Dorset Against Rural Turbines
Assessing the facts and acting before it's too late.
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Background Information:
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- Infinergy plan to install 6" giant industrial wind turbines at East Stoke near Wareham.
- Each turbine will be 125m (410ft) high, much higher than Salisbury Cathedral, and dwarfing the natural features of our beautiful landscape.
- The blades will stand higher than the surrounding hills - from Wareham Common they will dominate the landscape. The base of the turbines will be 4 m across and the additional anemometer mast will have the same width at its base tapering to 1.7 metres at the top.
- Wind turbines are not quiet as these developers often claim. Residents living up to a mile away can be affected by noise and vibration, especially at night causing sleep deprivation.
- The nearest houses will be less than 700m away. In France, the Academic Nationale de Medicin has recommended that large turbines should be at least 1.5km (almost 1 mile) from houses for reasons of noise and nuisance.
- This development will do little for local employment. The turbines will be imported and their operation is by remote control.
- Onshore wind turbines on average only generate 27% of their maximum output and always need conventional power stations to cover for periods when the wind isn't blowing strongly enough.
- As the turbines are so ineffective, around 60% of the income of a wind farm is from indirect subsidy taken from our electricity bills. The East Stoke turbines would receive a subsidy of about £1.5 million annually.
- Offshore wind turbines are much more effective, as the wind is stronger and more consistent, but not as profitable for the developer.
- CO2 saving from wind power is very expensive compared to the alternatives - up to £480 per tonne of carbon compared to EU Emissions Trading values of £12-70 per tonne.