Reform of the Renewables Obligation 2006: Ofgem's response
We fully support the Government's aims of reducing carbon emissions and promoting
renewable generation but we think there are cheaper and simpler ways of meeting these
aims than the RO scheme which is forecast to cost business and domestic customers
over £30bn. view report

Wind Rush - Costing the Earth - Radio 4
Wind power is the fastest growing renewable energy sector in Britain. The government is investing massive amounts of money in its future. But experts interviewed on Costing the Earth claim the power of the wind to deliver electricity is being overestimated by companies keen to cash in on big subsidies. more information

FUTURE PROOFING UK ENERGY
A Commentary on the Government’s Energy Review Report - The Energy Challenge. The Renewable Energy Foundation view report

Why UK wind power should not exceed 10 GW
Britain’s wind power reached 1 GW in June this year,making it the eighth largest national installation in the world.Over the next 5 years a further 6 GW is likely to be built at a cost of £7 billion in the rush to meet the Government’s target of 10% enewable energy by 2010.The plan is for wind energy to deliver three-quarters of the target but that, as this paper explains, would actually require 12 GW,meaning the target will
not be met. Furthermore, experience in Denmark and Germany shows that the UK will find it impractical to manage much over 10 GW of unpredictable wind power. view report

UK Energy Policy: The small business perspective and impact on rural economy
This report surveys the intense debate now taking place as to why the chosen strategy is not achieving its objectives.Experience in Germany suggests that the net economic effect of wind energy development is not positive. Taken together these matters raise many questions about the wisdom of the current UK policy’s commitment to onshore wind for the bulk of the renewable energy target. view report

Why are so many wind turbines being planned?
The government has a target to generate 20% of the UK’s energy use from renewable energy by 2020. They have incentivised developers with an impressive reward scheme funded mainly by us, the consumer, in order to achieve this target. For every 1000 units of electricity they generate the turbine company will auction off what is known as Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROC). The big companies especially the power generating companies have committed to reducing their carbon emissions and they can do his simply by buying these certificates and therefore offsetting, not reducing their emissions.

Power companies can get their best return for the cheapest outlay by investing in wind turbines. Investment in wave and tidal are much more costly but can result in a predictable source of renewable energy. The ROC system of subsidies is diverting funds away from these technologies towards onshore wind.

Do wind turbines affect tourism?
The importance of landscape and countryside on holiday was one of the most important factors for choosing North Devon according to 72% of the visitors surveyed. 84% of those surveyed were ‘unfavourable’ towards wind turbines in North Devon.  11% stated that they would NOT return to North Devon as a holiday destination if wind turbines were built there. This in turn would have a potential loss to the local economy of £29,418,290 more...

Will we have cheaper electricity as a result of wind turbines? Pursuit of the Government’s target to generate 20% of the UK’s energy use from renewable energy will result in costs for the consumer and taxpayer exceeding £1 billion a year by the end of the decade, which will increase the price of electricity by around 5 per cent for consumers.

Will we benefit locally from the energy produced by these wind turbines?
Any energy produced by the wind turbines will be pumped into the grid.

With Fullabrook approved, why are more wind turbines being proposed for North Devon?
"Fullabrook Down has the potential to make nearly double North Devon District Council's target of 36MW of renewable energy."  Said Mr Malcolm Wicks, Minister of State for Energy, at the British Wind Energy Association conference in Glasgow.  So why are more being planned? Because wind farms stand to make developers very rich. A complex system of payments enables a single two megawatt turbine to generate its owner nearly £385,000 a year for 20 years.  The current subsidy system is distorting the market and leading to the current rush of wind farm developers applying for planning permission in unsuitable sites. more...

Are wind turbines the green answer to the national electricity supply?
No they are not. To explain why in more detail we have a little case study: Cornwall currently has 7 wind farms with a total of 103 turbines (Aug 2007) with an operational maximum of 41.35Mw. The country requires 680Mw of reliable power to feed homes, industry and services.  The demand for more power rises by 1 to 2 per cent a year. To reach their operational maximum of 41.35Mw the wind has to blow at 30mph to 55mph.  The wind turbines close down at the latter point as they become dangerous. The results following a daily survey for 3 years, show that the wind only blows at 30mph for 1% of the time. Over an average year wind farms only operate at 24.1% of their capacity, so of the 41.35 Mw installed in Cornwall, they only get 10.3Mw from the 690Mw required. On this basis Cornwall would need 6900 wind turbines in order to meet demand.  Simple arithmetic is all it takes to realize that the public in general are being grossly misled into believing that wind farms are the answer to national electricity supply. As the above example shows, in order to meet demand and reduce our reliance on fossil or nuclear energy we would need hundreds of thousands of wind turbines or we will need to convince the wind to blow at the right speed, 365 days a year.

 Do wind farms affect your health?
This is a controversial subject.  People unfortunate to live close to wind turbines report persistent noise from the swooshing blades that is likened to a train that never arrives. Onshore wind farms may be considered a health hazard to people living near them because of the low- frequency noise that they emit, according to new medical studies. Professor Mariana Alves Pereira has published a detailed study of Infrasound and Low Frequency Noise (ILFN) caused by wind turbines and concludes that they can cause Vibro-Acoustic Disease (VAD). more...

Do wind turbines reduce the value of local properties?  According to The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, around 80% of properties in the area surrounding wind turbines will see a decrease in the value of their property as a result. more...

How effective are Wind Turbines at reducing carbon emissions? Serious doubts have been raised over the effectiveness of onshore turbines as a means of achieving CO2 reductions. Wind farms do little towards saving carbon emissions but they are a very profitable investment for the power companies. As their power is unpredictable and unreliable their output must always be backed up by other sources of firm power generation.The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform estimates that by 2010, the very large number of wind turbines installed will achieve total CO2 savings of just under 2% of the UKs emissions. This very modest saving would cost the UK consumer nearly £1 billion per year via the Renewables Obligation and would see our beautiful countryside littered with wind turbines. more...

Will wind turbines bring jobs to North Devon?
No. Contrary to the standard developers application tactic of suggesting that a wind turbine development will bring employment to an area, they don't. No permanent staffing is needed as the day to day operation is radio controlled. Maintenance would involve no more than occasional visits to the site by a roving engineer. Thus, though wind ‘farms’ threaten to destroy jobs in the tourist industry; they create few if any compensating jobs elsewhere.