Communities can make wind work

The Daily Telegraph has published an article explaining a key reason for wind turbine NIMBY-ism: lack of community involvement and investment. If people in a community can work together, to overcome differences of opinion and ultimately benefit directly from a renewable energy venture, then not-in-my-back-yard becomes a thing of the past.

The community-led approach is how most wind turbine projects work in most of Europe, with emphasis on how self-sufficient in energy a town or village is. To often in the UK, private companies try to 'do it their way' and discourage involvement from locals - or at least, only just enough to get it through planning.

The Telegraph 'Earth News' article, entitled Why wind farms can work for communities, has attracted some scathing comments of course, but sums up the philosophy nicely. It states, "One way or another, communities are going to have to become providers of energy, rather than just consumers".

If communities will benefit from wind energy, communities will support it!