A partnership between Scottish and Southern Energy and the council-owned Viking Energy Shetland, signed in 2005, the windfarm is to largely be built on peatlands, raising fears over carbon release. ...While peatlands cover only 3% of the world's land area they contain nearly 30% of all carbon stored on land. Campaigners and experts warn that damage to the peatlands could be irreversible with degraded peat losing the ability to absorb carbon and potentially releasing thousands of tonnes back into the atmosphere.

Impact on Wildlife Impact on Landscape UK

In 2012, when the original planning application was submitted, SIC received 2,772 individual objections and 1109 letters of support. Mr Hay said: “The question is, is the environmental damage justified? We don’t think it is. Shetland has a unique landscape and we’re just horrified by the prospect of it.”

Impact on Wildlife Impact on Landscape UK

The Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm project has been reprimanded by officials after it allowed a ship to “steam” through North Sea fishing grounds.

Impact on Wildlife UK

The firm believes the spot would be ideal for generating environmentally-friendly electricity, but objectors have argued it will have a negative impact on the natural environment and goes against Aberdeenshire Council’s local development plan.

Impact on Wildlife UK

Study coauthor Professor Maria Thaker said: 'We have known from many studies that wind farms affect birds and bats. 'They kill them and disrupt their movement. But we took that one step further and discovered that it affects lizards too. 'Every time a top predator is removed or added, unexpected effects trickle through the ecosystem.

Impact on Wildlife Impact on Birds UK Asia

Scottish wildcats are facing extinction after it emerged that 30 per cent of the species could be wiped out by a wind farm expansion. 

Impact on Wildlife UK

A public local inquiry (PLI) was conducted into the proposed 20-turbine development at Caplich in Sutherland, raising concerns of significant harm to two wild land areas as well as compromising the natural environment, amenity and heritage resources of the areas.

Impact on Wildlife Impact on Landscape UK

Wildlife experts claim that the noise generated by wind turbines can affect the sonar whales use to navigate, steering them off course. There are several commercial wind farms off East Anglia including Gunfleet Sands, which has 48 turbines.

Impact on Wildlife UK

Offshore wind farms are the latest barrier for salmon returning home

Impact on Wildlife UK

North of the border there have been claims that wind farms kill more birds of prey than illegal poisoning or shooting. Given North Yorkshire’s reputation as a hot spot for raptor persecution, just what is the impact of wind farms on protected birds of prey in our county?

Impact on Wildlife Impact on Birds UK

The UK government has approved construction of the world’s largest offshore windfarm, providing the developer Dong Energy does not disturb porpoises off the Yorkshire coast.

Impact on Wildlife UK

The study, due to be published in Ibis, reports that numbers of the plover, which are protected under the European Birds Directive, dropped by 80 per cent within the wind farm during the first two years of operation, with these declines being markedly greater than on areas surrounding the wind farm that were studied over the same period.

Impact on Wildlife Impact on Birds UK

Environmental groups have attacked the Scottish Government for allowing the political drive for wind farms to overrule the science of saving wildlife. It is “very disappointing” that this has caused Scotland to fall behind the rest of the UK on protecting harbour porpoises, they say. In October 2014, the European Commission warned the UK government that it would be taken to court for failing to designate special areas of conservation for harbour porpoises.

Impact on Wildlife UK

A massive statue of a golden eagle could soon have a bird’s eye view of a controversial wind farm which campaigners claim could kill protected birds. ...“I feel that having 67 turbines there would totally destroy the place. Apart from being unsightly, they could be a hazard to the eagles’ natural habitat.”

Impact on Wildlife Impact on Birds UK

The Mountaineering Council of Scotland (MCofS) claims residents, businesses and landscape protection organisations are opposing the Talladh a Bheithe Wind Farm scheme to erect the 400ft turbines between Loch Rannoch and Loch Ericht.

Impact on Wildlife UK

Plans for nine 126m high wind turbines at The Delph, West Pinchbeck, are still live almost a year after council bosses asked a company to withdraw them because of a “flawed” ecological study.

Impact on Wildlife UK

“The giant wind turbines will slaughter huge numbers and I feel Navitus Bay have not done their duty to the wildlife. I would like to see the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds voice a strong objection.”

Impact on Wildlife UK

The application for a 47-turbine wind farm has been criticised by RSPBS for its impact on breeding birds and its location, being in the middle of the Caithness and Sutherland peatlands’ Special Protection Area (SPA). The tract of blanket bog, which is an important carbon store, is home to rare and endangered species such as golden eagle, hen harrier, merlin, black-throated diver, red-throated diver, greenshank and golden plover.

Impact on Wildlife UK

“This is, without doubt, one of the most worrying wind farm applications we have seen in Scotland.  Not only does it risk harming some of the UK’s rarest species, it would make restoration of this core part of the globally important Flow Country much more difficult."

Impact on Wildlife Impact on Landscape UK

Scottish ministers gave Viking planning permission in April last year but judge, Lady Clark of Calton, said the Electricity Act required a developer to hold a generation licence before it could gain approval. Also, she said the minsters had failed to comply with the European Wild Birds Directive.

Impact on Wildlife Legal UK