Chapter 8

Introduction | Discussion of Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Conclusion | Appendix

Chapter 8: Danger and nuisance.  This chapter considers failures of turbines resulting in component fires and mechanical failures, including detached blades.  Not surprisingly, the number of such failures is related to the number of operating turbines, a conclusion that Etherington manages to present as a threat by stating ‘the numbers of accidents are increasing as wind installed capacity grows’.  However, he does not consider the benefit of ever improving and more rigorous manufacturing and operating standards, e.g. as regulated by standards organisations such as Germansicher-Lloyd and as required by financing banks, insurance companies and government inspectors. He fails to mention that, sadly, failures and accidents happen with all machinery and generating plant.  Potential dangers abound in modern society and there are many mechanisms to reduce the probability of accidents. Thus, as so often this book, Etherington selectively chooses his content to bias the reader against wind power.

Other factors considered are aircraft collisions and electromagnetic interference (TV, microwaves, radar etc). He is quite correct to raise all these issues, which will certainly have been considered in most planning applications and appeals.  Thus, as with all impacts mentioned in this book, permitted windfarms have been judged by legal and democratic principles to have impacts that are acceptable.  Etherington the academic departs from accepted scientific practices by quoting selectively to support his predetermined opinion.