Keep the Isle of Man beautiful, NO wind turbines, EVER
Keep the Isle of Man beautiful, NO wind turbines, EVER
The Issue
The Isle of Man is a small island nation in the Irish sea with UNESCO Biosphere status. It is also a dark sky centre, a major bird watching sanctuary and an active tourist area with many footpaths, cycle and bridle ways. Tynwald has just voted to install 35 megawatts of onshore wind turbines here, probably using industry standard turbines, each with a height of 800 ft (245 mtrs), a swept area of 5 acres and occupy 35 acres of land. Subject to planning permission, the installation of these 60 storey monoliths would destroy the current beauty, reduce freedom to roam across this gorgeous island and cause harm to local protected bird and bat populations which is already a concern worldwide. The issue of ultra low frequency vibration from onshore and offshore turbines affects not only humans but aquatic life too. 70% of legal disputes over wind farms concern protected species, not to mention noise pollution (each turbine emits 105db of noise, the same sound pressure as a chainsaw and 5 times the sound limit for vehicle exhausts) and destruction of the ecosystem. Considering that wind turbines only produce electricity intermittently, 1 day in 7 on average, they would produce less than 1% of the island's current needs (The advertised 35mw would actually be 4mw generated on average across a year). According to the U.K. Office for National Statistics total onshore and offshore wind power generation is 76 TWh per year. But that's just for electrical usage. The UK O.N.S. also reports the UK gas consumption for heating was equivalent to 742 TWh per year (~Ten times as much). Consider the total energy required now, let alone in the future when widespread electric home heating and Electric car charging will massively increase demand for a consistent and stable electrical network . UK Wind turbines already occupy an area of around 1 million acres (imagine how much food could be grown in that acreage). How much more land to accommodate our current total needs, let alone in the future?
The proposed Morgan and Mona wind farm off Wales and the UK will be 11 times larger than Walney wind farm dwarfing it at 800 km2!! That's 2,000 wind turbines each 920 feet high (70 storey high skyscraper), blades sweeping 10.6 acres each and with navigation lights! Goodbye to our view of Snowdonia....
Enormous wind farm plan stopped in Co. Cork, Ireland
Residents of Hawaii's capital, Honolulu now regret allowing installation of onshore wind turbines: https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/09/the-struggle-over-towering-wind-farms-is-at-the-center-of-a-honolulu-city-council-debate/
Recently, Germany has drastically reduced onshore wind turbine deployment due to expiration of huge government subsidies (£500 Billion to date) indicating this technology is not financially viable or sustainable.
Recently in Sweden, Soderhamn county's 13 electoral districts voted 55% "NO" (72% voter turnout) to a wind farm:
80 parishes in Norfolk have been protesting recently against 2 wind farm projects: https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/norfolk-parishes-oppose-vanguard-wind-farm-plans-8529842
Several lawsuits have been filed against "Vineyard Wind", the first U.S. commercial scale offshore wind farm near the Massachusetts coast.
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/environment/lawsuit-challenges-vineyard-wind-approval/
The Shetland news reports that an onshore 120 metre diameter wind turbine's blades shed around 62 kilos of microplastics Per Year due to the abrasive action of rain, hail, salt and sand particles together with bird collisions. Offshore wind turbine blades shed 40% more than this!
Wind turbines also require huge amounts of coal, oil, and rare earth elements for their production and require many acres of space around them. With an average annual servicing cost of £48,000 each, a lifespan of between 15 to 20 years at best and enormous blades ending up in LANDFILL, wind turbines are not fit for purpose. Their installation would result in the inevitable devastation to the countryside habitat, cutting long access roads and cable routes and installing large and deep foundations (which remain permanently after dismantling). If you think felling trees at the St. Marks tree tunnel was bad!...This would obliterate the natural landscape on a far greater scale and destroy the views from many parts of our small island. This issue would affect not just local residents but tourists who travel here from all over the world to experience our unique landscape and culture.
If the Manx government can see that many people are against putting wind turbines on the Isle of Man, a change in policy might happen. Prevention is better than cure. Keep our Island beautiful and unspoiled.
