Overden Moor Wind Farm West Yorkshire

Overden Moor Wind Farm, West Yorkshire

The topic of sustainable technology is of great interest to everyone whether they have realised it or not; maybe not in real time, but for future generations. I have decided to choose the topic of renewable wind energy because I feel that it is a good example of sustainable/renewable technology. In specific I have decided to study the Overden Moor Wind Farm situated in West Yorkshire as an example. The project company owning Overden Moor is Yorkshire Windpower Limited, its maximum capacity is 9.2MW and consists of 23 Vestas WD34 – 400kW wind turbines; the farm itself opened in June 1993 and cost £10.6 million. Operation and maintenance is contracted with Vestas and the ownership of the wind farm consists of a split between EPR (Energy Power Reasources) and Powergen Renewables Ltd.

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Wind energy itself only contributes to a very small percentage of the energy sources within the UK. This is illustrated in the graph below from 2004. Both on shore and off shore wind farms combined come to a total of 13.65%; remembering this graph is also only consisting of renewable sources rather than the usage of all resources.

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The main objective of renewable energy is to provide various ways of getting energy, in the most common form of electricity, to be produced where future people will not be affected.

The ‘Brundtland Commission’, formally the ‘World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED)’, quoted in 1987 “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability for future generations to meet their own needs”. This quote is relevant because of how a product is produced from the preliminary stage of the design. The issue with sustainable technology is that everything we do has either a direct or indirect effect on future generations. There is not one concept that is completely sustainable. The difficult area is even if a product is designed to be completely sustainable, they cannot use energy during the design stage that it’s not renewable; therefore non-sustainable. If energy was originally made from a renewable non-finite resource, immediately the design stage any product can be produced as sustainable. This is where the topic of wind energy is directly relevant as wind is a non-finite resource. We will never run out of wind. Where wind energy is concerned one can either have on shore or off shore wind farms or turbines. The position of them is directly linked to how productive they will be.

As the sustainable technology topic does not currently have much of a direct personal relevance to myself, it is difficult to comment. However its importance to the UK as a whole may seem to be ignored due to the ‘throw-away’ or perhaps ignorant society we live in today. However one area that does bear some relevance to me in particular is the way resources are run that I use daily such as a light bulb and my interest in trying to reduce my own carbon footprint. The majority of day to day activities as using the computer, cooker, fridge, shower and car etc; all require the use of either electricity or fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas which also generate electricity. If someone made the decision that no non-renewable resources are to be used then we would struggle in life because of the society we all currently live in due to our heavy and damaging reliance upon such sources of electricity as gas and coal.

Wind energy as an example of a renewable source of energy has been criticised on its social and environmental impact on society although it is beneficial through the output they give. This is because the aesthetics of the turbines can be ‘ugly’ and not in ‘keeping’ with the surrounding areas which are often areas of ‘less developed countryside’. If situated in the wrong place, villages or towns do not tend to like the look of them by their homes. The other issue is noise, when spinning they can develop a continuous ‘whoosh...whoosh’ sound which is disturbing to its neighbours. In the UK they tend to be situated in the northern areas because the land is higher and the wind resource is more available. Other issues focus upon the possible dangers wind farms have towards the wildlife, primarily birds. Finally there have been complaints regarding their interference with radio signals and wireless data communications.

I plan to research into the Overden Moor wind farm by finding out what effects it does have on both social and environmental matters. I will do this by finding out the benefits and setbacks to form a conclusion to whether Wind Power, as a renewable resource is beneficial as a sustainable technology. To do this I will need to contact with someone who operates Overden Moor wind farm, who is responsible for the farm and can disclose any relevant information. I will also contact companies and homes which benefit from the electricity given by Overden Moor. If possible I will conduct a survey to find out what the residents around the wind farm think about it being where it is, what they would like to be able to do about it; and ask them to suggest any there possible methods of making this technology sustainable or provide alternatives. Finally I will try finding out if wind power is really the best form of renewable energy and what are its alternatives.

Resources
http://www.aepuk.com
http://www.eprl.co.uk/assets/windpower/overview.html
http://www.geraldengland.co.uk/out/out033.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bradford/360/version2_ovenden.shtml
http://www.wikipedia.org/
http://www.eon-uk.com/