North Hambleton Wind Farm Action Group
Fighting to protect the beautiful countryside of North Hambleton from being spoiled by industrial wind turbines.
Date of Next Annual General Meeting
Spring 2025
In 2008, Pure Renewable Energy submitted a proposal to install 125m high wind turbines at Ingram Grange Farm, Appleton Wiske. Some of the turbines would be 400 metres from people's houses. The North Hambleton Wind Farm Action Group (NHWAG) was established by local villagers appalled at the impact these huge machines would have on their quality of life and on their community.
Location of turbines proposed by Pure Renewable Energies (PRE). In 2008 a scoping request was made to Hambleton District Council. The scoping request proposed nine 125m high turbines.
But don't wind turbines help to stop Global Warming?
Does wind energy really help to save the planet? On the surface it seems obvious that it does, and of course wind energy is free. But why did everybody stop using free wind energy when the invention of the steam engine allowed coal to be used? The big problem with wind is that in spite of past claims by government and the wind industry that the wind always blows somewhere, the evidence shows this is not the case.
Wind is variable. When the wind doesn't blow, electricity must be generated using coal and natural gas. On average, wind turbines produce about 20 - 30% of their maximum generating capacity but there are many periods when this drops to less than 10%, and even to less than 5%. In addition, large coal and gas fired power stations work at optimum efficiency when running steadily. When they have to be ramped up and down to compensate for the changes in wind energy, efficiency is invariably compromised which means increased CO2 production.
Two of our members have conducted detailed research using published data from the National Grid. Even with the ever-increasing amount of offshore turbines which are supposed to suffer less from variable wind speeds, there are still long periods when a lack of wind means that the UK power generation is almost completely on nuclear power and gas. Click on the button below to see how often wind 'lulls' result in wind generating less than 5% of our electricity demand and check out our weekly output verse grid demand reports in facts and figures tab of this website.
In spite of numerous requests, the government has never been prepared to say how much actual CO2 has been saved by the thousands of wind turbines that have been erected across our beautiful countryside.