On a blustery hill, not far from a little country township in Far North Queensland, there are wind turbines that dominate the skyline.
One of twenty wind turbines on the aptly named Windy Hill.
While the trees on this hill are bent sideways at the urging of the strong winds that blow here, these towering turbines stand tall and straight and white in a landscape deep green and dotted with cows. Their huge blades rotate with a distinctive "whispering whoosh" as they harness the power of the wind.
A man-made feature in a rural landscape.
Straight and tall.
A distant view of the wind turbines.
The power of that wind is an alternate source of energy to that generated by the burning of fossil fuels, like coal. While I don't know the costs of building a wind farm like this one or how much energy is generated by all twenty of these turbines or how many homes that powers, I do know that wind energy, like solar, can be harnessed. And I feel, in a world grappling with the issues of global warming and climate change, that cleaner, alternative sources of energy are an important part of the future.
Meg
I couldn't agree more!
ReplyDeleteMe too. Here there are always strong protests against them as no one wants them anywhere near them!
ReplyDeleteI think that we are living in times now when alternative sources of energy need to be considered. There is broad acknowledgement now that we can't continue on in the same ways as before given the impacts on our Earth.
DeleteI did a simple Google search on this windfarm. According to the corporation that owns the wind farm, these 20 turbines generate enough energy to power 3500 homes. They will avoid .625million tonnes of CO2 emissions over their lifespan of 25years. They are built on farmland leased from local farmers. This windfarm is not without controversy though. My search also brought up complaints of noise, impacts on sleep and mental health difficulties linked by those experiencing these challenges to the turbines. Given these reported impacts, one can understand such protests.