Eco credentials challenged on cheap energy Scottish wind farm - 27/07/2009
Homeowners looking to switch energy companies to a cleaner supplier may have to wait as campaigners have challenged the eco credentials on a planned Scottish wind farm.
Viking Energy wants to build 150 turbines on mainland Shetland to generate 20 per cent of Scotland's national electricity demand and bring nearly £40 million to the local economy, but campaigners argue digging up peat bogs for the project will have a more damaging effect, reports the Scotsman.
Unsettling the peat bogs could release so much carbon dioxide that it would take nearly 50 years for turbines to become environmentally beneficial, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Scotland.
Lloyd Austin, RSPB Scotland's head of conservation policy, told the paper: "The lack of certainty that there would be any significant net benefits undermines the case for development. There is no point in building renewables that potentially emit more carbon, due to peatland impacts, than they save."
Onshore wind farms tend to be opposed due to their visual impact on rural landscapes.
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