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Shetland windfarm - Viking Energy


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Does anybody know when the anti-windfarm website will be up and running?

http://www.sawg.websitewizard.com/

 

And, no, I didn't do the website.

 

Oh dear, what a load of tripe:

Above, sailing in unseen thermals, crying a hunting warning to their prey below, glides a pair of buzzards, their outstretched wings, caressed by the same energy that toyed with the heather's purple fronds a moment ago.

 

For a fleeting moment you glimpse their victim before it darts over to cover. You stand alone, akin of nature on a desolate outcrop.

 

You certainly wouldn't be alone, if there were a pair of buzzards gliding on a thermal in shetland, you'd probably be surrounded by twitchers looking at them, their cameras a clicking!

 

Wind energy is not free. The product can't be stored, and feeding it into the national grid as proposed from Shetland is complex and costly - a bill ultimately paid by the consumer.

 

As ArabiaTerra said on a different thread, who is being charged for their wind? And would the SAWG like electricity to be cheaper and produced from non-renewable sources???

 

Would Stuart Dobson of SAWG like to respond to some of the wholes in their agruement in the same fashion that David Thompson has answered questions on this forum? Viking Energy has it's own site which is clearly in favour and SAWG's site is self-explanatory, Shetlink is a good place for online debate...

 

(of course, my calling the above tripe probably won't aid a grown-up discussion and I know that, but it just is utter sentimental rubbish.... and you can't spell sentimental without mental...eeek, sorry did it again!)

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Playing the sentiment card is a mistake by Mr Dobson, he may well have many valid points but, as has just been displayed, first impressions last.

 

It would perhaps more productive to state that currently you may be fortunate enough to spot one of the fifteen breeding pairs of Merlins in the proposed windfarm sites. Once the construction starts and after it finishes you may well be lucky to see anything more than a hoody craa and a whaap amongst the turbines. The raingeese have been "planned for" but as far as i can see the merlins have not. Just one small hole in the greater picture of the business model.

But then, not many folk ever see merlins and further, not many folk ever will, and hence not many people care, so long as we are "saving the planet".:wink:

Sacrificial losses and all that, break eggs to make an omelette.....to coin a poignant phrase. :oops:

It was in the news today that bats are being wiped out en-masse by wind turbines in certain areas and plans are afoot to equip the turbines with radar transmitters as, for no apparent reason, bats avoid the transmitters at aerodromes. Isn't nature complicated, eh?...... :wink:

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Would Stuart Dobson of SAWG like to respond to some of the wholes in their agruement in the same fashion that David Thompson has answered questions on this forum? Viking Energy has it's own site which is clearly in favour and SAWG's site is self-explanatory, Shetlink is a good place for online debate...

 

(of course, my calling the above tripe probably won't aid a grown-up discussion and I know that, but it just is utter sentimental rubbish.... and you can't spell sentimental without mental...eeek, sorry did it again!)

Absolutely agreed - to all aspects including at least some "sentimental rubbish" as you call that what's on the SAWG website. But - and as usual there is always a but - going on with the discussion here we should not make the usual mistake and try to compare oranges and apples.

 

Following David Thompson's advice I have read through the VikingEnergy website once again and with every detail and I can only recommend to do so as well - and incl. nasty PDFs about the financing details. You won't get real figures but you can recalculate how much VikingEnergy already has spent on the project - on this said Shetland project, not on wind energy in general. Although you can read that this research was done in 2002, that in 2005, that in 2006 you only get the information that results will be published when the reports are finished. All in all some X00,000£ up to now and some further X00,000£ have/will have been spent by the end of 2007 - but no or only little results in terms of facts 'n figures are produced so far.

 

In such a situation: What can a small local group like SAWG (sorry folks, but compared with the "global players" behind VinkingEnergy/the project SAWG is a small local group!) do in such a situation? The same research work? With what kind of funding?? What else could they do???

 

I agree, it would be better to produce some "facts" - that is in the case of SAWG probably to collect and publish "local opinions and local feelings" only but SAWG has absolutely no chance to do the job of the other side.

 

We should have this in mind - despite some "holes" (if not blowholes ;-) ) on the SAWG website that have to be discussed.

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I think, when I read the brochure that came with my Times, I was very surprised to see so many areas of one island dedicated to quite so many windmills. I was under the impression it was just on the Lang Kames and there would be less impact on the environment. This proposed plan seems to cover a very large area of the island.

