{"id":286775,"date":"2023-11-06T12:50:22","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T11:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=286775"},"modified":"2023-11-06T12:50:25","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T11:50:25","slug":"thermal-reaction-neighbours-demand-protection-from-raging-wind-turbine-fires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=286775","title":{"rendered":"Thermal Reaction: Neighbours Demand Protection From Raging Wind Turbine\u00a0Fires"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Campaigners are calling for a mandatory two-mile buffer zone between wind turbines and residential homes amid claims of a rising number of wind farm accidents.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scotland Against Spin (SAS) was set up in mid-January 2013 by a small group of experienced campaigners who have been active at local and national levels for a number of years. It is one of our founding principles that SAS is independent of any political party, lobbying organisation, landowner or developer. SAS is entirely funded by donations from supporters, and all our personnel are volunteers.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From STOP THESE THINGS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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Way more common than the industry lets on, self-combusting industrial wind turbines pose a deadly threat to life and property. When these 300 tonne juggernauts go up in flames it\u2019s time to cut and run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if flying chunks of burning toxic plastics and molten metals aren\u2019t enough to contend with, neighbours have been dodging whole blades, and chunks thereof<\/a>, when they unshackle during what the industry calls \u2018component liberation\u2019, for years now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, and flicking enormous chunks of ice<\/a> at supersonic speed into other people\u2019s backyards is yet another exciting aspect of our grand energy \u2018transition\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Scotland, our compatriots, Scotland Against Spin are calling for some kind of safety buffer, although in STT\u2019s view, they\u2019d be better off trying to stop these things, for all time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Campaigners call for two-mile wind farm buffer zones amid reports of rise in accidents<\/strong>
The Scotsman
Paul Wilson
9 October 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scotland Against Spin<\/a> (SAS), the independent alliance campaigning for reform of the Scottish Government\u2019s wind energy policy, says that as more turbines are built, more accidents are occurring, which it claims pose a threat to public safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Scottish Government said there was currently no \u201crecommended minimum distance between onshore wind turbines and residential properties\u201d and that health and safety around wind turbines was reserved to the UK Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAS say turbines have been involved in hundreds of incidents since the first facilities were launched in the 1990s, and insist they should be at least two-miles from homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say shards of blades have been documented travelling up to one mile after shearing off, with turbine fires presenting risks to nearby buildings from flying debris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spokesman said: \u201cThe two-mile buffer zone is both for public safety and also for health grounds. Constant exposure to turbine noise is recognised to cause sleeplessness, anxiety, stress and can cause all sorts of mental and physical health problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is conveniently overlooked both in planning assessments and by any regulations, and is a real problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last November, an 18.5m tall wind turbine caught fire near St Cyrus, Aberdeenshire. Locals reported seeing debris on fire flying off the turbine and getting caught in the wind, causing smaller fires in nearby fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last July, a wind turbine between West Kilbride and Dalry, North Ayrshire, caught fire, sending out plumes of black smoke. In the same month, fire destroyed a wind turbine near Ardrossan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previous incidents have included a 140-turbine wind farm near Glasgow being temporarily shut down after a 14-tonne fibreglass blade broke off in windy conditions and landed at the base of its tower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAS has compiled a compendium of accident data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spokesman said: \u201cAs more turbines are built, more accidents occur.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: \u201cThis general trend upward in accident numbers is predicted to continue to escalate unless the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) make some significant changes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAS says the data show that blade failure is the most common accident associated with wind turbines, closely followed by fire. They say GCube, the largest provider of insurance to renewable energy schemes, has confirmed an average of 50 wind turbine fires a year but say this is a huge under estimate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The spokesman added: \u201cThe biggest problem with turbine fires is that, because of the turbine height, the fire brigade can do little but watch it burn itself out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile this may be acceptable in reasonably still conditions, in a storm it means burning debris being scattered over a wide area.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Finnish Ministry of Health has called for a minimum distance of 2km from houses and in 2016 Bavaria passed laws requiring a minimum 2km distance between turbines and homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Scottish Government spokesman said: \u201cThere is no recommended minimum distance between onshore wind turbines and residential properties. Policy 11 of NPF4 (National Planning Framework]) makes clear that potential impacts on communities, nature and other receptors will be important considerations in the decision-making process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAdditionally, the policy requires that project design and mitigation will demonstrate how impacts on communities and individual dwellings will be addressed.\u201d
The Scotsman<\/strong><\/em><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Campaigners are calling for a mandatory two-mile buffer zone between wind turbines and residential homes amid claims of a rising number of wind farm accidents. Scotland Against Spin (SAS) was set up in mid-January 2013 by a small group of experienced campaigners who have been active at local and national levels for a number of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":286782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Campaigners are calling for a mandatory two-mile buffer zone between wind turbines and residential homes amid claims of a rising number of wind farm accidents.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691824325,691824327,691824328,691824326],"class_list":{"0":"post-286775","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-scotland-against-spin-sas","9":"tag-scottish-government","10":"tag-turbine-fires","11":"tag-wind-energy-policy","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/00Banner-4.jpg?fit=1930%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1cBp","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":339407,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=339407","url_meta":{"origin":286775,"position":0},"title":"Wind turbines taller than skyscrapers to march across British countryside","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"13\/08\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Giant wind turbines taller than London\u2019s Gherkin building are to be built across Britain\u2019s countryside after Ed Miliband rejected calls to impose a height limit.","rel":"","context":"In \"850ft\"","block_context":{"text":"850ft","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=850ft"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0-biggest-wind-turbines.jpeg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0-biggest-wind-turbines.jpeg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0-biggest-wind-turbines.jpeg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0-biggest-wind-turbines.jpeg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0-biggest-wind-turbines.jpeg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":420666,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=420666","url_meta":{"origin":286775,"position":1},"title":"Scotland\u2019s biggest offshore wind farm wasting three quarters of energy","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/01\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Scotland's largest operational offshore wind farm, the Seagreen project (1.075 GW capacity, 114 turbines, operated by SSE Renewables and TotalEnergies), reportedly wasted around 77% of its generated electricity in 2025 due to grid constraints. 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From collapsing or burning turbines, to snapped lines, to plastics pollution and the need to burn fossil fuels to keep turbines running, Wind Power is failing on every front except government funded subsidies.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/0Screenshot-2023-02-10-173530.png?fit=896%2C502&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/0Screenshot-2023-02-10-173530.png?fit=896%2C502&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/0Screenshot-2023-02-10-173530.png?fit=896%2C502&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/0Screenshot-2023-02-10-173530.png?fit=896%2C502&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=286775"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":286786,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286775\/revisions\/286786"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/286782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=286775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=286775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=286775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}