Thursday, August 6, 2009


Winds of change rock Wolfe Island

More windmills. More controversy (among some). More NIMBYism (among a few).




And if opinion might be split locally about the merits of the Wolfe Island Wind Project, there can be no argument about that appraisal. The turbines are a dominating – some say overbearing – omnipresence.

The project is the second-largest in Canada and a submarine cable to the mainland delivers enough wind-generated juice to provide power for tens of thousands of homes.

Owner Canadian Hydro boasts that wind power "creates no air pollution or greenhouse gases (which contribute to climate change), leaves behind no hazardous or toxic wastes and uses no water."
Part of the problem with the wind model that's been rolled out in Ontario (and probably most other places) is that energy generated is not used locally but "shipped" elsewhere. If local residents knew that their own power was generated locally, there would be more support. Which brings us to the larger problem that many of the areas with the best wind are not densely populated.

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