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		Wind Turbines November 16th 2005 East Midlands MEP Roger Helmer discusses the problems with wind power and argues there are other more viable alternatives: Everyone recognises that renewable energy and energy conservation are vital issues, both nationally and locally. However proposals for onshore wind farms, on rural inland sites, are ill-conceived. Many people worry about their visual impact on the surrounding landscape. Clusters of 400 foot-high turbines can dominate the countryside for many miles around, while the foundation depth they need can cause damage to the infrastructure of the land and to hydrology, in terms of ditches and water courses. However, while visual impact is a problem, it is only the tip of the iceberg. Aside from the obvious aesthetic impact, windfarms are disastrously uneconomic, in both financial and environmental terms. They absorb a great deal of energy in their construction and installation, and deliver an intermittent trickle of power in return. Wind installations require back-up conventional capacity for calm days, so you pay twice for every megawatt of installed capacity. Wind only appears to be viable because of the government's wholly irrational subsidy policy which hoses money at windfarms, to the detriment of other renewables. If a future government adopts a more sustainable policy, wind power companies may go bankrupt, leaving landowners with the cost of dismantling these useless monstrosities and restoring the sites. The impact of such wind farms on local wildlife is devastating. Both birds and bats will be killed by the turbine blades and their habitats damaged, while breeding grounds for birds and badger sets will be seriously disrupted. Horse riders using local bridleways risk their safety if a horse is startled by noise or movement from the turbines. The noise factor is yet another problem. Infrasound has been detected at distances up to six miles from a wind turbine, and can cause severe health problems for susceptible people. Although the measurements might be small, the effect on structures within that radius is still an unknown factor and no measures are proposed to mitigate concerns. Simple decibel measures fail to address the complex noise pattern emitted by the low frequency, low-level aerodynamic and mechanical sound from gearbox, turbine and blades. These factors may well affect property values for miles around. So what are the alternatives? It makes much more sense to promote the benefits of bio-fuels. These are genuinely sustainable, and offer benefits in terms of energy security, import substitution and agricultural production, as well as environmental benefits. We have failed to develop them in Britain, and this is a direct consequence of this Labour government's irrational subsidy policy in favour of wind. We in Britain have been seduced down the cul-de-sac of wind power while countries like Germany and the USA have wisely pressed ahead with bio-fuels. There are much more effective ways of generating energy from renewable sources as energy crops and biomass demonstrate. It is imperative that we do not destroy our beautiful countryside for the sake of a misplaced political gesture.