Let Sleeping Goats Sleep
There is, not far from here, a new wind farm. (Just imagine raising wind: it costs nothing to feed but there remains quite a lot of overhead.) It is a fascinating spectacle. This writer has traveled past it several times in recent months. His one unshakeable curiosity? To get close enough to the giant windmills to "hear" them. Unfortunately, time has not allowed a scurry uphill; one can't readily get near enough to hear what has to be an impressive "whop -- whop -- whop."
Indeed, these are giants. The dozen windmills each stand nearly 400 feet tall and their three-bladed turbines arc an impressive 278-foot diameter† circuit through the air. Think of a pinwheel about the size of a football field. And, as one 18-year-old said as he watched the blades cut through the atmosphere, "Those babies are cruisin'!!" Cruising indeed. It would be interesting to calculate the tip speed of each blade.
Ever since I saw the future -- and these turbines seem almost other-worldly -- as I drove over Lempster Mountain, I have pondered how wildlife might "feel" about the concussive sound produced by scissor-like blades ripping through air. Again, let me reiterate, these blades are massive and they are indeed ripping. What do deer feel in the deep dark when they hear such turbulence? How do owls behave near the towers when hearing is such a key component to their nightly survival? How about insects and bats? What is the long-term effect on the fauna -- and the flora -- of a forest in which such sweeping noises are heard and felt 24 hours a day? How has the dance of survival, and the dance of reproduction, changed beneath those spiralling towers?
Well, I know one answer, and it is found in this headline: Wind Turbines 'Killed Goats' By Depriving Them Of Sleep. (I note that recent reports from Amnesty International prove that the CIA has been secretly using windmills at Gitmo and various rendition camps around the world. One AI spokesperson, speaking anonymously for fear of the installation of a wind turbine near his home, revealed that "green energy" is code for torture.)
Ironically, or so it seems, these local turbines are used to create 24-megawatts of power that will be used to generate lights and gadgets that will in turn illuminate and disturb the dark in more than 10,000 homes. But the disturbance of sleep, the war on true darkness by artifical lighting, and the smashing of silence by ticking clocks and buzzing buzzers and annoying alarms, are all born in the deep once-silent woods atop a small and ancient mountain ridge. The wind is an utterly consistent "renewable" resource; and the whop of the blades is humanity's whopping penchant for insomnia. Hear the gentle breeze. It's so electric.
And yet the forest can't sleep. Think of the energy wasted staying awake on the very cutting edge of madness.
(†Each blade is 139 feet long. I do not know the radius of the axis/nacelle; Gamesa, the manufacturer of the turbines, does not provide such data on its website. So the actual size of the rotor might be larger than 278 feet. I also note that Gamesa has designed each blade with the aim of minimizing "noise emissions.")
PEACE.
©2009/Contratimes. All Rights Reserved.
Indeed, these are giants. The dozen windmills each stand nearly 400 feet tall and their three-bladed turbines arc an impressive 278-foot diameter† circuit through the air. Think of a pinwheel about the size of a football field. And, as one 18-year-old said as he watched the blades cut through the atmosphere, "Those babies are cruisin'!!" Cruising indeed. It would be interesting to calculate the tip speed of each blade.
Ever since I saw the future -- and these turbines seem almost other-worldly -- as I drove over Lempster Mountain, I have pondered how wildlife might "feel" about the concussive sound produced by scissor-like blades ripping through air. Again, let me reiterate, these blades are massive and they are indeed ripping. What do deer feel in the deep dark when they hear such turbulence? How do owls behave near the towers when hearing is such a key component to their nightly survival? How about insects and bats? What is the long-term effect on the fauna -- and the flora -- of a forest in which such sweeping noises are heard and felt 24 hours a day? How has the dance of survival, and the dance of reproduction, changed beneath those spiralling towers?
Well, I know one answer, and it is found in this headline: Wind Turbines 'Killed Goats' By Depriving Them Of Sleep. (I note that recent reports from Amnesty International prove that the CIA has been secretly using windmills at Gitmo and various rendition camps around the world. One AI spokesperson, speaking anonymously for fear of the installation of a wind turbine near his home, revealed that "green energy" is code for torture.)
Ironically, or so it seems, these local turbines are used to create 24-megawatts of power that will be used to generate lights and gadgets that will in turn illuminate and disturb the dark in more than 10,000 homes. But the disturbance of sleep, the war on true darkness by artifical lighting, and the smashing of silence by ticking clocks and buzzing buzzers and annoying alarms, are all born in the deep once-silent woods atop a small and ancient mountain ridge. The wind is an utterly consistent "renewable" resource; and the whop of the blades is humanity's whopping penchant for insomnia. Hear the gentle breeze. It's so electric.
And yet the forest can't sleep. Think of the energy wasted staying awake on the very cutting edge of madness.
(†Each blade is 139 feet long. I do not know the radius of the axis/nacelle; Gamesa, the manufacturer of the turbines, does not provide such data on its website. So the actual size of the rotor might be larger than 278 feet. I also note that Gamesa has designed each blade with the aim of minimizing "noise emissions.")
PEACE.
©2009/Contratimes. All Rights Reserved.
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