May 10, 2005
Potential Energy
There is always a fair amount of disruption caused by any major construction work, and Shell Oil's plan to build a pipeline and pumping station in north Mayo is no exception. The last time I was in Erris, dozens of trucks and escavation machines were busy clearing the site (and, as the Western People reports, not all of them make it to the destination safely).
Meanwhile in Donegal, the Irish Independent reports that the twelfth windfarm in the county was opened a couple of weekends ago. Donegal now produces one-third of all wind energy generated in the republic.
...the 38-turbine Meentycat windfarm in the Cark mountains, north of Ballybofey, can produce enough power to supply 45,000 households and is three times bigger than any windfarm in Ireland to date. Airtricity says it is capable of saving 200,000 carbon dioxide emissions per annum - the equivalent of taking 45,000 cars off the road.
Great stuff, eh? The last sentence in the article does point to the downside of 'green' energy.
The 38 turbines at Meentycat in Co Donegal are accessible by 22km of specially constructed road in the €86m project, which has been under construction for the past year.
So that's how to get new road projects past those pesky tree-huggers - stick up a few windmills and you can tarmac the hills to your hearts content...
PS If you're wondering why the photo has a 'menacing' blue tint, let me explain... I've just got a new camera and headed off last weekend to try it out. It's got lot's of buttons on the back of it, and I used my own tried 'trial and error' method to figure them out (yes, the camera did come with a user manual, but do you really think the Almighty gave me a Y chromosome to waste it reading instructions?). As a result, the first gigabyte of photos taken have a nice blue tint, courtesy of my inadvertently switching the white balance to "Tungsten" - it's not quite on a par with leaving the lens cap on, but it's not far off.
Posted by Monasette at May 10, 2005 11:21 PMI'm from Germany and I've just been to Donegal this weekend. Being delighted by the gorgeous landscape I was simply shocked, when we came across one of these huge wind farms. They can really ruin a lot. I just don't understand why almost nobody tries to stop them.
Posted by: Oskar at May 11, 2005 11:53 AMI realize it is easy for me to say since I only visit Ireland every few years and don't have to see the windmill farm everyday but keeping the emissions out of the atmosphere is vitally important. The New Yorker just finished a three part series on global warming and greenhouse gases that is a must read for anyone who gives a rap about the sort of lives their grandchildren and great grandchildren will lead. I suppose that we could give up our heated pools and suvs but that is probably asking too much.
So what is the new camera John? My advice.. Shoot in RAW. It gives a bigger file but is much easier to work with and easily overcomes accidental WB mistakes.
Posted by: Sean McCormack at May 12, 2005 03:20 AMHi Sean,
I was actually using the 350D, and was shooting in RAW. I could have changed it in Photoshop, but for this photo, the colorcast kinda suited the shot. Funnily enough, when I was taking the photos, I kept thinking that the LCD screen had a funny blue cast (duh!).
Congrats on the new camera. I'm stuck with 300D with my 20D away. I'm only a little envious!
Posted by: Sean McCormack at May 12, 2005 04:59 PMI have difficulty understanding people's objections to windfarms. Aesthetically, I think they are magnificent and inspiring. Utilitarian, certainly, but so too, in their day, were the castles, bridges, water-mills and other human infrastructure which we now revere as "rustic" and "in keeping with the environment". When considered alongside Moneypoint's chimneys, they become even more beautiful!
However, the Derrybrien landslide is indeed a reminder that this kind of development is not necessarily always environmentally friendly.
Posted by: Imeallach at May 14, 2005 11:40 AM