Is the wind farm fad already blowing over
by Russell Taylor


Recently I was driving across the magnificent country side of Mongolia. I was thoroughly enjoying the experience of space, native wildlife, no people and an untouched land. Suddenly a white structure in the distance caught my eye. As we approached I could see it was a wind farm and it was a visual contrast to the beautiful scenery. I began to think that wind farms are very popular and they are being rapidly constructed all over the globe - so more will be seen across the Mongolian landscape.
Back at home I started to google the wind farm story and to my surprise, it appeared that the new darling of energy generation, was experiencing somewhat of an image problem and was not as popular as I first thought.
Wind farms were highly promoted by green activists and the wind energy companies as the solution to the world's carbon issues. It was touted as an almost natural form of energy generation that is actually good for the environment, which means it is good for you. The politicians took up the renewable movement and provided fast track approvals, changes to planning by-laws and huge subsidies for companies to construct wind farms. As a result wind farms have sprung up at an rapid rate all over the globe. All seemed swell and the planet would be saved.
But a decade on, there is much trouble blowing in the wind for wind farms. People are aggressively objecting and demonstrating against the construction of any more. The politicians are threatening to end the subsidies and politicians are evening joining in the anti wind farm objections and demonstrations. Some companies involved in the wind farm business are reconsidering their involvement. Even the Co-founder of Green Peace, Dr. Patrick Moore objects to wind farms and says “They are ridiculously expensive and don’t work half the time,” he said. “And no matter how many are built, they won’t replace coal, gas or hydro or nuclear plants, because they are continuous and wind is not always reliable.”