Castlemilk & Carmunnock Community Wind Park : FAQs

Nick Nairn, Celebrity Chef

"Scots should take this opportunity to welcome renewable energy and the battle against climate change, knowing that by doing so we are benefiting not only ourselves, but a much wider global community. Wind turbines should be celebrated not scorned, and welcomed as a secure investment in Scotland’s future."

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“Wind farms are unreliable”
“The available wind resource in the world is more than four times the worlds total electricity consumption; less than 0.1% is currently being utilised” Prof. Arthouros Zevos, President of the EWEA, Global Wind Energy Conference, Chicago Illinois, April 2004 (Source: www.Solaraccess.com). Wind turbines generate electricity when the wind is blowing. The wind blows at different times in different places, but rarely, if ever, is the whole country completely calm. The UK is the windiest country in Europe so we have a large resource waiting to be used. A great advantage of wind power is that the available wind resource is much greater during the colder months of the year, when energy demand is at its highest. Wind turbines are rarely ‘out of service’ and have operating lives of up to 25 years.

"Wind farms are inefficient"
With wind energy there is no waste if the some of the wind is not used. With coal and gas powered stations much of the energy is lost as heat through the chimney. Over the course of a year wind turbines will normally produce around 30% of their theoretical capacity. This is the average load factor, and should not be confused with efficiency.

"Wind farms waste land"
Wind turbines occupy a very small amount of land, typically five square metres, sometimes with small access roads. Generally speaking only 1% of the land is needed to house turbines- the remaining 99% can be used as normal. If it is farmland, then animals can be grazed or crops grown right up to the base of the towers. Open spaces continue to support flora and fauna populations.

"Wind farms don't reduce pollution"
Every unit of electricity produced by a wind turbine avoids a least half a kilogram of CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere. In the UK we currently emit 560 million tonnes of CO2 every year. In Denmark wind energy already produces more than 8% of its electricity needs, avoiding the need to build further conventional power stations. They plan to generate 50% of the country’s electricity from wind by 2030, vastly reducing their contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions.