"W. D. Grey" wrote in message
...
In article , Wolfgang
writes
As Bill Grey pointed out, not everyone is yet sanguine about the birds and
whirling blades scenario. However, I suspect that even in these days of
increasing green consciousness, economics will come to dwarf other
considerations. I

A few years ago when I was involved with the electricity supply industry
as a surveyor, It was my task to survey a route for an overhead line to
service a proposed windfarm. Interestingly enough, the windfarm was being
built largely on a farm where several fields were unproductive and
difficult to work. The farmer had been coaxed to sell his fields to the
developers and was given a directorship in the new supply company.

I'll bet he took some coaxing! You are right Wolfgang, economics did
dwarf other considerations.

Even stoic Welsh farmers feel they have a right, as well as a need, to eat,
huh?

It might be argued that building the windfarm on unproductive farmland was
a good decision, but here in Wales, pristine hillside is being swallowed
up by these horrendous eyesores with hardly any capacity to provide
sufficient electricity in real terms. Wales has precious little unspoilt
hills now that the roller-coaster of windfarms has gained momentum.It may
bee green in one sense but is destroying our green landscapes in another.


De gustibus non est disputandum.

Personally, I think they are beautiful. Stately and majestic come to mind
as fitting (if somewhat hackneyed) adjectives. But then, I've spent all of
my life in more or less close proximity to conventional (fossil fuel) and
nuclear power plants. I have a positively dantesque photo (with a bit of a
wry twist) that illustrates rather well why I, for one, consider windfarms
to be a more than reasonable alternative, even on esthetic grounds, to more
traditional electrical power generation schemes. I'll be happy to send it
to you (or anyone else) if you like.

As for your criticism concerning generating capacity, I find it more than a
little vague. I'm not sure I'd be able to assess hard data accurately and
to my own or anyone else's advantage without doing a lot more research (a
path I am no more eager to tread than most, I suppose) but the electrical
energy suppliers I'm familiar with here in the colonies tend to the colossal
corporation end of the business spectrum and have traditionally shied away
from speculative ventures that promise little return on their investments.
I can't see any way for them to benefit from erecting windfarms other than
selling a substantial amount of electricity. Moreover, wind generated
electricity is in its infancy.....efficiency is bound to increase.

Wolfgang