The Wind is Blowing

As part of my wider reading for my university personal statement I read an article from Geographical, the magazine of the Royal Geographical Society, about the controversy surrounding wind turbines and was moved to write about the issue here.

Image: Symscape

Just to be clear, onshore wind farms are located on land, whereas offshore ones are found either in the sea or in freshwater.

Did you know? Onshore wind energy supplied just under 2% of the UK's total electricity in 2010, and by 2020 it's expected to produce 5.6GW, which, along with 2.7GW from offshore farms, could power 4.6 million homes.


Climate change is becoming an evermore important issue as we see more extreme weather events every month and sea level rising at twice the average speed of the 1900s. One way to tackle this problem by reducing our CO2 emissions is to find other ways of generating electricity, and as there is plenty of wind in the UK, it is a valuable resource.

"They don't look good"

Many people say that the blank, stark nature of wind turbines detracts from the beautiful British countryside that we live in, and even some of the green lobby sympathises with this. They argue that the noise of the turbines can be incredibly irritating if you live nearby, as well as the constant moving shadows in your garden. However, it is believed that there is a rural-urban split: the city dwellers driving past the farms see them as being clean resources, but they're intrusive to those that live near them.

"What about the money?"

The article (mentioned above), shows that onshore wind energy costs 15% more than gas, with offshore adding half of that again. It is hoped that soon offshore technology development will help reduce the cost of it, with deepwater turbines on the cards in the near future. However a different way of looking at it is that the farms could be owned my the community, meaning that the public could actually see the profits they make, making them more likely to support wind power.

Image: BBC

"Think of the poor birds!"

Birds have been another thing that critics have latched onto to argue their case. In 2012, the Spanish Ornithological Society said that their 18000 wind turbines might be killing up to 18 million birds and bats every year, although the RSPB feels that the country's turbines have been poorly placed and the figures weren't representative. Radar technology has been used in some countries so that when the animals are detected the blades are switched off - of course, this comes at an extra cost, but may be worth it.

These are just three of the many arguments that are used against wind power, but I hope it has given you a slightly deeper understanding of the issue. In my opinion, I think the benefits far outweigh all the (what I believe to be minor) problems, but I understand that others do not agree. I just hope that at some point soon we'll be able to come to an agreement.