The meeting was well attended with, ladies from Çomakdağ village near Milas adding a dash of colour to the event.
This young lady seems to be echoing my feelings.
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Thursday 26 March 2015
Tilting at Windmills - Troubling Turbines
I seem to spend a lot of time going to protest meetings these days, which makes me appear a bit of a NIMBY - In the case of the 13 projected wind turbines between Yalıkavak and Geriş I think I'm the opposite; a WOENIMBY - Why On Earth Not In MY Back Yard. I'm not a great supporter of wind power but if these monsters have to be put somewhere, surely the empty high peaks between Mumcular and the Gulf of Gokova, a few hills back from our rural home would be a more sensible place than on the already crowded Bodrum peninsula. The proposed site near Yalikavak is on land that is, or was in the past, protected because of its archaeological and biological importance and encroaches on the villages of Geriş and Karakaya not to mention outlying pastures, houses and the five seismic fault lines that run around the 14,380,000 sq m plot. (Yes I have checked the number of zeros). Is wind power even the right way to go? When do we need the most power? In the summer. When do we get the most wind? In the winter. Put solar power into the same equation and it seems a no brainer to me that we should be concentrating on sun energy. Solar farms are not attractive either but at least they are quiet, don't kill so many birds and don't need obscene amounts of concrete to stop them falling over. I came out of the meeting with a heavy heart. Yet again a massive project has got underway without any consultation with the public, no environmental impact evaluation report and it feels to this woman in the street, a very tenuous adherence to the law of the land.
The meeting was well attended with, ladies from Çomakdağ village near Milas adding a dash of colour to the event.
The meeting was well attended with, ladies from Çomakdağ village near Milas adding a dash of colour to the event.
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Another example of the so called green lobby enriching itself and ruining the environment...of course solar power is the way to go.
ReplyDeleteThe villagers were asked " if you had to have a power station - would you prefer nuclear or wind ?" They said wind and this was put down as the villagers desire for the wind farm.
DeleteB to B, Tilting at windmills again, I see. The worst of these huge projects is that after public property and money is used building projects such as these, they're turned over to private hands which insures that all we'll get in the end will be high bills and, if it's possible, even more extreme disregard of our interests.
ReplyDeleteThe turbines last 20 years, the land is given for 40 - the land was compulsory purchased using a law for emergency acquisitions in war time. The land owners haven't received anything . It's all a bit whiffy.
Delete. . let's get real - the environment and what people do or don't want/need is not a factor in these things. the 'old' technology is hugely profitable and so it grinds on. New technology is massively subsidised when there are powerful lobbies and obscene profits to be made as in nuclear (when was nuclear ever profitable left to its own devices?). Profits are privatised and externalities are socialised - it's actually 'socialism' (I'm using the word in a way that is generally understood by those who don't really know what socialism actually is) for the powerful/wealthy cliques that make up what passes for democratic/autocratic/dictatorial governance. Solar is the future, but wind, wave, etc also have their place - especially if research/innovation is encouraged and the playing field is levelled.
ReplyDeleteIf you see my answer to SDA above, there is more to this than "energy supply"
DeleteThe ones in Soke look awful - dreary and blotting the landscape
ReplyDeleteOn such a flat area they just look too big.
DeleteThese things are always divisive but, I do think wind power has its place in a mixed energy economy (though, perhaps, not in the hills above Yalikavak). Personally, I think the huge arrays off the coast of England are rather elegant, though I realise I'm in a minority again. The problem is that Turkey's consumption keeps on going up (like everywhere else), outstripping supply. So, setting aside political arguments, what is the solution? I don't think turning off the power every time a storm blows over is the answer.
ReplyDeleteIt is only the position that I am questioning.
DeleteI find wind turbines much nicer to look at than age-old nuclear facilities - but having said that, having them too close to villages would be awful. I'm very dubious about the ecological aspect of these things, though - the green party in France asked for wind turbines as an alternative to nuclear, then started screaming because they're bad for nature. It seems that there is no east solution - whatever the choice, nature will come a cropper in some way.
ReplyDeleteIt's the lack of public consultation that gets our goat in Turkey
DeleteI am with you and good to see the meeting well attended - do hope they hear you all, cok sevgiler, Ozlem
ReplyDeleteMoney talks here not head counts as you know.
DeleteI am pretty pro wind turbines in general. I don't really understand why they are said to be bad for the environment. I can't see how they are worse than the 'picturesque' windmills. They do, however, need to be in the right place. And the right place is not on top of ancient sites, nor in ecologically sensitive areas.
ReplyDeleteThe compulsory expropriation of land can't possibly be a good thing. Especially without compensation. But this also happens in the UK (well, you do tend to get some money for your land, but never what it is worth on the open market).
I used to think wind turbines quite beautiful, but having spent a lot of time in Scotland listening to the cons rather than the pros, I'm not very comfortable with them. If the UK ones weren't backed by incentives to land owners, I doubt any would be built as they take almost their whole life to recoup building and energy costs. My beef with these ones is the massive amount of concrete that is going to be put into the hillsides to keep them upright destroying archaeologically and biologically important land. Not to mention the access roads needed to get the materials up there.
DeleteI'm another who favours wind over nuclear (what an appallingly manipulative choice to give people!) but also favours solar. Here in the UK the consultation process takes years and is very detailed. Another wind farm and associated power line are planned for our bit of Mid-Wales and because we're right on the edge of the affected area we've been invited to numerous meetings and are sent regular updates on the planning procedure. Not perfect, but not enforced as with you.
ReplyDelete