WIND TURBINE FACTS

There is currently a proposal by Ecotricity to build approximately 6 giant industrial size wind turbines at Silton near Gillingham.

Each turbine will be 120m (394ft) high,This is HUGE-approximately one and a half times the Statue of Liberty and only 5m shorter than the largest pyramid in Egypt! The blades will stand higher than the surrounding hills – from Shaftesbury you will look up at them.

The nearest houses will be less than 600m away. In France turbines are not recommended within 1.5km of houses for reasons of noise and nuisance. Residents in Holland living up to a mile away have complained of noise, especially at night causing sleep deprivation.

New research also suggests that a photosensitive epilepsy trigger could be felt over 7,900m away (nearly 5 miles).

This development will do little for local employment. The turbines will be imported from Germany and operated by remote control. Plus, the three families nearest this development rely on holiday lets and tourist income so employment may fall!

Onshore wind turbines generate (in England, on average) only 27% of their maximum output and always need conventional power stations to cover for periods when the wind isn’t blowing. Regardless of how many turbines you build the nuclear issues remain. Not one conventional power station in the world has been able to close because a wind farm has been built.

Saving CO2 using wind power is very expensive compared to the alternatives. The cost is around £480 per tonne of carbon compared to EU Emissions Trading values of £12-£70 per tonne.

So why is this wind farm being built? 60% of the income of a wind farm is from indirect subsidy taken from all our electricity bills. The developer behind the Silton turbines will receive about £1.5 million annually just from subsidy and not including electricity sales!

“SOS believes that there are better renewable technologies more suited to Dorset – for example Biomass, Biogas, Tidal, Ground Source Heating – and that we want our money spent on these and Energy Saving initiatives that can make a REAL difference, rather than token schemes driven by subsidies.” Chris Langham, Chairman SOS

If you are as shocked by these facts as we were please join our group: a membership form can be found on the 'contact' page.

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