Editorial: Too much hot air about wind farms

Too much of a fuss is being stirred up around the whole business of putting up wind farms in Cyprus at a time when the state has not yet actively embraced promoting the use of alternative sources of energy and as such, consumers are not fully informed about the (many) advantages and the (few) disadvantages of introducing fuel-saving measures.

Cyprus is far behind in reaching the target of 20% of national energy needs derived from alternative sources by the year 2010 and has pledged to make it to the next target of 2020.

Where, then, is the problem in building wind turbines in the few areas of Cyprus that has enough wind power to drive such turbines? Will they ruin the environment? Will they raise unemployment? Or, are some property owners simply facing difficulty while trying to sell their land to unsuspecting European retirees?

In the opinion of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and Oxford Brookes University, the relation between the erection of wind turbines and the swing in property prices is a myth.

It is the fear instilled by a few agnostics that has terrified property owners to think that the end of the world is near.

Unless somebody’s head gets chopped off in an attempt to climb up a ladder leaning onto one of these gigantic wind props while in operation, no other harm can be done.

The only hazardous effect from a wind farm is the difficulty of the owner of that particular plot to sell or develop ugly concrete holiday homes. This would allow owners to consider the alternative and lease the land to a potential energy producer, while farmers plough the land and animals are allowed to graze on it.

Even the argument that placing a wind turbine on the top of a hill would ruin the aesthetics of the countryside is just short of ludicrous.

Those arguing against the wind farms have yet to convince us that such contraptions are deadly and will contribute to the extinction of the human species. All they achieved so far was to demolish a wind-o-meter which they foolishly thought was a wind turbine.

On the other side of the fence, those in the know are not exactly advertising the fact that Cyprus does not have sufficient wind power to generate enough electricity for a small village, let alone a battery-powered souvla machine.

This takes us to the general conclusion that what drives the environmental conscience of the average land-owner or the civil servant in Cyprus is none other than the good old laws of supply and demand… and how much they can make today, regardless of the future of our next generations.

If the Department of Energy is the responsibility of the Minister of Commerce and Industry, then he should get on his horse and charge in the name of saving energy. Otherwise, all these financial schemes and other incentives will never become attractive, despite the fact that tens of millions of pounds have been set aside for this project. Unless the Minister of Finance has set his sights on that money and has been ordered to fund other social incentives that will earn the incumbent the necessary votes to get re-elected next February.