08/02/13 Letter sent to Western Mail

Dear Editor,

Having recently had the chance to read through the report produced by the Cardiff Business School and others about "Economic Opportunities for Wales from Future Onshore Wind Farm Development", I would like to make the following observations. Firstly this report reads like a large scale public relations exercise on behalf of the wind energy industry - not surprising since the exercise was funded mostly by the wind farm developers who stand to gain by its findings.  Secondly, at best, the report may be seen as a large scale business  plan with little attempt to provide any critical analysis or what any self-respecting economist would provide, such as cost benefit analysis. Thirdly there are many underlying assumptions made which are not spelled out e.g. that these developments will not involve extra costs for local inhabitants e.g. traffic congestion and property devaluation etc. etc.

Figures are confidently provided on Gross Value Added (GVA) and Full Time Equivalent Jobs (FTEs) without any detailed explanation as to how they were arrived at or how much confidence we may have in their accuracy. From the perspective of producing a new wind farm, the vast bulk of these jobs will be temporary and thus will not be sustainable in the rural localities where most of the turbines would be sited. I suggest the average number of new wind farms required per year, of something like five to meet targets, will inevitably involve large scale developers such as RWE with their own specialist staff and, as this report indicates, contracts will be given only to large scale firms, mostly outside Wales. Of course, profits and consumer provided subsidies will go to shareholders, also mostly outside Wales and in some cases overseas. The only way that wind farm development can provide us with such a bonanza is if there was large scale turbine production in Wales - something that this report's authors rule out!

Finally, there is a built-in paradox in the report in that developers and the Welsh Government prefer rural sites where there is more wind and less inhabitants likely to complain, whereas from an economic perspective, to reduce transmission costs and find more local contractors, these structures would be built near large towns or cities. The answer is probably to build all wind farms offshore where,  even if more costly, there is a lot more reliable wind and thus more turbine output.

Yours truly,

E.J. Razzell,  B.Sc. Econ., Master Mariner.      

N.B. This letter is unlikely to be published in the newspaper because of its length.

06/02/13 Letter published in Carmarthen Journal

Dear Editor,

Mr. Clubb makes a number of points in his letter of January 16 entitled "Wind power is cost effective" which I would like to refute. Firstly he states that serious climate change is real and that those who differ from his opinions are not relying on peer reviewed evidence - he is ignoring a recent statement from 125 international experts on climate change that the threat from global warming is exaggerated. If he is keen on peer reviewed evidence, how about the peer reviewed research from Professor Gordon Hughes showing that wind turbines deteriorate after 10 years and become totally uneconomic after 15 years? Mr Clubb has also mislead us about the article in the BMJ last March, presenting it as a mere opinion piece. In fact it took the form of an editorial and its arguments were backed by published research; and, according to the pro wind farm Professor Chapman, these studies were peer reviewed. Incidentally, the 17 studies he quotes, that state that there is no evidence of health effects from wind turbines, are also heavily criticised by the BMJ authors.

With regard to the evidence given to the Welsh Government Petitions Committee about the suffering of Gwddgrug residents from wind farms, if this evidence is to be dismissed out of hand then how come the Welsh Energy Minister is reported to have said that in this context  turbines could be sited further away from human habitation?

The assertion at the top of Mr. Clubb's letter that wind power is cost effective should also be taken with a pinch of salt. If his view were correct, then how come the wind industry needs such massive subsidies which are paid even when turbines are inoperative and have the effect of spreading fuel poverty in this country. I suggest that all the economic costs to the local economy should be taken into account as well as the costs of procuring damaging  production materials and then a different picture would emerge. It is obvious that apart from a few fortunate landowners, the vast bulk of benefits go to RWE and their foreign shareholders - otherwise they wouldn't be here!

