Wind
There was an article in the Sunday post yesterday citing noise from wind turbines as being a serious health hazard. I thought it rather odd as Moira and I have had a picnic in the Whitelees wind farm near East Kilbride and were able to hear the singing of nearby birds when sitting twenty yards or so from a turbine.
The “expert” quoted in the SP piece and indeed the main part of the case against the wind turbines was from Australia, though there was an additional piece giving the thoughts of a couple of UK victims.
I tried to find out the objective truth of the situation and the most reasonable internet pieces seemed to be saying noise, whilst once a problem, no longer was a health issue. But there are folk locally, in Tomatin? who, I think have argued that turbine noise is still a problem.(I`m not sure ,but there does not seem to be a ready acknowledgement on their Community Council`s websiteof Tomatin`s financial benefit from their nearby windfarm.)
This morning I was again up Creag Beag en route for the paper and going up the steep side facing away from the A9 it was still possible to hear the traffic about a mile away. At the top of the hill the only audible noise was that of the wind rushing past my ears. Down above West Terrace the wind rushing through the pines made a generally appreciated racket.
I`m not sure why folk take up such inflexible positions. Perhaps it is the fear of being seen weak and dithering or maybe narrow self interest plays a part. Genuine fear for detrimental effects on house prices, a conviction that what is most valuable about living in the Highlands is its sense of wilderness.
Anyway, there would have been plenty of generation from wind power this last couple of months unlike a cold spell last year where the frosts were keen and the air was often still.
This November has been mild. This was Ben Nevis a couple of weeks ago
and a view of the sun setting down Loch Linnhe from the Corran Ferry.
Perhaps, the future is in cheaply produced solar panels.I wish the developments of wave and tidal power well, but it seems at the moment that pretty big capital spending is needed for a very modest return.
And, the big problem as ever will be the problem of storage