There are two sides to every story and the pro-wind and anti-wind lobbies’ arguments can be seen in microcosm in a corner of England where two 130m high wind turbines have been erected against the Derby skyline. Here, one of the blades is being delivered to the place of assembly:

Twin Turbine Trouble in Derby, England.

Severn Trent Water received permission to build the structures at Derby Sewage Treatment Works last year. The turbines should produce 10,000 MWHours of electricity per year- enough to power 3,000 homes. The Friends of the Earth campaign group think they are great. Their local representative for Derby,  Dorothy Skrytek  said:

“We thank Severn Trent for the wind turbines, which give us, and our children, hope for the future. As climate changes worsen, energy reduction and true renewables need support.”

Dorothy Skrytek

The turbines will have an operational efficiency of almost 23 percent and be used to power the company’s sewage plant, with the rest going to the national grid.  As with most turbines, wind will need to reach a minimum of 6mph for the turbines to start to generate. Winds in excess of 60mph will cause them to stop rotating, to protect them from damage. What’s not to like about green energy being used locally from locally sourced wind, and the extra being shared nationally through the grid?

Someone who used to work at the power station said:

“I don’t see wind turbines as being part of the future at all because of how little they work – they depend on the wind and shut down if there is too much wind. I used to think wave power was a good idea because waves are always there and can’t be shut down. Power stations are the more efficient machines because they can work all of the time. They cope better with power than wind turbines do. However, if they do end up cutting my energy costs, then good luck to them.”

Ireland, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Germany and the UK all saw wind output records broken last year. Britain set a new wind record on December 2, with providing about 14% of UK electricity, and the Saturday before Christmas, 132,812 megawatts of wind power was generated;  17% of the UK’s total electricity consumption that day.

However some residents have described the wind turbines as “monstrosities”, inefficient, unreliable and unable to be built or function without UK subsidies. Some residents would prefer fracking to wind turbines, and believe that it would be cheaper than wind power, and that the problems associated with fracking (including water pollution, seismic disturbances) have been exaggerated.

Twin turbines in Derby England

Whatever the views of people in the area, the turbines are up and will soon be producing green energy.

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