So many better options than wind
There are now so many other ways in which green energy can be harnessed
IN MY area, the Languedoc-Roussillon, éoliennes are threatened in several places of outstanding natural beauty and historical significance, such as close to the Cathar castles of Peyrepertuse and Quéribus, and opposite the magnificent Mount Bugarach, near Rennes-le-Château.
Protests over a planned site close to the Canigou, around the village of Montalba, have apparently not succeeded, so far, in stopping the project. The area is a wilderness, and it is certainly very windy, but the aesthetic impact of the huge pylons will be very negative. Large numbers of migratory birds stop over in the Têt valley.
There are now so many other ways in which green energy can be harnessed, and energy saved, that anyone actually in favour of windfarms in beautiful landscapes should ponder related issues, such as how the devices will be dismantled and removed when, sooner or later, other technologies are shown to be more reliable and productive.
A local association against the Montalba project claims, for example, that the landowners who receive rental income for wind turbines will be left with the problem, as the companies supplying the hardware and doing the installation may well have disappeared when the time comes to take them down.
Anthony PUGH
Arboussols
