Wind Power?

In principle I agree with you. Wind farms can be an eyesore but the fear of them affecting people and animals are nonsense . When the railways were built there was a lot of oppostion from landowners and farmers as they thought their livestock in nearby fields would be terrified by the locomotives and suffocated by the smoke but their fears were groundless. Where I live is one of the windiest places imaginable with huge areas of unused and unpopulated land ideal for wind farms but instead we have a huge dirty power station which burns heavy oil and nothing is planned to change. At least in the UK people are doing something sensible, even if there is controversy. Here in Canada it is no action so no controversy and it will stay that way as long as we have our present government of dinosaurs.

Using the wind to create electricity has been around for a long time - you've probably seen windmills on farms. When the wind turns the blades of a windmill, it spins a turbine inside a small generator to produce electricity, just like a big coal power plant.

A windmill on a farm can make only a small amount of electricity - enough to power a few farm machines. To make enough electricity to serve lots of people, power companies build "wind farms" with dozens of huge wind turbines.

Wind farms are built in flat, open areas where the wind blows at least 14 miles per hour. Iowa currently has more than 600 wind turbines, producing enough electricity to power 140,000 homes. Minnesota and Wisconsin are also home to wind farms – and the number is growing every day.

Some schools in the Midwest have their own wind farms! In Spirit Lake, Iowa, the school playground is right underneath two wind turbines.

They are a waste of time, the amount of CO2 created simply to make the concrete base of the unit far outstrips the savings on emissions. They are all owned by private people not the councils and these guys get LOTS of money from grants and land sold. If you have eagles or hawks in the area, they will die. Not forgetting that they do not produce any electric unless there is wind. I live north of the border and if we had one of the things on each of our mountains it still would be enough to replace one nuclear power station. They are a complete waste of time and taxpayers money. We pay for them to go up and fatcats reap the profits. I'm afraid it has to be nuclear all the way for me.

I am totally for wind power! Man i wish they would build some here in philadelphia. The people who say that they will cause illness are idiots! How does clean air cause illness? It is pollution that causes health problems and global warming. pollution comes from the nuclear plants that is providing you with energy. If there is a better way of getting energy and saving the earth, why would anyone be against it. I say your government is smart for wanting wind power because not only is it clean but cheap.

I would assume that wind power is using the wind to turn something eg a windmill that can then be used to do work, while wind energy is using the wind to actually generate electricity with a generator

against. Wind power is simply too inefficient. They take up too much space for too little benefit. They also are significantly more expensive. Finally, they are not independent sources of power. Wind does not blow all of the time so there has to be a back up system - unless you are willing to experience significant black outs - and that backup system has to be either coal, oil, hydro or nuclear.

For example, in the U.S. there are estimates that it would take windmills covering an area of the state of Connecticut to be able to supply the energy needs of New York City. So, extrapolate that calculation to London. How much of the U.K would have to be covered in windmills to supply the energy needs of London? I would estimate a significant amount of space. Unfortunately, wind technology is not realistic.

I'm for them.

I don't understand why people think they're an eyesore!?! What about all the electrical lines running to and from everyone's house, doesn't that bother them? I think those people just aren't used to change. Once they become more common they'll lighten up.

WIND POWER = CLEAN ENERGY

I personally do not think wind mills are an eyesore. More alternatives to coal energy the better. They should go for it!

For them. While maintenance issues have been a problem in the past, recent advancements have resolved many of those concerns.

If these things were actually inefficient, they wouldn't be built. They obviously are cost effective.

Against, we have recently appealed against and won for the planning permission to be rejected to build a wind farm near our village.

We are an island, surrounded by fierce tides. Hydro power should be the answer.