Do you think wind farms are a good idea?

Answer 1

They have an enormous financial cost, so high that they will never pay for themselves in power savings. Their only benefit lies in reduced carbon output in the very long term. I mean the VERY long term.

The energy used to excavate the raw materials that goes into a windmill far exceeds it saving. Then those raw materials have to be carried round the world to steel and other plants. Then they are processed with electricity to make blades, electric motors, generators, concrete and other building materials. The construction of the windmill involves digging out a high site, using diesel engined machinery and electrical equipment. Forever, the windmill will need to be maintained by expensively-trained engineers using electrical equipment, and spare parts made by the same processes as the original mechanism. And that's only one windmill. Image 1000 of them, or 10000, or 100000 that is being proposed for Europe.

The energy used to build this programme outweighs all the benefits to the environment for the very long term. I could take hundreds of years for wind farms to pay back their initial cost, and they probably will never do so. I honestly don't think the electorate will agree to this use for taxpayers' money; not under the control of the idiotic political system that we have in the western world right now.

Answer 2

In places where there is a lot of wind and land is cheap, they are a useful addition to the power grid. However, they will not be supplying the majority of our energy in the future, their potential is not that great. Also, why a few can make an interesting addition to the landscapes, thousands would be a tremendous eyesore. They put some in in a rural area near me, and they can be seen from tens of miles away, taking what was a beautiful natural landscape and adding something very artificial-looking to it.

Answer 3

Depending on geography of where you live. Wind farms are great, Up here in Canada we have the western area to utilize this resourse. Wind, solar anything that does not use the resourses of the the Einstien factor let's say is great. There's tidal uses to generate power, there are ton's of different way's to make power, However, it costs more.

Answer 4

I'll start by letting it be known that I don't believe that GW is man-made, however, wind farms are an excellent idea. Ask the Kennedy's (Teddy and crew), why they successfully blocked efforts to place them in Nantucket Sound.

I guess they didn't want to see them while out batching...what a bunch of losers.

Answer 5

they must be a good idea because they are going up all over the country. they are just not very nice to look at over the nice countryside.but they look much better than power stations. i currently live on the doorstep of drax power station and a wind farm is going through planning permission to de erected several hundred feet from my home.

Answer 6

Yeah they are still in need of further development due to the environmantal impact of making them being too high compared to the actual benefit of wind power over conventional fossil-fuel based energy. But I agree that they do look impressive, I don't think they look as bad as people say they do, although I'm le dto believe they produce a lot of noise, which can irritate local residents.
Personally i think more development is needed in the use of tidal power, especially as we are blessed in britain with the number of large tidal estuaries which could be utilised,
Thames
Severn
Tyne
Humber

Answer 7

A few questions first. How long will they last?, what will be the cost of upkeep in terms of spares?, will the `energy` they produce be more than the `energy` cost of building and running them?. In the long term, if thousands of them are built, what effect will they have on the weather in terms of taking the energy out of the wind. Apart from that, a good idea.

Answer 8

The idea is good but it will end in abandonment. The demand for consumption is greater than what these known windmills can produce. With more houses being built, the landscape gets swallowed up and the demand for power increases yet again. They will be useless in years to come due to being inefficient and no further room for construction.

Answer 9

When you drive across Germany, you see wind generators everywhere.
If the Germans are using this technology, it must be the way to go!

At least they won't be in the u-no-wot when the oil runs out. The Nimby's in the UK, (who complain about said wind generators), will then be complaining about the lack of electricity.

Answer 10

Good idea for people who use electricity. Bad idea for birds who fly into the blades and wind up as chopped poultry.

http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2006/02/norway.html