An Independent TD for Donegal has called on the Minister for Energy to implement a moratorium on on-shore wind farming, until all other alternative energy sources have been explored.
Thomas Pringle was speaking in the Dáil recently where he said “a moratorium on on-shore wind farms is the only way to force the Government to focus on other options while also preserving communities across the country.
“There has been a dominant focus of renewable energy on wind farming in the past decade but technology has moved on and is showing progress in other areas such as biomass which could create sustainable, local, indigenous jobs in counties like Donegal,” the Independent TD said.
“The Government and Airtricity plan to spend over €4.2 billion to upgrade electricity infrastructure solely to accommodate industrial wind farms.
“A fraction of this money, about €400m, could be used to convert Money Point to run off wood biomass which would meet our Kyoto and EU targets in one go,” Pringle said.
Pringle said that despite ongoing consultations, communities continue to carry the costs of industrial wind farming. Pringle also said that even while communities may get a dividend from such investment in the future, they will still disproportionately carry the burden of the €4.2 billion investment when it is passed on to the consumers.
