The slopes and ridges of the Black Forest are great for windfarming, and I think it is a good thing that at least some of our energy comes from renewable and clean sources. On some of the blogs I regularly read, I have seen many a comment about the perceived "eye-sores" and how the windmills "blight" otherwise beautiful countryside. Well, in my opinion, they have their very own beauty, last but not least because I know we truly need them if we want to keep consuming energy at the rate we are doing these days.
Have you ever stood real close to one? If you listen to the swooshing sound the blades make, you can almost imagine you were by the sea, and you hear the waves leisurely moving up the beach, then retreating back into the vastness of the ocean only to return the next moment at their own incessant rhythm - a calming, soothing sound, and really not noisy. Road traffic is much, much louder!
Maybe the odd bird gets too close occasionally, but - without being able to cite statistics - I do believe the number of animals killed by the roadside of our way too many cars is much higher. And generally, there is no decline in wildlife in those areas of the Black Forest where windmills are. Of course animals retreat while the building is going on, but once the heavy machinery and people have left, things return to normal.
According to information I found on the internet and on boards at the wind farm, the masts are 149 m high. Each rotor blade is 56 m long and weighs 26 tons!
Anyway - to get there, we walked for quite a while, taking in the sights as we got nearer. There were other places of interest along the way, such as the "pioneer stone", a memorial erected by the troops who, a long time ago, built the road in this part of the forest, or the small devotional dedicated to Mary in the year 1797.
We chose a different path back to the village of Diersburg, where we had parked the car, and O.K. showed me the ruins of castle Diersburg.
Altogether, we had probably walked somewhere around 3 or 4 hours, and enjoyed it very much. Many weekends have been grey and wet this winter, so we were glad to get the chance for good long walk.
I like the windmills, functional and beautiful. I don't know windmills at all but I do know the sound of traffic and you are correct, car noise is very loud!
ReplyDeleteA good long walk...that has been most difficult for us this winter, glad you and OK were able to go for one!
Yes, we took the chance when we had it - no such luck last Sunday, when the day started sunny and beautiful but by the time we would have been ready to go out, it was first raining, then turning into sleet and finally snow.
DeleteI am always astonished when I hear or read how enormous these windmills are. But I think they do very good work in the world. I'm so glad you had this beautiful walk.
ReplyDeleteThey really are huge, and yet they look almost fragile at a distance. We, too, were glad we were able to go on that walk,
DeleteI am rather a fan of windmills. 150 years ago people moaned about the railways, and yet those quaint rural lines are so well loved - and would be even more adored if the once-reviled steam trains were puffing up and down! I think that sometimes beauty really is in the eye of the beholder!
ReplyDeleteIt definitely is, Jenny! Glad to know you see the beauty in windmills, too.
DeleteThinking of the negative comments I have read about them elsewhere (not just on blogs), it seems like it is the same with so many things: We are all for cleaner, renewable energy sources; we want to have easy access to cheap travel; we wish to be able to order online and have things delivered to our doorstep at the drop of a hat - as long as the necessary infrastructure is not in our own back yard...
We too admire elegant windmills and Brenda often goes on about how nimbys should see our overhead power lines cutting huge swaths through the countryside here in the north
ReplyDeleteNimbys? I don't understand that term, but I understand we are on the same wavelength when it comes to windmills!
DeleteI have no objections to wind farms; I don’t like it when there are dozens or even hundreds massed together, but we need renewable energy, that’s for sure. Like everything else, we get used to them and I agree, they do have a clean and neat kind of beauty all of their own.
ReplyDeletebtw: nimbys = not in my back yard people.
Thank you for explaining about the nimbys! Yes, dozens ore hundreds of windmills are a different sight, but I suppose they are necessary in some areas if the energy created from them is really to make a difference.
DeleteGlad to know you can see their beauty, too!
I, too, am a fan of windmills and whilst I'd be a bit upset if one was put between my house and the sea because it would spoil my beautiful view I'd be quite happy with them on the moor nearby where I could still see them (and keep my view!). So I'm not a NIMBY just a NIFOMH.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the windmills fan club, Graham :-)
DeleteI'll join the fan club as well, even if I can understand if people don't want them so close to their home that the sound from them becomes a problem, for example. But we certainly need to make more use of both wind and sun to produce power. I don't see any windmills around here in my daily life, but when I've been making my holiday trips by car with my brother in summer, I've seen quite a few on the fields out in the countryside.
ReplyDeleteThe sound from the windmills we visited was not lout; the cars (and my neighbours!) in my neighbourhood create much more noise. When I read up on the windmills while preparing this post, I found that apparently the slightly curved shape of the rotor blades was mainly chosen to reduce any potential noise.
DeleteOh, and welcome to the club, too, Monica :-)
Touche. Solid arguments. Keep up the good effort.
ReplyDelete