Scroby Sands offshore wind farm in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk

Scroby Sands was the second offshore wind farm to be built in the UK and the third anywhere in the world

Wind turbines: the future of renewable energy or a blight on UK countryside?

Bethany Hubbard

24th February 2012

The wind farms debate rages on as the need for renewable energy grows. But is the UK in danger of putting aesthetics before the need to cut carbon emissions and adopt greener technologies?

Eerie, almost alien-like, inhabitants of otherwise natural landscapes, wind turbines have come to represent both positive change and unwelcome progress. As more farms crop up both onshore and offshore, a heated debate has arisen around the aesthetic impacts of these whirring giants, and the necessary move towards greener energy.

Set against a fiery sunset or cobalt sky, the starkness of their white physiques is difficult to ignore. For some they represent a move towards sustainable energy, and are beautiful because of that. For others they are scars on once pristine landscapes, certain to discourage tourism and ruin areas of outstanding natural beauty.

Donald Trump is halting construction of his luxury golf resort in Aberdeenshire due to a proposed offshore farm, and has publicly accused First Minister Alex Salmond of aiming to ‘destroy’ Scotland. And Trump is not alone. A myriad of anti-wind action groups have emerged throughout the UK.

But research shows that most people aren’t turned off by propellers. ‘The vast majority (93-99 per cent) of tourists that had seen a wind farm in the local area suggested that the experience would not have any...

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