Your Concerns Addressed

Yes, as the UK's Chief Scientific Adviser Sir David King said: "In my view, climate change is the most severe problem that we are facing today, more serious even than the threat of terrorism."

The RSPB views climate change as the most serious long-term threat to wildlife: "Recent scientific research indicates that, as early as the middle of this century, climate change could commit one third or more of land-based plants or animals to extinction including some species of British birds."

The catastrophic potential of climate change is recognised by governments and scientists across the world as well as the RSPB, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund for nature. They all believe we must act now to save our planet.

We all have a part to play. We must all "think globally, act locally".

Almost everybody, when asked, supports renewable energy and most people support wind power. But when a wind farm is proposed nearby, there is sometimes a shift in attitudes. And that is the problem, not all of us want wind farms in our back yards.

Despite the fact that wind power is supported by 70-90% of the public and has clear environmental advantages, there can be fierce local opposition against new developments. This presents problems for planners and decision-makers as they seek to balance the concerns in the locality against the wider benefits to the environment.

Interestingly, research shows that people usually become more supportive of wind farms once they are up and running. Those living closest often prove to be among the most enthusiastic about wind power (Source: Sustainable Development Commission). A comprehensive study by the Scottish Executive found that those living nearest to wind farms are their strongest supporters.

The entire electricity system needs back-up, practically all the time, because fossil fuel and nuclear power stations are variable, much like wind energy.

Power systems have always had to deal with variations caused by power station breakdowns /repairs /maintenance, as well as constantly fluctuating consumption. Large power stations (coal, gas, nuclear) can go off-line instantaneously, whether by accident or for maintenance, causing a massive loss of power. When a fossil fuel or nuclear power plant trips unexpectedly, the network can lose a 1,000MW or more instantly. That is true intermittency. Back-up plants must step in to meet the shortfall.

Electricity consumption also fluctuates constantly - a sudden cold spell means everyone turns on the central heating; a break in a popular TV programme means everyone rushes to switch the kettle on. But we expect instant power for lights, TVs, computers, whatever the weather, whatever the time.

Variations in wind energy, and other energy sources, are ironed out because there are many units in operation, of different types and back-up is always available. The UK system will not notice the shutdown of a 2MW wind turbine, but it will have to respond to the loss of a 500MW coal plant or 1,000MW nuclear plant. Wind energy does not suddenly trip off the system.

The wind does not blow continuously in one place, but there is little overall impact if the wind stops blowing somewhere - it is always blowing somewhere else. The more wind farms that are built over a wider geographical location, the more reliable wind energy is.

An extensive study was completed by a US Government-funded agency in 2003. This study examined around 25,000 property sales records over six years, straddling the pre- and post-construction periods of individual wind farms.

The wind farms were built between 1998 and 2001. The study undertook three types of statistical assessment for each of 10 wind farm developments (a total of 30 analyses), looking at the immediate vicinity of the wind farm and at comparable communities without a wind farm. The study found that in 26 of these analyses, property values within 8km of the turbines actually performed better than in the comparable community.

Two separate surveys around the Taff Ely Wind Farm in Mid-Glamorgan and Ardrossan Wind Farm in North Ayrshire drew similar conclusions.

In Wales, Chartered Surveyors and planning consultants Dalton Warner Davies (DWD) looked at house sales around the Taff Ely Wind Farm in Mid-Glamorgan over a three-year period, with some properties only approximately 1km from the wind farm.

The survey, carried out in 2006, found that three areas of housing had expanded since the wind farm began operating, and that asking prices were unaffected by having a direct view of the wind farm. A comparison of 'for sale' prices and original sales prices at 38 properties revealed a 91% increase between 2002 and 2005, compared to an 85% increase between sales prices over the same period elsewhere in Wales.

Six local estate agents were also contacted and all reported that the wind farm did not have any effect on house prices.

The Scottish survey was carried out by Glasgow-based CKD Galbraith, who selected the Ardrossan development because it is relatively close to a built-up area. Operational since 2004, the wind farm is clearly visible from the northern parts of two towns, Ardrossan and Saltcoats, and partially visible from West Kilbride.

