Photography challenge: E is for Energy

A windy day in the Carlton Gardens - Hochgurtel Fountain

Over the last few years, it seems like it is more windy than usual in Melbourne. Is it just me? The wind allowed me to take this beautiful shot of the Hochgurtel Fountain in front of the Exhibition Building in the Carlton Gardens. Apart from that, it is also a great source of renewable energy. 

Victoria is well known for experiencing great wind speeds, especially along the Southern Coast and higher altitude areas. It makes sense that we should take advantage of this natural phenomenon and use it to create renewable energy through wind farms. 

However, when the Victorian Liberal party came into power last year, they changed the law regarding where wind farms could be located. Wind turbines cannot be placed in specified ‘no go areas’ such as the Mornington Peninsula, Yarra Valley, Dandenongs, Bellarine Peninsula and Great Ocean Road, within five kilometres of 21 regional cities or within land two kilometres of a home without written consent from the homeowner. 

The change certainly makes it a lot harder to start a wind farm in Victoria and the limited locations for them means that a lot of potential jobs in the wind turbine industry may not be realised. 

There have also been health concerns raised about living close to wind turbines, including the ‘shadow flicker’ (the shadow casted by the blades) causing seizures and sleep problems as a result of the operational noise. 

I certainly don’t discount the concerns that nearby residents would have to living near a wind turbine. I have visited a wind farm before and the noise didn’t seem too bad, but I don’t live near a wind turbine to really experience the daily impacts. 

But I do think that if we are serious about becoming a more environmentally responsible country (and state), some work needs to be done to improve the laws regarding wind farms in Victoria to allow us to harness wind energy.