RE: LETTER to Courier published on June 14 from Mr Roland Smith, regarding individual wind turbines locally.

Mr Smith says that our historic and beautiful landscape is being wrecked "simply for greed when there is no need". And that wind turbines are "monstrosities".

Individual turbines on farms are important in our national renewable energy supply. They tend to be smaller, are cheaper, achieve a higher capacity factor and, as they are spread over a larger geographic area than a single wind farm in one location, help to average power output due to local variability of wind speeds.

With falling incomes for many years, West Country farmers have been under increasing pressure to remain in business.

Wind turbines are a form of diversification which gives a direct benefit to the general public - clean energy!

Turbines also have a very small "footprint" on the ground and allow more traditional forms of land use to go on around them.

A landowner could just as easily instead apply for a caravan park (which isn't very pretty, I would say), an intensive livestock unit (with associated visual impact plus greenhouse gas emissions from animals and hauliers supplying feedstuffs) or create another Crealy or Diggerland.

He also is of the opinion that wind turbines are "obsolete technology" and were superseded during the industrial revolution.

Kind of interesting that Europe's most economically successful country: Germany, has 10 per cent of its electricity supplied by wind energy and is continuing to support and increase this energy source.

In Spain in 2012 there was a period when 60 per cent of their total energy demand was supplied by wind power alone.

This technology cannot be compared to pre-industrial revolution windmills!

Mr Smith states that wind energy is not financially viable "without the subsidies we all pay out of our pockets".

In 2008 worldwide $46 billion was spent subsidising ALL renewable energy (including wind) while $557 billion was spent subsidising the fossil fuel industry!!

These figures also make no allowance for costs to the taxpayer of the effects of emissions from burning fossil fuels e.g climate change and air quality.

There is a price to pay for living in the modern world. I would rather look at a wind turbine, which consumes NO fuel and causes NO pollution, than be a "NIMBY" who refuses to accept the fact that wind power plays a vital part in supplying our energy requirements for the future.

Kate Wadge

Meadowside Road

Sandford