I AM more than a little surprised that the Greens and the loony left have not shouted out about the plans for 130 new wind turbines off Newcastle, only 25 kilometres off the coast, well in the area of shipping ('Winds of change', Newcastle Herald 23/2). