Would you support a windfarm in your area?

Markus Antonius

80% of the public support on-shore wind farms apparently

Survey source: a windfarm business

https://www.rte.ie/news/2023/0214/1356694-wind-farm-energy/

pjohnson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058284296/would-you-support-a-windfarm-in-your-area

Would you?

Why/Why Not

Galwayguy35

No

Well the one they put not too far from where I am around 20 years ago didn't work out too good for the area so not too sure we would want to see another one.

Markus Antonius

No

There already is a giant windfarm in my area. It's ugly as hell, has been environmentally appalling for the area (trucks, dust, noise, bogs decimated, mountains plundered for foundation stone, roads ruined to facilitate cabling)

There are no sweeteners for having them in the area (i.e. no reduced electricity bills, no share in the profit like other European countries)

Most of the electricity going to UK...

All in all, a horrendous experience

Yes

100% yes

This is the way our grid is going and it wouldn't bother me in the least.

I've been to a few places where its not unusual to see these dotted around either solo or pairs or full farms. Just head over to the UK and you'll see loads of instances of them as you drive around the motorway network

As for large scale deployment a la Netherlands, we'll end up going this way eventually anyway

Water John

Yes

Windfarm across the road from me, no issues.

Markus Antonius

No

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120241418#Comment_120241418

So you wouldn't mind so long as it's by the motorways. So in effect, you would mind having them near your house.

Btw, the ones in my area are nowhere near a motorway.

Water John

Yes

DaCor expresses a distinct view in his first line. Just because OP has a different opinion doesn't mean you can alter what's said by them.

Yes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120241439#Comment_120241439

Try again without the strawman argument

Ubbquittious

No

They have built enough wind farms for now, time to build some solar farms or nuclear instead

Yes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120241473#Comment_120241473

Solar is coming too, I think 5GW by 2025. Every week I see more and more and more businesses announcing they are plastering their roofs with panels. Same for solar farm applications. There will also be a heap rolled out on farm buildings, there's insanely good grants for farmers for this (with conditions). The targets we set for this, we're going to blow through them as solar ramps up.

Onshore wind is projected to double to 9GW by 2030

Offshore wind is projected to hit 7GW by 2030, 30GW by 2050

Water John

Yes

To electrify the economy and via that lower GHG emissions then we'll need about quadruple the present generational capacity of the country.

EV and HP's mainly.

Count Dracula

Yes

seems reasonable. angst at the site of windmills seems pretty petty as far as grievances go, ask the Dutch, they have lived with them for years?

Markus Antonius

No

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120241468#Comment_120241468

No strawman, like 99% of climate alarmists you would prefer someone else take the hit on all the "green initiatives"

Water John

Yes

The OP's poll is giving the same result as the 'windfarm business' poll. 80% + in favour .

Yes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120241559#Comment_120241559

Not according to my response to your poll 🤷‍♂️

Ubbquittious

No

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120241506#Comment_120241506

If they go with 9GW of onshore wind they'll have enough to run everything and saturate every interconnector when its windy but still have to burn loads of gas in the summer.

Solar is picking up. There might be 200-300MW installed now though its hard to tell as no figures from last year when it really started to get popular. It's unlikely they'll have 5GW in by 2025

Scotty #

Yes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120241265#Comment_120241265

What would be your preferred power source if not a wind farm?

walterking

Yes

Solar farm going in near me. I couldn't understand the nimby attitude by some locals.

I thought they'd combine it with wind turbines too.

The mis-information spouted is utterly amazing. It always suggests "cancer" and on the solar farm they suggested it could contribute to flooding.

Yep, some people are gullible enough to believe it

Yes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120241736#Comment_120241736

Maybe, planning will come into it for the large scale projects, but from what I seen in planning applications and general news releases, we will blow past 5GW with ease.

Time will tell

Water John

Yes

Run a flock of sheep under the panels and have organic lamb also.

AllForIt

Yes

I voted yes but there is already a couple within a 20/40 mile radius of my locale.

I rather like the aesthetic look of them so no issue with them in that regard.

redlough

Yes

Why wouldn't you?

Wind and solar is the future.

Billy Mays

Yes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120241593#Comment_120241593

80% of respondents in this thread must work for a 'windfarm business' 🙄

walshtipp

Yes

Yes I would. Clean energy is a good thing, and I think they look cool.

Water John

Yes

The death and health issues related to air pollution will become in ways comparable with smoking. Studies of PM 2.5 now show that.

Electrifying our lives is key.

Markus Antonius

No

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120241825#Comment_120241825

And yet less than 5% support the green party...

Yes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120241947#Comment_120241947

Its almost like supporting environmentally sound strategies doesn't require one to be a member of the GP

Its a revelation!

Capt'n Midnight

Yes

Because I live in a city there's zero chance of large turbines nearby. But there'll be a solar farm going up near work.

When abroad I find wind turbines look prettier than busy smoke stacks. There used to be 9,000 windmills in the Netherlands.

Pole really should include other options because we will need to get power from something and it has to be in place by 2030 because we have emissions targets.

Capt'n Midnight

Yes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120241473#Comment_120241473

Solar produces power during peak daily demand for sunny half the year. Wind produces more power in the darker half of the year. They complement each other.

Installing excess capacity is a form of backup as you can power the grid from a lower % output of a higher total installed capacity. You can also import power using earnings gained from exporting it previously. And there's grid scale storage options too.

Our CFD's (contract for difference) run for 10 years by which time the capital costs of wind or solar would have been paid for. By the time you got a nuclear plant build here it would be competing with the marginal costs of wind and solar.

