Wind farms – seen as one of greenest ways to produce energy, however their presence always seems to cause debate. But are they really a viable solution for the UK?

On the one hand, they are heralded as a carbon-free solution to power, a solution to both climate change and the energy gap. On the other hand, they are seen as despoilers of the countryside, shredders of birds and bats, and the technology just doesn’t work.

The UK is one of the most windy countries in the EU therefore it is no surprise that many in the country are for these large wind turbines, particularly given that the EU is stipulating that 20% of the country’s energy must come from renewable energy sources by 2020. Plans have already been put into motion to build huge wind farms in several locations – including Skye and Cumbria – as well as turbines off the coast of Britain.

Half the problem is that wind turbines are not, as some might claim, carbon-free solution. The turbines themselves are made of plastic and metal and building them releases carbon. And that’s not to mention the transportation of the turbines and the installation. The carbon footprint of these turbines turns out to be several tens of thousands of CO2 for a small wind farm, and these wind farms are going to have to produce a lot of energy to offset this.

Of course, all power stations are going to have some form of carbon footprint associated with them and wind has one of the smallest carbon footprints associated with them. And better still, when they are up and running, the produce almost no CO2, a great thing particularly compared to coal fired power stations.

The UK’s electricity demand is expected to triple in the next 30 years. With two of the country’s largest nuclear reactors (Hartlepool and Heysham) scheduled to close and many coal fired power stations also looking to close thanks to their polluting ways, new ways of producing energy will need to be found.

Half of the problem is that a lot of the UK would need to be turned over to wind turbines in order to keep up with the demand for energy. Also, wind power is not easy to predict. When there is a surge in power, it needs to be stored somewhere. In Japan, they use large batteries to store the excess energy produced however this is incredibly expensive. Another alternative would be to use hydro-electric power – any excess power would be used to drive engines which would pump water uphill. This water can then be released downhill when the power is needed. However this again means turning over some of the countryside to build these large reservoirs.

Instead, the energy could be piped overseas to be stored and piped back when needed, however this solution is, again, expensive. Many wind farms are also located in fairly remote locations so there is a large cost associated with putting in the power cables required for this solution. Carrying the energy across long distances also means that some of the energy is lost – so not only will some of the energy be lost actually bringing it to the nearest towns, but also when it is piped overseas.

Ultimately, it seems that whilst wind power may seem like a good idea for the UK at the outset, the reality is that it is just too costly a technology to implement and would radically change the view of Britain’s countryside forever.

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