447
The Issue
The Isle of Man is a small island nation in the Irish sea with UNESCO Biosphere status. It is also a dark sky centre, a major bird watching sanctuary and an active tourist area with many footpaths, cycle and bridle ways. Tynwald has just voted to install 35 megawatts of onshore wind turbines here, probably using industry standard turbines, each with a height of 800 ft (245 mtrs), a swept area of 5 acres and occupy 35 acres of land. Subject to planning permission, the installation of these 60 storey monoliths would destroy the current beauty, reduce freedom to roam across this gorgeous island and cause harm to local protected bird and bat populations which is already a concern worldwide. The issue of ultra low frequency vibration from onshore and offshore turbines affects not only humans but aquatic life too. 70% of legal disputes over wind farms concern protected species, not to mention noise pollution (each turbine emits 105db of noise, the same sound pressure as a chainsaw and 5 times the sound limit for vehicle exhausts) and destruction of the ecosystem. Considering that wind turbines only produce electricity intermittently, 1 day in 7 on average, they would produce less than 1% of the island's current needs (The advertised 35mw would actually be 4mw generated on average across a year). According to the U.K. Office for National Statistics total onshore and offshore wind power generation is 76 TWh per year. But that's just for electrical usage. The UK O.N.S. also reports the UK gas consumption for heating was equivalent to 742 TWh per year (~Ten times as much). Consider the total energy required now, let alone in the future when widespread electric home heating and Electric car charging will massively increase demand for a consistent and stable electrical network . UK Wind turbines already occupy an area of around 1 million acres (imagine how much food could be grown in that acreage). How much more land to accommodate our current total needs, let alone in the future?
The proposed Morgan and Mona wind farm off Wales and the UK will be 11 times larger than Walney wind farm dwarfing it at 800 km2!! That's 2,000 wind turbines each 920 feet high (70 storey high skyscraper), blades sweeping 10.6 acres each and with navigation lights! Goodbye to our view of Snowdonia....
Enormous wind farm plan stopped in Co. Cork, Ireland
Residents of Hawaii's capital, Honolulu now regret allowing installation of onshore wind turbines: https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/09/the-struggle-over-towering-wind-farms-is-at-the-center-of-a-honolulu-city-council-debate/
Recently, Germany has drastically reduced onshore wind turbine deployment due to expiration of huge government subsidies (£500 Billion to date) indicating this technology is not financially viable or sustainable.
Recently in Sweden, Soderhamn county's 13 electoral districts voted 55% "NO" (72% voter turnout) to a wind farm:
80 parishes in Norfolk have been protesting recently against 2 wind farm projects: https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/norfolk-parishes-oppose-vanguard-wind-farm-plans-8529842
Several lawsuits have been filed against "Vineyard Wind", the first U.S. commercial scale offshore wind farm near the Massachusetts coast.
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/environment/lawsuit-challenges-vineyard-wind-approval/
The Shetland news reports that an onshore 120 metre diameter wind turbine's blades shed around 62 kilos of microplastics Per Year due to the abrasive action of rain, hail, salt and sand particles together with bird collisions. Offshore wind turbine blades shed 40% more than this!
Wind turbines also require huge amounts of coal, oil, and rare earth elements for their production and require many acres of space around them. With an average annual servicing cost of £48,000 each, a lifespan of between 15 to 20 years at best and enormous blades ending up in LANDFILL, wind turbines are not fit for purpose. Their installation would result in the inevitable devastation to the countryside habitat, cutting long access roads and cable routes and installing large and deep foundations (which remain permanently after dismantling). If you think felling trees at the St. Marks tree tunnel was bad!...This would obliterate the natural landscape on a far greater scale and destroy the views from many parts of our small island. This issue would affect not just local residents but tourists who travel here from all over the world to experience our unique landscape and culture.
If the Manx government can see that many people are against putting wind turbines on the Isle of Man, a change in policy might happen. Prevention is better than cure. Keep our Island beautiful and unspoiled.
447
Petition created on 23 September 2022