Out on the winding, windy moor...

Some months ago we ventured out to see the wind turbines on Scout Moor, on the moors above Rochdale (http://www.scoutmoorwindfarm.co.uk). It wasn’t the best day, being completely grey, misty and lashing it down, but we braved the elements and had a bit of a walk across to where we thought the turbines were. Occasionally, as the cloud lifted and the rain blew in a slightly different direction, we caught a glimpse of the blades turning, but other than that we could have been on any wind-swept, rain battered moor in the land.
Cut to a second visit during the recent spell of crisp, cold weather. All 26 of the turbines were visible and we had a great walk up to the top of Knowl Hill where you could see the majority of the giant blades turning in the stiff breeze. It looked fantastic, like giants waving their arms about in a regular but slightly manic fashion. Standing underneath I wondered if, should one of the blades fall off (ok, so I think about things like that, get over it) would we be able to run out of the way quickly enough. At 40 metres long I doubt it. Let’s hope that never happens, otherwise the 40,000 houses this wind farm supplies will be affected.
In recent weeks attention has turned once again to the Russian gas producers and their ongoing spat with Ukraine over alleged stealing and non-payment of bills. In retaliation, Putin has thrown his dummy out of the pram and cut the supply to Ukraine. This has the knock-on effect of reducing supplies to other east European countries such as Bulgaria and Slovakia who rely on gas from Russia and whose access to it is via a pipeline that crosses Ukraine. The whole of Europe is now concerned they’ll be freezing over the next two months as power-mad short-arse Vladimir Putin shows what a mighty country Russia is and tries to improve his position by bullying neighbours and blackmailing them over gas.
If ever an event showed us it is time to look at more alternative sources of energy it is now. Stop using the excuse this technology is too expensive to invest in, you poured enough money into failing banks over the last months, and provide incentives in cleaner, greener energy that make it affordable. Then we can all do what everyone wants to but no-one dares – stick two fingers up to Putin.