I do accept there is some evidence of global warming but there is so much anecdotal evidence from all over the world about turbine based health problems, that an in depth scientific study should be carried out here, involving medical experts such as neuroscientists and epidemiologists. Prior to such a study, there should be a moratorium  on all new wind farm proposals. Wind farms may have their place but in this small island of ours there isn't sufficient wide open space for onshore wind farms to prevent an unacceptable impact on people's lives.     

Yours truly,

Ted Razzell

N.B. Those words which appear in italics were removed by the editor before publication.

Letter from David Clubb to Carmarthen Journal 16/01/13

Dear Editor,

In in letter entitled "Time to switch to tidal power", Mr Razzell states that opinions about global warming are divided among environmental Scientists. However, the position held by the overwhelming majority of scientists and scientific organisations is that climate change is real and that changes will accelerate if emissions continue unabated.

Opinion on climate change is therefore divided between those who accept peer reviewed evidence and those who do not. The same applies to the alleged health impacts from wind power. Those who claim that there are adverse health impacts from wind turbines take 'as gospel' the research from non peer reviewed literature, whilst dismissing that from the body scientific.

Mr Razzell refers to the Welsh Government Petitions Committee whose recommendations were largely rejected by Welsh Government on the basis of the evidence. The only recommendation upheld,, that that there is a need for quality consultation with the local community , is one fully supported by the wind energy industry.

He also says that the British Medical Journal expressed concerns about the health issues related to wind turbines; however, this is not strictly true. The article that he is referring to was not written or commissioned by the British Medical Journal; it was an opinion piece and not a research article. Those interested in the subject could worse than read the comment by Simon Chapman , professor in public health at the University of Sydney, entitled "sickening truth about wind farm syndrome", where he lists 17 reviews on the subject which show an insignificant level of risk to health.

Finally, I wholeheartedly agree that we need to fully develop wave and tidal power; however, it certainly should not be at the expense of wind energy which is cost effective, reliable and supports small businesses across Wales during development, construction and operation.

David Clubb, CPhys, FIWA. Director, RenewableUK Cymru 

   

02/01/13 Letter sent to the Carmarthen Journal

Dear Editor,

Mr. Clubb has sought to dismiss the idea that low frequency wind turbine noise can cause any health problems to human beings. In fact opinions on this subject among acoustic experts are very divided, in the same way that opinions about global warming are also divided among environmental scientists. Is Mr. Chubb, whose employers RWE have a vested commercial interest in promoting more wind farms, suggesting that a considerable number of research projects from all over the world which demonstrate that low frequency noise and infrasound can cause neurological problems, have all got it wrong? Perhaps he would like to put his views to residents of Gwddgrug, who convinced a petitions committee from the Welsh Government last February that their suffering from the Altwallis wind farm was all too real. owded island of ours!The truth of the matter is that the ETSU committee, when setting up the guidelines for determining acceptable noise limitations in the placement of turbines, found a way of removing low frequency noise from the equation because they realised that, if it was left in, it would not be possible to have any onshore wind farms in this crowded island of ours.

Does Mr. Clubb want to ignore the opinions of organisations such as the British Medical Journal and the World Health Organisation, which expressed concerns on this health issue? I could list at least 10 research papers from either the USA or Britain which refer to empirical research on the effects of this type of sound. I suggest that as a minimum he looks at the work of neurological expert  Dr. Amanda Harry. We should not allow ourselves to be panicked into accepting this flawed wind farm technology to meet the green lobby allegations that the lights will all go out by 2015 unless we go all out with wind power. Recent evidence from the Met. Office shows that the rate of global warming is not ensuring an immediate crisis and that we have plenty of time to transfer the subsidies presently enjoyed by the wind industry over to more potentially reliable sources of energy such as tidal and wave power.  

