Think twice before spitting into the wind

With reference to Mr Clive Turner’s dim view on Wind generators (Sunday Mail March 18), in times gone by when wind mills were invented, I wonder if we have records of anyone attacking them for being unsightly and inefficient. 

Some of his anxieties are justifiable but his diagnosed death cure for the turbines is like ‘whipping the saddle instead of the horse’. Please allow my views in reply to each of his concerns. 

Units costing €1.5 million per Megawatt, makes him right to complain of the very steep price but the solution is to think ‘Israel wise’ and to ‘make’ our wants instead of depending on the easy alternatives. 

Had this country of ours chosen ministers from our goldmine of exceptionally high volume of degree-qualified individuals to fit relevant government positions, instead of the highly-paid ministers who conveniently order foreign deliveries by phone to our doorstep, the turbine order would not have prevailed. With resolve, pride and machinery the units could be made here for us and for export.

The turbine has also been given the thumbs down as unsightly. Personally I find the slow rotating turbines on barren dead mountains or hills soothing, especially when I think that (money willing) our future generations will benefit from less pollution. 

He is also right to be concerned that the units generate only 26 per cent (I was Informed 17.5 per cent) of their total output but he neglected to mention that at 26 per cent output from a one Megawatt turbine invites our industrial users, charged at the high rate of 40 cents per KW to pay €911,000 each year. Had our Government owned this unit, it would have paid for itself after about 20 months use and all electricity produced for at least the next 23 years would be as free as the wind, which relevantly, to save face ,we should think twice before spitting at. 

A Dinou, Nicosia 

 

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