Scotland destroyed nearly 16 million trees to build wind farms, says minister
The Scottish National Party (SNP) this month admitted to destroying 15.7 million trees to make room for wind turbines, raising questions about the government’s commitment to “fighting climate change”.
In a June 13th letter to Tory Member of Scottish Parliament (MSP) Liam Kerr, Scotland’s Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon revealed that since 2000 the SNP has removed 7,858 hectares of trees. Each hectare contained about 2,000 trees.
“This gives an estimated total of 15.7 million trees which have been felled in order to facilitate windfarm development,” wrote Gougeon, adding that wind farm developers are “expected” to replant the trees.
“Where woodland is removed in association with development, developers will generally be expected to provide compensatory planting in order to avoid a net loss of woodland,” the minister said, though it is unclear how many trees have actually been replanted.
Wind turbines are considered a form of “renewable energy” which use wind to generate electricity with reportedly less carbon emissions. According to the Telegraph, Scotland already has enough wind turbines to generate over half of the UK’s total energy usage, but the government still plans to erect more.
Trees also have a significant impact on the environment, however, with the average mature tree absorbing between 48 and 200 pounds of carbon dioxide annually. And while estimates claim wind farms are more effective than trees at “fighting climate change,” critics point out that removing trees and constructing wind farms issues many carbon emissions. This is a process that repeats itself every 20 years, which is the wind turbine life expectancy.
Furthermore, technical malfunctions of turbines — some of which are 850 feet tall — can cost millions of dollars to repair.
“These accidents and faults are causing hundreds of millions of dollars to fix and it is inevitable that insurance prices for wind farms will rise as a result. All of which is testing the definition of cheap in cheap energy,” reports Spectator Australia.
Insurer Gcube Underwriting CEO Fraser McLachlan said the rate of malfunctions is “concerning”.
"We're seeing these failures happening in a shorter time frame on the newer turbines, and that's quite concerning," McLachlan stated.
Spectator Australia reports that when it comes to climate technology like wind turbines, “rose-coloured propaganda vastly outweighs statistical data.”
Scottish MSP Liam Kerr says communities are concerned about the felling of trees to make way for wind farms.
“I’ve been contacted many times by rural communities all over the country questioning the location of these developments, sharing legitimate concerns not just about the visual impact but also damage to wildlife and business. Now we learn there’s significant damage when it comes to trees,” said Kerr.
