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Environmental, economic, visual and noise impact
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 The construction (see the adjacent ‘photos) and operation of a wind turbine power station can have a major impact on many aspects of the local environment. Extensive civil works are required and local roads may have to be widened to allow 50 metre long transporter lorries to bring components to the construction site. There can be major impacts on:
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Birds
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Bats
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Other mammals
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Pond and stream life
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Water table
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Plants and flowers
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Heritage sites
Developers claim that they will address these issues and reduce them to an acceptable level. There is of course a big gap between what is acceptable to the developer and what is acceptable to local residents and visitors. We explore some of these issues in the following sections which will be expanded over the next few months.
Birds
The RSPB has attracted some publicity recently for commissioning a report supporting wind farms. This surprised many people until it was revealed that the RSPB receives significant funding from Scottish Power/Iberdrola, one of the largest renewable energy companies in the world. The RSPB's position on industrial wind turbines is therefore of little consequence and sadly diminishes the reputation of an organisation whose purpose is to protect bird life.
Click here to see Dr Mike Hall's response to the RSPB on this issue.
Click here to see a detailed account of the impact of wind turbines on birds written by Dr John Etherington and also his recent book "The Wind Farm Scam"
Bats
Recent research has shown that bats can be killed by pockets of low air pressure caused by the rotating turbine blades. Click here to see the BBC news report on this issue.
For more general information on bats and industrial wind turbines, see the article written by Dr John Etherington mentioned previously and also his book, "The Wind Farm Scam"
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"A windfarm is not the answer"
Paul Kingsnorth,
The Guardian, 31st July, 2009
"Wind power is a complete disaster"
Michael Trebilcock,
National Post Canada,
April 8th, 2009
"Wind farms risk becoming 'redundant symbols' warns CPRE"
Louise Grey,
Environment Correspondent,
The Telegraph,
24th July, 2009
"How can wind turbines generate so much lunacy?"
Christopher Booker,
The Sunday Telegraph, 19th July, 2009
"When wind power blows, jobs will fall"
Dominic Lawson,
The Sunday Times,
19th July 2009
"Renewable Energy Strategy is Inconsistent and Implausible"
Dr John Constable, The Renewable Energy Foundation,15th July, 2009
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Environmental Impact