Desecration of Scotland’s Scenery – Press and Journal (letters)

Dear Sir,
I have read with interest a number of recent letters, some in favour, but most vehemently anti the proliferation of wind turbines and their associated pylons,sub-stations, access roads etc. We have heard about the damage to our wild mountain scenery, so much appreciated by tourists and the film industry, the desecration of ancient peat bogs, indiscriminate killing of wildlife, damage to water supplies and on top of this the potential damage to human health.
The vast majority of commercially generated electricity in the UK is fed directly into the national grid, a simple breakdown on the source of this power is readily available online and it may surprise some of your readers that today (24/July) that the contribution from wind power is a pitiful 2.4%. Production frequently falls below this figure and admittedly often exceeds it, but a yearly average is still under 8%. I know statistics can be boring but surely simple arithmetic tells us that even if turbine numbers were doubled or heaven forbid quadrupled there would be times when the total electricity generated would be negligible, despite the millions of our pounds given to these companies in so called subsidies.
In light (pardon the pun) of this fact the only way to maintain a reliable supply is to keep all traditional power stations manned, maintained and ticking over (when they are at their least efficient) ready to make up this shortfall when the wind drops Wave and tidal power have barely reached infancy, and who knows there may be some hope for these in the future, but surely before any more of this beautiful country is desecrated and industrialised it is time to stop and think.
Yours sincerely,
E. Hall
Ormiscaig

Ross-shire