Windfarm plans ‘threaten trees’
Wednesday 1st July 2009, 12:05PM BST.
Tens of thousands of trees will be felled to make way for windfarms in Powys, it has been claimed.
Campaigners say cutting down trees will have a devastating impact on the countryside and will add to the carbon footprint.
Alison Davies, chairman of the campaigning group Cadwriaeth Ucheldir Powys, said the group would be fighting windfarm proposals all the way.
She said: “At least 400,000 tonnes of trees will be felled so adding to the monumental traffic problems.
“Wind energy we are told is meant to reduce our carbon footprint, but felling tens of thousands of trees will substantially add to our carbon footprint.
“Interruptions to traffic flows, some through towns and villages will be on-going for at least five years.”
Robert Horler, CUP transport spokesman, said “If I were a homeowner along one of these routes, I would be extremely worried about the damage to my home and the safety of my family.”
John Evans, Powys County Council spokesman, said: “There are three strategic windfarm search areas affecting Powys. Two, Carno North and Newtown South, are in the county.
“The council has so far received or is about to receive 23 applications, consisting of 548 turbines, with many set to get the go-ahead under Government guidance.”
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Cadwriaeth Ucheldir Powys mentioned the carbon footprint impact of cutting down trees, but I wonder if this group is aware of the comparative carbon footprints of different energy sources.
According to figures calculated by Germany’s Öko-Institut, these are the respective CO2 emissions from different forms of energy.
Coal: 1,153 grammes of CO2 per kilowatt hour
Gas: 428 grammes of CO2 per kilowatt hour
Nuclear: 32 grammes of CO2 per kilowatt hour
Wind: 24 grammes of CO2 per kilowatt hour
In addition, the Öko-Institut found that building and running nuclear power stations creates more carbon dioxide than manufacturing and setting up wind turbines or manufacturing and laying solar panels.
Setting up wind farms also brings the extra benefit of creating MORE JOBS in the local area than coal or nuclear.
I hope others agree that is is vital to get accurate information like this, which is salient to this debate, into the public domain, when misleading points are being made about carbon footprints.
In the interests of a healthy democratic discussion about the carbon footprint of wind power, it would be great if Cadwriaeth Ucheldir Powys could respond to the above information.
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This new film, starring local actor Peter Postlethwaite ( http://www.shropshirestar.com/2009/03/20/its-not-as-stupid-as-it-sounds/ ) is a drama-documentary-animation hybrid about an old man living in the devastated, globally-warmed world of 2055, watching archive footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change while we had the chance?
If Cadwriaeth Ucheldir Powys want to highlight the carbon footprint of wind power, it would be great if they could tell us which low-carbon energy source they prefer.
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