 

Half of me thinks it is very sad that the folk of Shetland will "sell" their beautiful environment to make a few sheckels and the other half of me thinks that an eco-friendly industry that might make a slight difference and be a model for others is a very good idea.

 

I realise (before you all shoot me down in flames) that this is a very simplified take on things, but these are just my simple thoughts!

 

Frances

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Frances - you may be unaware of how things were in Shetland before the oil came here. It was a very meagre eistence, little work, little prospects.

 

The oil industry changed Shetland significantly - in both positive and negative ways. The oil industry is set to take a huge downturn at some point in the not too distant future, fishing is going down the pan, there is no knitwear industry to speak of. Salmon has ups and downs, and it would just take a year of toxins in the water (with the warming of the planet this is getting more feasible - and for example, the harvest of mussels were postponed for a substantial amount of time last year because of the toxin levels. The fact it stayed warmer for longer is a lot to do with that.

 

So what is in store for Shetland in the future? I certainly don't know, but I suspect that 'sacrificing' a part of the landscape for windmills may well be a good investment. Include a visitor centre and you have a tourist attraction as well.

 

Chances are, like electricity pylons, after a while we will stop 'seeing' them anyway.

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I have to say once i saw the leaflet in the paper i became another step closer to being against the wind farms. I had no idea about the area they would be covering and basically turning not one area but the whole of the north/west mainland into a wind farm..

 

As I have stated previously.. my heart now leans even more in favour of tidal and/or wave generators over a wind farm. And until it is proven that tidal/wave generators wouldn't work up here. I am against the Wind farms.

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So what is in store for Shetland in the future? I certainly don't know, but I suspect that 'sacrificing' a part of the landscape for windmills may well be a good investment. Include a visitor centre and you have a tourist attraction as well.

 

You’re having a laugh aren’t you? Do you honestly think someone is going to fork out £300 on a flight or endure a 12 hour boat journey just to come and look at some windmills.

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You’re having a laugh aren’t you? Do you honestly think someone is going to fork out £300 on a flight or endure a 12 hour boat journey just to come and look at some windmills.

 

I'd say the same thing about puffins and seals, but everyone has their own interests.

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You’re having a laugh aren’t you? Do you honestly think someone is going to fork out £300 on a flight or endure a 12 hour boat journey just to come and look at some windmills.

 

No - but then I wouldn't take my kids to Aberdeen just to go ice skating, but when we are there we spend money doing that very thing.

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My point is this. Shetland’s main selling point to tourists (and many locals) is it’s scenery and nature. Why would anyone visit Shetland if the landscape has been ruined by a gigantic windfarm. You wouldn’t go on a shopping trip to Aberdeen if it had no shops. Hence, you wouldn’t visit the ice-rink because you wouldn’t be there in the first place.

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after all its not the main scenic areas that are affected.

 

I think thats a matter of opinion - many people feel that the areas affected are among the most scenic in Shetland for example Lunna, Vidlin, Nesting, Aith, Voe and Weisdale. This wind farm is not just going to visually impact on the Kames.

 

Also earlier comments on the bleak economic outlook for Shetland - Sullom Voe is gearing up for another 30 years of work, white fish landings are at their highest levels for many years, salmon farming is improving, LFT and Johnsons are gearing up for value added fish processing, oil de-commissioning work is planned for the future. I think to try and create the impression that we are all doomed if no windfarm is developed is a gross exaggeration.

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Thats not quite what I said - but I can see where you are coming from.

 

30 years is hardly 'long term' though, and the other industries are by no means certainties. Neither is the wind farm - but surely its better to have it in our pot rather than miss the chance because some people think they don't look pretty?

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Speaking of years, the lifespan of the wind turbines is given as 25 years in a "normal" environment, according to the SSE spokesperson. Whether or not the Shetland environment affects that lifespan is anybody's guess but technically they should last that duration.

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the lifespan of the wind turbines is given as 25 years in a "normal" ...

Njugle, nothing is "normal" to the industry. Over here, we don't have a week without a turbine loosing either its rotorblades or collapsing completely or a burnt down engine house, but nothing is normal, it is all "totally unusual" ... :roll:

You must not know about German, just look here: http://members.aol.com/fswemedien/ZZUnfalldatei_00_02.htm

just count the cases, enjoy some of the pics, click on the link for the following years and do the same. ;-)

Note 1: The list is not complete - it is just what a private initiative can do ...

Note 2: In general, we don't have the average windspeeds over here which you are enjoying for most parts of the year ... :wink:

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  • admin changed the title to Shetland windfarm - Viking Energy

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