It is heartening to read that residents like Ray Solomon ('Stats Fire Up Fears', 23 September, 2014) are choosing support their opinions with references.
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However, the credibility of the report Mr. Solomon refers to should be questioned.
he numbers are an extrapolation of data published by a well-known UK anti-wind farm lobby group, the Caithness Windfarm Information Forum.
Also, one of the authors of the report, Dr Guillermo Rein, has stated, "Our 10-times extrapolation. is based on the assumption of uniform failure rates for all failure types (blades, fire, structure, etc).
This assumption is not a strong one and would need to be double check (sic) with higher quality data.We could have emphasized this weakness."
Residents should be rightly concerned about the bush fire risk in the Macedon Ranges. One of the effects of climate change is the increase in the frequency and intensity of bushfires in SE Australia.
To mitigate this, we must quickly move away from burning fossil fuels and greatly increase the installation of a suite of renewable energy technologies, including wind, to deliver a clean energy future.
Wind is a rich energy resource in the Macedon Ranges, and residents shouldn't be subjected to a litany of disinformation when it comes to the planning and development of suitable wind farm projects in the region.
The Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council stated, "wind farms are not expected to present elevated risks to operations compared to other electrical infrastructure."
And perhaps the last word from Dr. Rein, "I would like to defend the robust fire safety record of the wind industry. A frequency of one fire per 10,000 turbines that our paper reports makes wind one of the safest energy source."