Birdnuts

No

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120241553#Comment_120241553

R U seriously comparing Dutch traditional windmills to modern giant wind turbines in terms of landscape/ecological impacts??

Birdnuts

No

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120241737#Comment_120241737

Whats yours given their need for near constant conventional back up?? Coal has seen a massive resurgence in Germany thanx to the idiotic decision of Merkels former government to ditch Nuclear in favour of wind

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/energy-crisis-fuels-coal-comeback-germany-2022-12-16/

Karppi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120241439#Comment_120241439

He didn’t say that they were only ok if by a motorway. He said you could see them from the motorways. Not quite the same thing, eh?

screamer

Yes. It is inevitable if we ever want to become energy independent. I don’t like them, I think they look awful, but hey, I don’t like the stench of slurry and I’ve to put up euth that every day from the local intensive dairy farms.

it’s windmills or continuing to give power and money to some of the worst nations in the planet. Time for us all to own that, nimbys sit down, or be cold…..

prunudo

No

Its an interesting question, I wonder what the poll results will be in 10 years time when the reality of >2000 extra turbines are surrounding the coastline and countryside.

Also I wonder about the corrolation between those voting yes and never actually having to have one in their vicinity.

Count Dracula

Yes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120242305#Comment_120242305

What's the difference?

Maybe we could decorate them in sky blue mock wood lace over finish?

Do the trick on the eye sore?

redlough

Yes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120241947#Comment_120241947

Every party and independent in Ireland has a Green agenda.

You seem to have the hump because you got "no sweeteners" 😂

Also trying to label anyone that supports renewable energy as supporting the Green party is totally incorrect. People can fully support renewables and not have to support the Green party. Sort of rubbish comment I would expect to see in the US

Rigor Mortis

Yes

I live in Dublin. The best chance we have of a wind farm is offshore. Would love to see the projects built in this area. Dublin is Ireland's largest energy consumer and yet produces virtually no renewable electricity.

KildareP

No

I said no, but then we are already surrounded by quite a large number of them already here in North Kildare and into Offaly and they want to install many more on the surrounding bog of Allen that is no longer cut by BNM to feed Edenderry.

It says it all really that they threw them up around us and we were basically told to lump it. Rural roads torn asunder with heavy construction vehicles going back and forward.

Now that they want to put them tens of kilometres off the coastline of the likes of Dublin Bay South, they suddenly deem fit to announce this wonderful scheme known as a "Community Benefit Fund" whereby the generators must make a monetary contribution per MWh sold to the market to the nearest community.

Funny timing that.

redlough

Yes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120242594#Comment_120242594

Dublin has acres of roof space.

All offices should have solar panels on roof, warehouses etc and that could generate power. At this moment wind would not suit unless off shore in built up cities but solar should be across the city. Especially public building/schools etc

Thelonious Monk

Yes

I've no idea why anyone would be bothered by them. They're going to be putting a load of them off the coast of Dalkey and Killiney in the coming years, the Dublin Array, so this will shut the "they wouldn't put them in South County Dublin!!" people up too. We need to get our elec from somewhere, nuclear will never happen in Ireland, so in order to lessen our dependence on fossil fuels, wind and solar seems a no brainer.

They should cover the Dublin/Wicklow mountains in them, much of them are just barren ecological wastelands of no use to anyone or anything.

sydthebeat

Yes

Would you rather see a wind turbine from your kitchen window or a power station chimney ejecting black smoke into the atmosphere.

Unquestionably yes

Multipass

No

No, they are devastating to the local environment. our new green future with nothing but concrete doesn’t appeal.

Furze99

No

Too many of them f***ing yokes around here - a blight.

Build them up in Dublin Bay and off the coast of Malahide & Dalkey.

Scotty #

Yes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120242309#Comment_120242309

Well, I really don't know enough about any of them to give an informed answer. I don't think solar is really a viable solution in our climate, perhaps solar and wind combined? I certainly don't want us to increase coal/turf. More Hydro perhaps if we could find a suitable location.

Nuclear I think, has more cons than pros. I don't believe we'll ever have it here, not in it's current form anyway.

The main problem for wind in this county is NIMBY.

xxyyzz

Yes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120242463#Comment_120242463

I live pretty close to a windfarm, I have no issue with it. There is a slight swishing sound on very windy days but I don't notice it any more, my brain has filtered it out. From what I can see there is a lot of NIMBY hysteria over them but from personal experience, they're grand.

They do seem to require a huge amount of maintenance, I guess that is normal due to the constantly moving parts however it leads me to wonder about offshore turbines. It's all very well being able to drive to the turbine to repair it but it's a completely different skillset when you have to take out a boat and transfer to a stationary platform offshore. That's no easy task when there is a swell running etc.

Thelonious Monk

Yes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120242745#Comment_120242745

Plans to build loads of them there

Thelonious Monk

Yes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120242650#Comment_120242650

I mean pretty much all of our environment is slurry covered fields producing dairy for export and people are cool with that. We need our own energy sources.

cnocbui

No

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120242624#Comment_120242624

Noise, flicker, bird and bat strikes, property devaluation, but aside from those, all good.

Furze99

No

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120242826#Comment_120242826

Do you not see a pattern in some of the replies on this thread?

Those who vote NO have experience of living near industrial wind farms.

Those who vote YES think it's all mom & apple pie and don't live near the things (YET).

Thelonious Monk

Yes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120242918#Comment_120242918

well there's planning applications to build loads of them offshore being processed at the moment, so hopefully the ones at sea wont bother you and will spoil the views in Dublin Bay to keep you ruralites happy.