[machine translation]
Under the pretext of development of renewable energy, wind turbines grow and multiply. But
the benefits are rather financial and ecological. ---- Capitalism, again, is very hard to
recover and divert all that could help transform society. The wind could be a solution to
climate change and a tool for individual autonomy and territories, with little wind and
cooperative individual or communal farms of reasonable size. All this coupled with other
sources of renewable energy, especially in a significant reduction in energy consumption.
---- But capitalism has decided otherwise, and turned it into a huge industry sector
representing a wealth of additional benefits for large groups of energy. So much for
ecology. ---- The most striking example of this logic in France is the proposed
construction of three offshore wind farms off the coast of Normandy. These parks, 125 wind
turbines each, will be the work of a consortium of Areva, GDF-Suez and Vinci, names that
are chilling. And permits were granted without any any knowledge about the environmental
and social impact of parks of this size, offshore wind is not in its infancy. Not to
mention that France has no expertise in the matter: no driver park, little training in
this area, no pool training hard for the maintenance of these machines as there are in
Germany. But no matter, our beautiful multinationals take care of everything!
As a matter of
I must say that the wind is big (otherwise, these multinationals do not appear be
interested!)... With the support of the state. In fact, EDF is forced to buy the "green"
electricity at a higher than market price, to encourage the development of this sector.
This grant is paid by all taxpayers, via the contribution to public service electricity
(CSPE), which is increasing and is already more than a hundred euros per year on
electricity bills.
But wind power is big business as landowners: in different places, you can rent his land
for the installation of a wind turbine between 5,000 and 10,000 euros per year. If you
have a large plot of land on which you install 10 wind turbines, you'll win more than
100,000 euros per year. Paid by the taxpayer, since everyone uses electricity.
This also gives rise to trial for conflict of interest, since many elected rural councils
allow wind turbines on their communes, which are then installed, coincidentally, their
land and relate them thousands of euros!
But it can also lead to land speculation, with property developers who bought land for
rent to electricity producers. At the same time, residents of the parks suffer the decline
in value of their property, between 20 and 30% on average, because who would buy a giant
150-meter steel hums continuously face? Not to mention the evidence of corruption,
reluctant to install a park under the table lamp offer beautiful are "compensation".
And the environment in all this?
But apart from generating money that benefits those already in the industrial wind he
generates only progress for the environment? As the studies produced emanate only
industrial sector, it is still difficult to get a clear idea. However, more and more
critics are heard.
On the one hand, wind turbines now reaching excessive heights, they extremely heavy and
deep foundations need 800 tons of steel and concrete, some of which remain in the soil
after dismantling.
On the other hand, every industrial wind contains more than 600 kilograms of rare earth
metals from whose production is more than 90% in China. The AFP has published its 2011
survey The Ravages of rare earth in China showing the dramatic impact of production
processes that are particularly explode the number of cancers among workers and residents
of farms.
Finally, a study of the Spanish Ornithological Society estimates that 6-18000000 birds,
and more bats die every year because of the 18,000 wind turbines installed in Spain. This
leaves the field open for insect proliferation, and could affect the final agricultural
production.
The energy, the common good
Above all, it is the use of wind power as a solution to climate change which is
increasingly challenged. Because wind is intermittent (depending on wind conditions), the
compensation is done by energy production is easy to modulate: thermal coal or gas power
plants. In the current logic high energy and huge consumption power grids, wind power is
thus necessarily accompanied by CO2 emissions.
France, which now has about 5,000 wind turbines, thus saw the flowering of collective
industrial wind against this pest, trying to prevent the planned installation of
additional equipment 15,000 in the coming years. These struggles often denigrated for
Nimby ( Not in my backyard "not in my backyard") and make the play of the nuclear
industry, however, raise the question of industrialization and privatization of renewable
energy, all with respect sectors: solar, biomass, biogas, etc.
This logic must be broken, so that the energy becomes a common good whose production and
distribution will be managed collectively within ecological limits of the planet.
Jocelyn (AL Gard)
