alternatives

[Franz Schoenhofer <schoenho@via.at>]

At 13:47 01.05.2000 -0500, you wrote:
>Short term - a phase out of nuclear and coal, replaced by natural gas.
Long term - real investments in all of the alternatives out there, from
wind to solar to hydro to wave to fuel cells. 

I have my objections to almost all of your "alternatives". But let me
shortly comment on only one: wind.

I recently read an article in a paper, that in a neighbouring country of
Germany (I did not spare the clip) there have been tremendous protests
against the plans to construct a "wind park" close to the border. Citizens
oppose it because of the tremendous noise these wind wheels generate and
even more because it is an "esthetic environmental pollution" of having
dozens or hundreds of these hughe wheels on the horizon. I do not know,
whether you have ever seen or rather heard such a "plant". I have seem
single wind turbines for instance in Denmark, which were obviously supposed
to generate electricity for a single farm. The noise was terrible and I can
hardly believe that the inhabitants of the farm could stand it. I have seen
the plant in Southern Spain at the Mediterranean cost. I thought it very
curious, when driving by, but since I did not stop I did not hear noise and
I only thought that this was a really impact on the landscape. The worst
experience is anyway the operation at the southern point of the Big Island
of Hawaii. In a peaceful landscape one suddenly is confronted with a very
big area covered with big wind wheels, causing a hardly standable noise and
squeeking, rotors lying on the ground, indicating that it probably does not
pay to repair the devices. This is environmental pollution and not the
attocuries of I-131 per cubic-kilometer caused by nuclear power plants.

Are these the alternatives you promise us? 

By the way, two or three RADSAFErs had the impression that I had a too hard
attack on you by asking you why you post to RADSAFE. I have not heard any
complaint by you yet. I hope you can stand my question out of curiosity why
you post to RADSAFE, because your accusations in terms of enhanced infant
mortality, dramatically enhanced breast cancer incidence, leukemia etc. are
very close to accusation of criminal activities. Please comment.

Franz




Franz Schoenhofer
Habicherg. 31/7
A-1160 Vienna
Austria
Tel.: +43-1-495 53 08
Fax.: same number
mobile phone: +43-664-338 0 333
e-mail: schoenho@via.at


Office:
Hofrat Dr. Franz Schoenhofer
Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management
Radiation Protection Department (BMLFUW I/8 U)
Radetzkystr. 2
A-1031 Vienna
AUSTRIA

phone: -43-1-71172-4458
fax: -43-1-7122331

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