Scottish wind farms remain an eyesore for some, an inspiration to others
The Herald|Bob Graham|July 27, 2008
It is bad enough to be told by the First Minister that Scotland's landscapes are to be sacrificed to achieve irrelevant SNP targets for renewables but he now claims that another reason is to help Europe achieve theirs. I refer to the disgraceful announcement that the gateway to Scotland, the A74 at Abington, is to be covered by 152 x 406 foot (that's 90 feet taller than Big Ben) turbines spread over 11,707 acres (18.3 sq miles) of our countryside.
It is bad enough to be told by the First Minister that Scotland's landscapes are to be sacrificed to achieve irrelevant SNP targets for renewables but he now claims that another reason is to help Europe achieve theirs. I refer to the disgraceful announcement that the gateway to Scotland, the A74 at Abington, is to be covered by 152 x 406 foot (that's 90 feet taller than Big Ben) turbines spread over 11,707 acres (18.3 sq miles) of our countryside.
It is bad enough to be told by the First Minister that Scotland's landscapes are to be sacrificed to achieve irrelevant SNP targets for renewables but he now claims that another reason is to help Europe achieve theirs. I refer to the disgraceful announcement that the gateway to Scotland, the A74 at Abington, is to be covered by 152 x 406 foot (that's 90 feet taller than Big Ben) turbines spread over 11,707 acres (18.3 sq miles) of our countryside. The plan includes 41 borrow pits (quarries) to extract stone to provide the aggregate for the miles of access roads required. The turbine foundations alone will require about 150,000 tonnes of concrete.
At current prices the Clyde windfarm will cost us about £78m per annum in subsidies and …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]It is bad enough to be told by the First Minister that Scotland's landscapes are to be sacrificed to achieve irrelevant SNP targets for renewables but he now claims that another reason is to help Europe achieve theirs. I refer to the disgraceful announcement that the gateway to Scotland, the A74 at Abington, is to be covered by 152 x 406 foot (that's 90 feet taller than Big Ben) turbines spread over 11,707 acres (18.3 sq miles) of our countryside. The plan includes 41 borrow pits (quarries) to extract stone to provide the aggregate for the miles of access roads required. The turbine foundations alone will require about 150,000 tonnes of concrete.
At current prices the Clyde windfarm will cost us about £78m per annum in subsidies and will not generate any despatchable electricity, and once again because of the intermittency of wind, all the normal generation from coal/gas/nuclear etc will have to be kept running, rendering the electricity from the wind farm effectively surplus to requirement.
This is the third occasion in less than a year where the SNP administration has over-ruled local authorities which have tried to stop wind farm applications in their area.
This decision shows that Salmond and his cronies are more than prepared to sacrifice Scotland to achieve their personal ambitions, and underlines what a totalitarian country we have become.
Editor's note: Other letters can be read by clicking on the below link.