Yours truly,

Ted Razzell    

Words in italics were left out of the actual publication!                                                                             

21/11/12 Planning committee decision

Great news! Camarthen Council planning committee decided yesterday afternoon to turn down the application to build a 21 turbine right on the top of Mynydd Llanllwni. The vote was 10 to 4 against, agreeing with the council officers that the application was against a number of policies outlined in the Local Development plan. And this fact outweighed any possible benefit to the public of producing wind based energy. It was also pointed out that there was plenty of space in another part of the Strategic Search area (laid down by the Welsh Government's TAN8) for such a wind farm that wouldn't be so intrusive and with a lesser impact on the local community. About a dozen people from the local area spoke out against the application, including yours truly as shown in my last blog, and 3 people spoke out for the developer, including the farmer who owns Bryn Llywelyn. From the councilors there were 2 who spoke against the proposal and 3 who asked some questions. There was no real debate and very quickly the event was over.
There were huge cheers from the visitors in the balcony where there were a large number of our supporters and there were scenes of jubilation that 2 years hard work had paid off. The process had good coverage from the local media, including TV and press who expressed surprised that there was almost no local support for this attack on our way and quality of life. Now we have to wait and see if RES go to an appeal with the Welsh Government and RES have 6 months to decide. If that happens, they will be taking on the local authority but the latter will have our full support and I say "BRING IT ON!!!

21/11/12 Speech at planning committee meeting

PLANNING COMMITTEE MEETING 20/11/12

 My name is Ted Razzell and i've been in Llanllwni since 1971. I want to put it to the committee that RES information, concerning the impact of sound levels on the local community, is unreliable and misleading. I've heard from neighbours suffering from noise problems, produced by the existing  nearby wind farm called Alltwalis.  So I'm concerned about the possible repeat of the problem from this application, and I've looked into the sound issue to see what was behind it. // A process called ETSU 97 R has been used here to determine where turbines may be placed to produce acceptable levels of sound at the homes of local people. Local background noise was measured and set against turbine noise to produce a residual extra noise. Getting an accurate measure of ambient noise raises problems, especially in a very tranquil place like Llanllwni but I don't have time to explore these issues. Instead I will look at how turbine noise is measured. Close up, very little noise can be perceived at ground level but, at blade level, it's another question. // Air turbulence here creates both audible & inaudible sound with a pulsating low frequency noise. ETSU doesn't allow for low frequency noise to be considered when measuring total turbine noise, since it isn't thought to be a serious nuisance and is therefore discounted. However, a considerable amount of empirical research has been carried out in the last few years, in response to many neurological complaints from people living near wind farms. In 1996, when ETSU was designed to offset complaints, there was very limited knowledge about  the impact of low frequency sound, and turbines were much smaller. It is now found from evidence gathered globally that, in fact, LF noise can cause many neurological difficulties, such as insomnia, depression, migraine, vertigo and loss of concentration. This situation has been recognized by the prestigious British Medical Journal which calls for urgent independent research and the WHO which is concerned about human rights on this issue. Also,  I was particularly impressed by the work of Dr Amanda Harry, a neurological expert, who explained in depth the pathology of sound related illness. Equally worrying is the fact that low frequency sound can be heard over large distances and can penetrate house walls which raises even more serious issues about the ETSU process. In fact, some British researchers have labelled this process as "not fit for purpose". // To sum up then, I suggest that, given all the available evidence, it is unwise to accept assurances about sound levels and their impact on people's lives. So, this application should be turned down to ensure that the health of even more local residents isn't put at risk!      

14/11/12 Carmarthen Officers Recommendation

Good news today - Council Officers have recommended to the planning committee to reject the application by RES to build  21 giant wind turbines on the top of Llanllwni Mountain. All that remains is to convince local councilors to agree, given the enormous strength of local opposition. I will be speaking at next Tuesday's committee meeting about the amazing amount of research evidence that exposure to wind turbines' low frequency noise can cause severe neurological problems. Let's hope the members will take this issue responsibly. For any one interested in looking at the issue, I recommend reading Dr. Amanda Harry, 2007 "Wind Turbines and Health".
Ted Razzell