the River Deveron as a result of the huge soil-moving activities that are bound to result from this vast construction site.
The biggest threat to the river and its tributaries is that of run-off from the new construction road to be carved out of the north face of the Grumack Hills. It will be 10-15m wide, and cut diagonally across the existing forestry ploughing, threatening to re-mobilise the fine sediment, at present trapped by vegetation, and deposit most of it in the river. The estimated construction period is 5 years!
Fine particles of peat have a devastating effect on salmonid populations. First, they silt up the Redds, acting like a thin layer of cement and causing newly-laid eggs to be swept downstream and lost, and secondly, they cloud the water, impairing the ability of juvenile fish to see and feed.”
The absolute folly of intense construction activity on unstable wet peat on top of a hill has already been dramatically demonstrated in Co.Galway in Ireland, where a wind-farm project was begun in 2003. A massive landslide, caused by construction work following heavy rain, completely blocked the Owendalulleegh River, in the world-famous Shannon catchment area. The resultant peat slide polluted 22km of river, killing an estimated 100,000 fish.
The position with our own Deveron is equalled in dozens of places throughout Scotland; for instance, there are no less than three wind-farm proposals in the valley of the Brora alone!
To get this electricity into the national grid, we will almost certainly see a vast increase in immense pylons, destroying even more of our beautiful countryside.
Much of the original wind-turbine technology was developed in Denmark. Does Denmark use wind-turbines to produce their electricity? No. They are selling the technology to us and moving on to a more sensible balanced approach.
In the case of the Deveron, letters to the Scottish Executive have fallen on deaf ears – they are determined to push plans through, whatever the cost.
SACS will resist this, and protest about this incredible waste of money and the despoliation of an entire country. We will do this by trying to influence and alter Government strategy at both national and local levels.
If you wish to object to individual proposals (and please do – it can make a vital difference!) you should address your letters to:
Ms. Denise Mansouer
Department of Environment & Lifelong Learning
Meridian Court
5 Cadogan Street
Glasgow G2 6AT