| Wind Power in Wordsworth Country |
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6 May 2005, for Science Two major environmental groups are telling Brits who would live near a proposed wind farm: Yes, in your backyard. Although known for protecting open spaces against development, London's Greenpeace U.K. and Friends of the Earth have now endorsed plans for a wind farm in the north of England. "It's not often we're supporting a particular development," says Douglas Parr, chief scientist at Greenpeace U.K. "But we need energy." The project would dot 27 turbines across a windswept 4-kilometer stretch of countryside in the Lake District, the bucolic landscape in which the poet William Wordsworth lived and drew inspiration. The setup, near Tebay, would provide up to 80 megawatts of power, enough for at least 47,000 homes, the developers say. Some conservation groups are protesting the incursion, saying that the white, 110-meter-tall turbines will spoil the scenery and hurt tourism. "It is a relatively wild landscape" that should stay free of "manmade structures," says Ken Burgess of the U.K. government's Countryside Agency. The agency was to vote this week on whether to attempt to block the development by recommending designation of the area as a national park. The U.K. Department of Trade and Industry will decide whether to approve the plan pending a 7-week public inquiry. Such projects are a step toward reaching the government's goal of raising the proportion of electricity the country gets from renewable sources from 3% to 10% by 2010. |