Sales prices were tracked from 2000 and compared to the HBOS (non-seasonally adjusted) Average Price Change for Scotland (all houses). The study found that:

"Between 2000 and March 2004, values in the survey area on average increased by 23.1% compared to 7.4% for the Scotland-wide statistics. Similarly, from March 2004 [when the wind farm became operational] to date, property values in the survey area increased by 26% compared to the Scottish average of 17.1%."

The RSPB state in their leaflet, Wind Farms and Birds: "Climate change is the most significant, long-term threat to biodiversity worldwide. To help tackle this threat, the RSPB strongly supports moves to increase energy efficiency, reduce energy demand and supply more of our energy needs from renewable sources, including wind power, provided they do not harm birds or their habitats."

They went on to say that: "In the UK, we have not so far witnessed any major adverse effects on birds associated with wind farms."

The RSPB has said that from its own studies at three wind farms in Wales, "the scale of bird strike does not seem to be of serious concern", and that wind turbines will have little impact on birds outside main migration routes. Siting is a crucial issue and developers should contact specialists such as the RSPB and conduct a thorough analysis of the risk to birdlife as part of the EIA. Similarly, there is no evidence to suggest damage to other wildlife or agricultural livestock, which often graze right up to the turbines."

Friends of the Earth commented: "There is no conclusive evidence that wind turbines present more of a danger to birds than other structures, such as pylons or roads, when properly sited."

According to Friends of the Earth:  "This is now very rarely the case, due to advances in technology. Well-designed, well-sited turbines can be quiet enough to cause no disturbance to people living even just a few hundred metres away.  At these distances, the noise they do make is usually drowned out by the natural noise of the wind itself in trees and vegetation."

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Wind Turbine Noise Working Group set up in 1993 has issued a guidance report providing information and advice for developers and local authorities when considering noise levels.

All forms of renewable and non-renewable energy receive subsidies in one form or another.  The Nuclear Industry has received £70 billion in Government subsidy for its decommissioning programme.  Conventional fossil fuels such as oil and gas receive tax breaks for exploration and research and development. However, there is no government subsidy for building wind farms. The support mechanism, known as Renewable Obligations Certificates (ROC), is only available for electricity that wind farms have already produced and supplied to utilities.

Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) are issued by Ofgem, the organisation that regulates the electricity and gas markets in Great Britain. ROCs have been designed to increase the profitability of renewable energy generation in order to help meet national and regional renewable energy targets.

A Renewables Obligation Certificate (ROC) is a green certificate issued to an accredited generator for eligible renewable electricity generated within the United Kingdom and supplied to customers within the United Kingdom by a licensed electricity supplier. One ROC is issued for each megawatt hour (MWh) of eligible renewable output generated.

The Renewables Obligation, the Renewables Obligation Scotland and the Northern Ireland Renewables Obligation are designed to incentivise renewable generation into the electricity generation market. These schemes were introduced by the Department of Trade and Industry, the Scottish Executive and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment respectively and are administered by the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (whose day to day functions are performed by Ofgem).

We would appreciate your suggestions regarding the community benefit fund, and we will be tracking all suggestions that come in. We hope to be able to help provide support to the local communities and we are aiming to gather feedback on ideas from all the surrounding communities. We will welcome all suggestions and hope to make this a positive contribution to the area.

It should be noted that this concern applies to all types of electricity generating technologies, including nuclear energy, hydro energy and coal fuelled power plants.

A number of studies have been done on the energy balance or "pay-back" of onshore wind farms, all of which are based on a number of variable assumptions, such as the size of the turbines and the location and wind speeds tested.

The Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) recently summarised the output of some of these studies in their report Wind Power in the UK: A guide to the key issues surrounding onshore wind power development in the UK (2005).

A study done by Vestas, a Danish wind turbine manufacturer has estimated the pay-back time of its 2MW turbines to be under eight months. (Elsam Engineering A/S (2004). Life Cycle Assessment of offshore and onshore sited wind farms)