The Skakagrall

I too am in favour of wind farms, at least in principle. What their place is in our overall energy generation capability I am not so certain; sustainability, reliability (of supply and operation), cost of installation and maintenance, etc., cost comparison with alternative energy sources.

It so happens I can see about 14 wind towers (out of a greater number in all) from where I live - they are quite distant and do not distract me in any way, indeed I find them quite attractive in certain lights. There was a great deal of controversy about the proposals to put this wind farm in place locally, though. This relates to a wind farm in Morayshire. Where I lived before I could also see about 17 towers in another wind farm and again found them quite attractive - in that case there was (so far as I could ascertain) no objection locally, all the objections came from people who did not live in the area, but visited for recreational purposes. This relates to a wind farm near Tain/Alness.

I think it would be more helpful, rather than to say where wind farms should NOT be located, to suggest where they SHOULD or COULD be located - then the views of the people affected by your views about their environment (which might not be your own), and the impact of such a thing upon their lives, would be more relevant.

Thanks.

Regarding 'overall energy generation capability etc.' I wonder if you saw my entry on nuclear power (Feb 1)? I see the Scottish Conservatives have now endorsed nuclear.

Hello Simon,

Well, I hadn't read your earlier entry, but have now done so. Nor was I aware that the Scottish Conservatives (and the Party nationally?) have now endorsed nuclear power generation.

However, it so happens that I had independently some to the same conclusion, probably three or four years ago so far as I recall, but my views on the subject have firmed up since the beginning of 2004. I did listen some weeks ago (probably before Christmas) to a debate on Radio4 about just this subject - might have been on 'The Moral Maze' - and was intrigued to hear during that programme that the spokesperson from Greenpeace(?) was nowhere near as opposed to the idea of resurrecting nuclear power generation as I expected him to be, although it would probably be an exaggeration to say that he was positively in favour.

I don't think, for what it is worth, that 'renewables' are ever likely to provide more than a marginal, but possibly important nonetheless, proportion of our overall energy requirements. The only way I could see this being different is if we were to accept significant changes to the way we live our lives - not hopping in the car, or a low-cost flight, whenever the mood takes us - not expecting to have certain foods at all times of the year, irrespective of the cost of getting them to us - and I don't think that this will be acceptable politically or socially anytime soon. Why also should your average Indian or Chinese peasant be deprived of the aspiration to have a refrigerator or a television (and the electricity to power this kind of thing), just so we can go on with our lives unchanged?

None of this can happen, in my view, unless nuclear is accepted as a necessary component of our overall energy sources.