FAQs

Do wind turbines spoil the landscape? (1.5.3)

This is a highly subjective issue. Being visible is not necessarily the same as being intrusive. While some people express concern about the effect wind turbines have on the beauty of our landscape, others see them as elegant and beautiful, or symbols of a better, less polluted future.

The landscape we inhabit is largely human-made and it evolves over time. In comparison to other energy developments like nuclear, coal and gas power stations, or open cast mining, wind farms have relatively little visual impact. Nevertheless, National Parks or areas of high conservation value are not appropriate spots for wind farms. And they don't need to be placed there. According to EECA's study on the wind energy potential in New Zealand we could meet our energy needs three times over on just 1% of all our land.(1)

The increased utilisation of renewable energy and greater use of wind power will mean that we will have more of these structures visible in our townscape and landscape in the future. But the organisations supporting this website believe that wind energy is one of the most environmentally benign ways of producing the electricity we need to power our daily lives.

If we don't switch to cleaner forms of energy, climate change will severely and irrevocably alter much of our landscape as well as the animal and plant life it contains.

Notes:
(1) EECA 2001. Review of New Zealand’s Wind Energy Potential To 2015.

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