opposition to wind farm grows

[C_T_Russell]

Ugly things I must say and NZ is too small to fit many.

https://i.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/ne...-southland

[harm_less]

Less damaging to the environment than PV farms and better suited to the prevailing weather conditions that far south. Can't say I see the logic of "NZ is too small to fit many" as they have a very small ground footprint and we are one of the most sparsely populated countries on the planet so no shortage of available space.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

New Zealand is not small. Is Britain small?

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/eye-openin...2ICU4NGVM/

[R2x1]

New Zealand is actually quite big if we could just persuade a few provinces to iron their more wrinkly bits (although the pointy bits might be pretty good for holding up windmills). The natives may point out it is not actually windy there, the air is just hurrying through to blow somewhere else.

[Lilith7]

It isn't that small, & as long as we're careful with regard to birds & other wildlife, these could work well.

[harm_less]

It isn't that small, & as long as we're careful with regard to birds & other wildlife, these could work well.

The threat to birds from wind turbines is hugely overblown https://us.orsted.com/renewable-energy-s...wind/birds

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Are they ugly? As ugly say as power stations?

[Zurdo]

Are you calling power stations ugly !!! ? They have feelings too you know...

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Hot and bothered?

[Praktica]

Are you trolling again, CT?

[SueDonim]

Yes, they are ugly. And are worse than power stations because they can be seen from so much further away. A beautiful view can be totally destroyed when it's dotted with huge turbines. The actual impact is up to each person's individual aesthetics awareness. If the turbines were totally essential then so be it. But we have other ways of generating power. Maybe a better idea is for individual properties have small turbines instead of solar? Just a thought.

Effect on birds depends on where they are in relation to flyways. Off shore where only an occasional albatross passes through and may or may not be unlucky, is different from if they were on a cliff where migrating birds pass every 6 months. But offshore would likely have huge impacts on the sea floor. Just as many places on land would have huge impacts on the native environment.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Which is why planning them takes into account environmental factors.

Frankly, I'd rather see wind farms and wave generators all over the place than see one more fossil fueled power station built. But before we get there maybe solar panels on every roof would be less aesthetically irritating than turbines in the back garden?

[harm_less]

.....
Frankly, I'd rather see wind farms and wave generators all over the place than see one more fossil fueled power station built. But before we get there maybe solar panels on every roof would be less aesthetically irritating than turbines in the back garden?

Very few locations have sufficient and regular enough wind run to make small scale wind turbines viable. They are also very noisy withe the smaller (<10kW) horizontal axis ones similar to a Cessna at take off. Also NZ wind conditions are notoriously gusty which is very destructive for an already high maintenance item.

The idea of mandating PV on all new builds has a lot of merit and for buildings that are mostly used during the day such as business premises and schools it's an absolute no-brainer as the generation can be largely self consumed without need for (non-viable) batteries and daytime electricity costs can be significantly offset by self-generation.

Currently PV is the cheapest electricity generation available and total cost is actually less than the fuel costs of fossil fuel plants. Add to that NZ's unique situation of having huge hydro capacity which are essentially batteries with generation capacity that can be saved for the periods when renewables such as wind or solar are off line. What we really need though is an electricity supply industry that isn't corrupted by the actions of the big incumbent genretailers.

[Lilith7]

Which is why planning them takes into account environmental factors.

Frankly, I'd rather see wind farms and wave generators all over the place than see one more fossil fueled power station built. But before we get there maybe solar panels on every roof would be less aesthetically irritating than turbines in the back garden?

I'd like to think that will happen in the future; a few people already have them but I think at this stage they're still quite expensive.

 Really we should all be building Earthship houses these days.

https://earthship.co.nz/

https://www.ngaituhoe.iwi.nz/the-approach

[zqwerty]

Well I love the way they look, the last thing I want to see is vast vistas of untouched country with no evidence that intelligent humans are generating electric power in a sensible way.

[Lilith7]

Well I love the way they look, the last thing I want to see is vast vistas of untouched country with no evidence that intelligent humans are generating electric power in a sensible way.

Oddly enough I quite like the way they look too; they have a kind of elegance really.

[harm_less]

Well I love the way they look, the last thing I want to see is vast vistas of untouched country with no evidence that intelligent humans are generating electric power in a sensible way.

Oddly enough I quite like the way they look too; they have a kind of elegance really.

Likewise, I see them as moving sculptures in a way and the pulsing of the rotors as they turn is quite hypnotic when you're right under them. The smaller vertical axis domestic turbines even more so. If we had a property with better wind exposure I'd seriously consider installing one.

https://www.solarwind.co.nz/wind-turbines.html

[nzoomed]

Im not against the things, but I think its important their placement is carefully considered to minimize obstruction to landscapes, depending on the significance of the area.

[Lilith7]

Im not against the things, but I think its important their placement is carefully considered to minimize obstruction to landscapes, depending on the significance of the area.

Yep, absolutely, that would all need to be considered carefully before installing them.

[king1]

Oddly enough I quite like the way they look too; they have a kind of elegance really.

Likewise, I see them as moving sculptures in a way and the pulsing of the rotors as they turn is quite hypnotic when you're right under them. The smaller vertical axis domestic turbines even more so. If we had a property with better wind exposure I'd seriously consider installing one.

https://www.solarwind.co.nz/wind-turbines.html

they do look very cool...