Summary:
Windfarms are a clean and economical way of harnessing energy. The issue isn't the quality or avaialibility of power, but rather, at what cost. These high windmiils are considered eyesores to prestine coastal landscape and are being challenged in Australia by vacationers, cottagers and the costal community.
So what do you think about coastal wind farms? Are you all for them, unsure, or completely against them? Well these wind turbines have caused a real uproar and this project of coastal wind farms haven't adapted to the public as the government thought they would. It's now staring to look as though it's been more trouble than what it's worth.
The Victorian government has designed on installing 2000 megawatts of energy production by 2010, which is the equivalent of 1200 to 1500 wind turbines. There are at present 27 operating wind turbines in Victoria, 14 at Codrington near Warrnambool, 1 on the Bellarine Peninsula, and 12 at Toora here, in South Gippsland. Each turbine stands between 100-130 metres tall, the equivalent of a 35-40-storey building, and the next generation is said to be even bigger.
This sounds good, positive, it's clean and renewable energy, pollution free, but it was where the turbines were to be placed that outraged the public. They were to be placed overlooking some of our most pressured landscapes on our coasts, like 'Wilson's Promontory', 'The Great Ocean Road' at Nirranda, 'The Bay of Islands', 'Discovery Bay', 'Cape Bridgewater', 'Logans Beach', 'Corner Inlet', 'Bald Hills', and 'Kilcunda' Coastal wind farm projects have become a problem as they have already, and will continue to have a devastating visual impact on our beautiful coasts, ruining the natural landscapes that values Australia's Coastline. The sight of our coastlines has been obscured by these giants and is said to be industrialising our coast, which is hypocritical.
As much as the coastal communities are fighting for their coast to stay the way it is, the government doesn't seem to be listening.
This is only one disadvantage of these coastal wind farms, as there are many difficulties that have contributed to these projects. Another complaint is that wind farm developments could actually wipe millions of dollars from Victoria's coastal property market, which has already occurred of up 30%. Landowners within 2 kilometres of Toora Wind farms have struggled desperately to sell their properties, and those who found buyers had to sell well below the market price. This price is also expected to drop even further if more wind farm developments near the coast start to take off like the expected wind farms near Cape Liptrap, which is said to have devastating effects on land values and it's scenery.
The noise factor is another problem, which has been an issue after some of these developments. People have been forced to abandon their dream homes from the coasts because of the tremendous noise of these wind farms. Mr. Stephen Garito, who said he had to leave his peaceful country lifestyle because of the low frequency, humming noise that is generated by the blades as they pass the towers and high speeds, which he said, created a similar effect to nightclub music. It was like a disco beat coming from a few blocks away rising and falling all day and all night. Even with all the windows and blinds shut, it still didn't stop the irritating noise, making them unable to sleep at night. The glare from the rotating blades was also a major turnoff for prospective buyers, and they complained as the flicker was worse than noise and drove you crazy. There was also the cost issue of establishing a wind farm development as each turbine would cost approximately $2.8 million (Australian) to be installed, therefore a 40-turbine wind farm would cost around $122 million.
That was the bad side of this situation, and believe it or not there is also a good positive side and some advantages to be had with these wind farm developments starting with electricity. A modern 1.75 MW will produce approximately 5 million kilowatt hours of generation per year, which is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 900-1000 Victorian households. Wind farm energy is also a renewable resource of clean pollution free energy. Electrical energy is essential to billions of people around the world as we rely on it for the simplest things like light to read and water for the shower, but the conventional sources of power come from burning fossil fuels such as coal, gas, oil, or from nuclear fuels. Apart from the fear of fossil fuel shortages, they are destroying our planet and changing the climate, which has warmed by about 0.7 degrees Celsius in the last 300 years and about 0.5 degrees Celsius of that warming occurring in the last 100 years, which is a great concern. This change is due to the increase in the emissions of greenhouse gases, which these burning fossil fuels have created and scientific models predict that the average global temperature will rise by a further 3 degrees Celsius by the next century, unless change takes place now. With the global temperatures changing, this is also leading to the ice caps in the artic and Antarctic waters already melting, which is leading to sea level rises. The result of this on human and natural environments could be devastating as rising sea levels could submerge whole islands, flood low lying areas in many countries and without doubt push entire species to extinction. An alternative generation of clean energy source like wind farms are a growing importance and a global priority for future generations, as a modern 1.75 MW wind turbine would annually displace approximately 7,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from other electricity sources.
There is also the fact that jobs will be created through wind farm developments including coastal wind farm developments of about 30-50 local jobs during construction, and atleast 5 permanent jobs for operation and maintenance. As the supply of wind farm energy is greater then electrical energy, and depending on the normal economic theory, electrical prices will drop and the power quality should increase.
The best advantage of coastal wind farms apart from the general advantages above is that wind turbines can actually be placed on concrete pillars in the water off the shore. So unlike wind farms inland, which still leaves more than 97% of the land it's situated on for farming and grazing, these coastal wind farms won't ruin views and sceneries as they will hardly be seen. At Port Phillip, Western Port and Corio bays, 300 wind turbines are planned to be erected across these bays by the Nepean Wind Energy Company. The 140 metre high, 54 metre long bladed turbines are said to be built in water depths of up to 25 metres outside shipping lanes and away from areas with significant bird population. The facility could produce almost half of the State Government's target for wind energy in a single project, and the company claims the project will result in a reduction in the state's output of greenhouse gases by 1.8 million tonnes and provide enough power for 260,000 homes. These wind farms will also allow energy users in Melbourne and Geelong to contribute to producing pollution free energy and it is said that 'A project of this scale has the potential to give Melbourne an iconic and sustainable feature.
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