Myth 1. Wind turbines spoil the landscape

Fact: This is a highly subjective issue. Being visible is not necessarily the same as being intrusive. While some people express concern about the effect wind turbines have on the beauty of our landscape, others see them as elegant and beautiful, or symbols of a better, less polluted future.

The landscape we inhabit is largely human-made and it evolves over time. In comparison to other energy developments like nuclear, coal and gas power stations, or open cast mining, wind farms have relatively little visual impact. Nevertheless sites within Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) or National Parks are unlikely to be appropriate for large wind farms.

The increased utilisation of renewable energy and greater use of wind power will mean that we will have more of these structures visible in our townscape and landscape in the future. But all the organisations supporting this web site believe that wind energy is one of the most environmentally benign ways of producing the electricity we need to power our daily lives.

If we don't switch to cleaner forms of energy, climate change will severely and irrevocably alter much of our landscape as well as the animal and plant life it contains.

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