New wind farms are needed to have any chance of creating enough renewable energy to reduce reliance on coal and gas power production. But planning approvals for them in England are at an all-time low, with only one in three applications getting the go-ahead from councils in the face of angry and organised opposition from people living nearby.
More than 230 separate local campaign groups against wind farms are operating across the UK, from Scotland and Kent to Norfolk, Yorkshire and Cornwall. These groups are scoring striking successes in defeating planned wind farms – even when faced with the weight of official recommendations.
More… “The Danish company Skykon, which took over the Vestas wind turbine factory in Kintyre last year, has announced it is suspending payments to its creditors. “
h/t Maz2, Daniel
“Meanwhile, Danish firm Vestas, the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer, said it would axe 3,000 jobs and shut some plants to adjust to weaker demand.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-11626680
Britain, where you can likely get away with beating your wife or kids but get hung for kicking a dog…..bird kills…..
The Climate-Gate thingy is likely a huge factor…carbon foot-print is now a discredited concept…
Another factor is the reality that during last winter’s cold-snap the wind farms produced NO POWER.
In Ontario the Guint has stacked the deck against local opposition to these whirling boondoggles by transferring approval authority to the province and out of the hands of locals. This is just one of the sins the Guint will pay for in October 2011 when the voters have the opportunity to toss his lying ass.
There was a documentary on the resistance a couple of days ago on BBC, the local resistance is based on the destruction of the rural view scape, the noise factor and site access by huge trucks over one lane rural roads.they also touched on the strobotic effect of low sun angles through the turning blades.
there is no good side to these monsters, time for a new Don Quixote
Nimbys may seem like today’s heroes for opposing and likely halting PC boondoggles like wind farms all over the landscape, but when it comes to energy projects that make sense, don’t count on those same Nimbys to act rationally. How would they react to proposed nuclear power plants within their counties? A Nuke may generate 4000 times the firm capacity of one turbine but the sight of those cooling towers from 10 miles away might elicit the same response as the giant fan.
The more Dulton digs his political grave in greenie ground, the faster the Ontario economy tanks and the greater is Ontario’s HAVE NOT PROVINCE status cemented in place.
Quite a legacy for Dulton . . . turning the economic powerhouse of Canada into a Have Not Province.
There is a flock of the damfool things being built scarcely two miles north of my home. I will await with interest their startup, and see if I can hear any noise from them.
Id enough of us vote Wildrose next election, I doubt they will be a problem for long; just cancel the lucrative subsidies on wind power, and their owners will wither away.
Go Rangers! Oh..sorry wrong fans.
Wildrose it is, gordinkneehill.
Out with the Progressive Cartel of Alberta.
We have won!
It’s now a matter of chasing the climate changers out of the temple for good. It’ll take time, but it’s worth it.
There are millions of birds which would be very happy
if they could read this article!
The Smitherman as well as Ratface Al McGuinty
needs to be held accountable for the Ontario mess.
BTW I hear that the EU is planning vast offshore windfarms,
with something like 10,000 wind turbines in the pipeline.
gordinkneehill, Have you considered putting noise monitors up to record the audible difference once the turbines go online? Would be interesting to see what it actually is and provide you with more ammo later if confronted in a debate.
JinA,
With respect to Ontario, checking sound is a waste of time. The Ministry of Environment is on record as admitting that proper or correct sound measure protocols are not defined in science or regulation; therefore they have given the industry two options: Employ an “industry developed” protocol or adhere to minimum setback requirements, and forgo any sound studies. How do you ever complain about noise? Setback is not related to property lines, but to the center of a “receptor”. So depending on the location of your house centre on your property, your neighbour’s turbine could be sited on your property line. Try selling your house. Setback to a school is the “center” of the school.
Setback is minimum of 550m for (5) turbines, 650m for (10), and 750m for (15). Guess what, we are being buried in multiple (5) turbine projects.
Muncipalities have no input to the approval process. Wind companies are required to hold public “information” meetings but there is no criteria in regulation to define community approval or lack thereof. Ministries of Environment and Natural Resources have been told to “support” the program. All of this on the Oak Ridge Moraine.
And no wonder Lawrence Solomon has defined rural Ontario as the “largest grassroots protest movement since the anti-nuclear protest of the 70s”. Really. I am on a first name basis with OPP Community Liason Officers.
At our last public meeting, there were (16) plainclothes and uniformed OPP officers, and (8) private security guards. Welcome to McGuinty’s Ontario.
George Smitherman (hehheh) is the most despised man in rural Ontario. We are going to take out our rage on Dalton. Our local MPP has been a neighbour for 25 years; I’ve looked after his horses many a time and he borrows my tractor. This is how personal this has become; he will be spending the coming provincial election campaign in hiding.
If it takes 24 security people to host a meeting, what is it going to take to run an election campaign, build the access roads and install SGFs? Caledonia will look like boys behaving badly.
Now are you reading or seeing this story in the media? No. Green is good. A bunch of country hicks. By next week, Rob Ford will just be an aberration.
I’m ranting too much. Do not get me started on birds. Sorry Kate.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” Gandhi
Anybody notice the “Invest in Green Energy” ad that pops into the sidebar of the article at Kate’s first link? Gave me a good laugh. I’m betting they weren’t thinking about negative coverage in the articles that automatically trigger the appearance of Green Energy display ads.
Smirk.
Meanwhile, in der heimat ob der Red-Greenishers:
Ich Bin Ein Nuklerr, mit Flungers.
H/T Lizard Frau May.
…-
“A Green Light for Atomic Power”
“German Parliament Extends Nuclear Plant Lifespans”
“Greenpeace protesters on Thursday flung a poster from the facade of the headquarters of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s political party: “CDU: Politics for Nuclear Companies”.”
“Opponents of nuclear powered suffered a setback in Berlin on Thursday as the federal parliament approved legislation that would effectively repeal Germany’s planned withdrawal from atomic power. Now nuclear plants can stay open an average of 12 years longer than originally planned.”
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,725964,00.html
John Chittick:
For a county where people are deadset against industrial turbines, but totally support nuclear energy, see Bruce Co Ont, a region that has includes both types of development. Residents of the Kincardine area, have profited from the nuclear industry for 3 generations. When David Suzuki visited, he could not find anyone to speak against nuclear; It has been the top employer for decades.
As for wind turbines, one of the very worst examples is the Ripley industrial site. Virtually no one in the area supports wind power. McGuinty wants to build turbines along Lake Huron shore ruining a successful tourist industry.
We just returned from a trip to southern Manitoba and noticed a number of wind power towers being erected along the Trans Canada highway in the Moosamin area.
Do we need to say it?
Hell yes.
“I told you so!”
Is it just me or has noone else seen the hiding in plain sight quality of the company name Skykon?
In our happy socialist paradise of Manitoba Canada …. we have the all the blessings of a true people’s government…..
I grew up in Manitoba and spent forty years there.
It was always one step forward and two steps back.
The only thing that Schreyer did good on was public auto insurance which I agree with.
Lyon came along and I thought hope would last.
But then Howard Pawley and his gang of commies ruined the place.
Roland Penner, snort.
Things didn’t get much better under Filmon’s direction.
Change the guard and we get loser Doer.
In spite of the failing to deliver on their promise to end hallway medicine the inept PC’s couldn’t unseat him.
Manitoba is a socialist province.
They get half a billion in equalization and the unions run the place.
And it won’t end until they have to stand on their own.
They don’t call it Chicago of the North without irony.