The Hindu Business Line : Going with the wind

This is with reference to the feature `Wind is a powerful alternative' (Business Line, August 29). In this context a recent article in The Guardian on the subject is interesting.

To quote: "Britain's generous subsidies caused the `Wind Rush': 1,200 turbines are now in place which will quadruple in the next seven years. Wild and open spaces are proving most attractive to candy-grab developers and some of the most extraordinary mountain, moor and coastal landscapes in the British Isles are menaced."

Polly Toynbee, columnist for The Guardian dubbed those resisting wind farms as Tory-minded `rural nimbyists'. In response, Robert MacFarlane recommended to Toynbee a trip to Lewis, where the energy giant AMEC is building the world's biggest wind farm which the local community is resisting.

The moor is one of the world's last green peat bogs, whose ecological value has been compared to that of the Serengeti. AMEC has not, of course, come to Lewis out of the greenness of its conscience. It is there for profits, $130m year.A new study by a German energy agency, the world's leading producer of wind energy, has concluded that wind farms are an inefficient tool in our desperate battle against climate change.

The feature also points out that companies and high net worth individuals have been attracted by the returns from investing in wind energy. Our own `candy-grab developers' have their sights set on the Western Ghats and other forests, as precious as the moors in England.

One hopes the overall impact on the environment of wind-energy is also examined before starting projects.

S. Subramanyan

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