They could have put the lines underground like they have in some countries, bit late now though.
To a degree but if there is land not too far away that can fit 15 turbines as apposed to 6 and doesn't have the need to dig up roads and cross a river to lay the 18 km of cable then I could agree.
The maps of the places where the turbines can be constructed are very interesting. They include the flight paths of milatary aircraft the proximity to housing, roads and the likes.
The land owners are ones who gain most for the installation of the turbines. If there are 10 land owners and the majority agree to the installation it is only the ones who voted for that get the finacial rewards. If one of those land owners is the Mayor and in a meeting the other site which would have a better financial gain for the village was voted down then I don't think that it is right for anyone to influence the decision..
NIMBY is a word here which is being used to pressurise the people who will have to look at these things and listen to them then it's a bit like saying I'm all right Jack.
Either way to chase a sum of 6-8k per year for the village and upset a few people as apposed to 18-20k that will upset less people and cause much less distruction in laying of the cables needed by 12 km then I know which makes sense.
As ever we need to have variety in our electricity generation. Maybe we should be looking at a community based idea where folk have the option of cheap solar power installation....get that on most roofs and we're all not so reliant on large scale generation.
What about localised wind turbines to work in conjunction with the solar power? The technology is coming on leaps and bounds, it just requires political will.
The problem with windpower is not how the turbines look or with 'political will'. It's with the fact that sometimes it isn't very windy. The same principle applies to solar. Renewable power has its place, but until there is an answer to how the country would get thorugh several weeks of still and overcast weather in mid-winter (which is by no means unusual) it isn't the answer.
I know nothing about this, so it may be dumb. But, could every house have a battery store charged by a solar panel with back up from the national grid. How long / could, say, an existing fully charged car battery run a house?
Its just a question??
Certainly an option, as i've said, technology is moving at a rapid pace, particularly regarding battery power, when we've all got electric cars, and that is plugged in when we're home, maybe the charge left can be used when we need it, in the evening, and then charged up when we're sleeping, again, allowing the national grid to easily cope at peak times...
China has just experimenting with smart roads. Its built on solar panels and, among many other things, has the ability to charge electric vehicles as they move over it.
China sells more electric vehicles than the rest of the world put together. Ford has their electric powered transit van factory in China. A guy I know has be transfered over to work on the project.