Shetland windfarm - Viking Energy

[Michael]

I though Malachy was very eloquent and lucid on Good evening Shetland, but at the same time I can see all the points Arabia Terra is making. I find it very difficult to have an opinion on this matter,

[crofter]

I though Malachy was very eloquent and lucid on Good evening Shetland, but at the same time I can see all the points Arabia Terra is making. I find it very difficult to have an opinion on this matter,

 

The points AT makes are null and void. The windfarm will do nothing to combat global warming. NOTHING. I am beginning to support it because there is a small chance it could earn us some money, but I am yet to be convinced. Frank Johnson's letter in the ST today does not bode well - if he does not see it as a good investment we should be very wary. Not that we will have any choice...

[ArabiaTerra]

... threatening the very "Essence" of Shetland, and our quality of life on these Isles.

Essence of Shetland? Before the oil, centuries of grinding poverty where people lived at the mercy and whim of tyrannous landlords, punctuated by the occasional fishing boom and bust, where the only way a man could make a living was to b*gger off to the whaling or the merchant marine and leave the women to run the croft? Where all the brightest and best of every generation emigrated entirely because there was nothing here for them. That was life before the oil.

 

Quality of life. The totality of culture was The Garrison, a converted drill hall, The North Star and a bunch of corrugated tin huts left over from the war used as community halls and_that_was_it. That was life before the oil.

 

And without the windfarm, that's where we're headed back to, after the oil.

 

You might want that, I don't.

 

(BTW, I missed Malachy's broadcast. Does anyone know how to get the listen again on BBC without installing REAL player.)

[Michael]

The points AT makes are null and void. The windfarm will do nothing to combat global warming. NOTHING. I am beginning to support it because there is a small chance it could earn us some money, but I am yet to be convinced. Frank Johnson's letter in the ST today does not bode well - if he does not see it as a good investment we should be very wary. Not that we will have any choice...

 

AT makes other points than those about global warming. Looking at the economics of however, I believe there is a real potential for benefit to Shetland. However, to say the windfarm would do nothing to combat global warming seems pretty inaccurate...

[Grafter]

A few thoughts on the current windfarm debate.

It is fairly apparent that in the main areas affected by the windfarm the majority of the population are opposed to the plans especially in Aith and Weisdale. Due consideration should be given to their views over those of people who are not in the immediate windfarm area.

Vic Thomas's excellent letter

http://www.shetland-news.co.uk/letters_05_2009/Only%20one%20chance%20to%20object.htm

has brought home to me that this not really a community windfarm. Our councillors are amongst those being conned!

Conflicts of interest abound in this whole sorry affair showing just how dangerous it is for local authorities to try to be major players in energy supply. I feel that it is wholly inappropriate for a local authority to try to borrow vast sums of money in a somewhat risky venture. It is certainly not what councillors are elected to do. It is one thing to invest money that you have but quite another to borrow money in the hope of a future bonanza which is by no means guaranteed.

There are also serious issues about councillors representing the views of their constituents when they are directors of the company involved. 2 of the 3 North Mainland councillors are in this position. What is the point of any of their constituents contacting them when they are unable to contribute to any debate about the windfarm.

[Carlos]

While Shetland has been in a different position for the last 30 years, it's the norm that councillors in other areas do have to make decisions about borrowing money - because they do not have any cash reserves, so almost all capital works are done on loans.

 

I do think though that of all the angles, we have the least solid information on the financial side of things, and that is the one that will make the real difference.

[ArabiaTerra]

Here's a thought, would it be possible for the mods/admin to set up a new poll re the windfarm, a simple VE: yes/no, then e-mail everyone who has registered with Shetlink asking them to vote?

 

It might give us a better idea as to where public opinion stands at the mo'.

[crofter]

However, to say the windfarm would do nothing to combat global warming seems pretty inaccurate...

 

It will not reduce the temperature by even a millionth of a degree. We are years too late to prevent "global warming", maybe decades. However, if it can be a source of cash for Shetland I will support it. The climate change angle is mere spin - even if it could be proved that it would reduce CO2 emissions (which it will not) should we go ahead and build it if it cannot be run at a profit?

 

Why should all of us in Shetland sink our money into a loss making scheme simply to "save the world"? The big question must be whether it is financially viable or not, regardless of the weather.

[ArabiaTerra]

Why should all of us in Shetland sink our money into a loss making scheme simply to "save the world"?

Because all the money came from a profit making scheme that is destroying the world?

 

Just a thought.

[ArabiaTerra]

... The windfarm will do nothing to combat global warming. NOTHING.

I'm interested now, crofter. Could you explain to us just how you arrived at this very definite statement? Could you post links to the research you read that backs this claim up, or the logic that led you to this conclusion?

 

You seem very sure of this. What is it that I've missed? Enlighten me.

[crofter]

You can't be serious! Are you really suggesting that it is sensible to proceed with this investment even if it cannot project a profit from the worst case scenario? All our money is spent erecting a lovely array of turbines, but then, oops, well, ya know - times change.

[crofter]

... The windfarm will do nothing to combat global warming. NOTHING.

I'm interested now, crofter. Could you explain to us just how you arrived at this very definite statement? Could you post links to the research you read that backs this claim up, or the logic that led you to this conclusion?

 

You seem very sure of this. What is it that I've missed? Enlighten me.

 

I have said it all before on this very thread. The point is that whether the windfarm makes a contribution towards reduced CO2 emissions or not is irrelevant. If it can't bank us some money there is no reason to build it.

[ArabiaTerra]

You can't be serious! Are you really suggesting that it is sensible to proceed with this investment even if it cannot project a profit from the worst case scenario? All our money is spent erecting a lovely array of turbines, but then, oops, well, ya know - times change.

And I was just restating the moral case for the windfarm. Global warming has been caused by us in the industrialised west. We have a moral duty to fix it, and here in Shetland we have benefited more than possibly any other community in the world, outside the Middle East, so our moral obligation is that much stronger. If we won't use our oil money to help fix the problem, then perhaps we should give the money to someone that will?

... The windfarm will do nothing to combat global warming. NOTHING.

I'm interested now, crofter. Could you explain to us just how you arrived at this very definite statement? Could you post links to the research you read that backs this claim up, or the logic that led you to this conclusion?

 

You seem very sure of this. What is it that I've missed? Enlighten me.

I have said it all before on this very thread. The point is that whether the windfarm makes a contribution towards reduced CO2 emissions or not is irrelevant. If it can't bank us some money there is no reason to build it.

Hmm, that's a different point altogether. So are you conceding the point that windfarms do help combat global warming? But saying that this is not a good enough reason for the council to get involved with building it?

 

Let's say, hypothetically, that the Council decided not to go ahead but SSE and VE picked up the councils share and the farm was going to be built anyway, with no council money and no community benefit. Would you then object to it?

[crofter]

Let's say, hypothetically, that the Council decided not to go ahead but SSE and VE picked up the councils share and the farm was going to be built anyway, with no council money and no community benefit. Would you then object to it?

 

Yes. I am prepared to support it, but only if it provides income for the council. I believe the CO2 argument is nothing but greenwash, so why would I support a development with many negative environmental impacts if it provided no financial return to Shetland?

[ArabiaTerra]

So you don't believe that any windfarm anywhere is any help with global warming?