Published at 11:56, Monday, 26 March 2012

GORDON Hall is wrong to claim that the true cost of construction and carbon footprint of wind turbines is kept very quiet (Courant Letters, March 16).

Under construction: Tynedale’s newest windfarm is being put in place at Kiln Pit Hill, just off the A68 road.

There are numerous studies on the energy and carbon emissions payback time of wind turbines, which show that this is only a few months compared with the expected 20-year lifetime of a turbine.

Even Country Guardian, an organisation campaigning against wind turbines, states on its website: “Generally speaking, the wind power industry has correctly observed that a wind turbine pays back the energy consumption of its construction and the accompanying CO2 emission within a few months.”

It is sad that so much misinformation is spread about one of the most effective renewable energy generators available in this country.

Earlier letters have criticised the Hexham Town Council for raising no objections to the proposed wind turbine at Hexham Racecourse. Maybe councillors were well informed.

Such is the power of the wind here, that after taking load factors into account, if the wind turbine and the Hexham Hydro scheme both go ahead, the wind turbine will generate about three times the energy per annum of the hydro.

We need both. Please stop knocking wind with untruths. If we continue to sleepwalk into runaway climate change there will be few people to appreciate our stunning landscape in 100 years’ time.

MALCOLM REID,

Riding Mill.

Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk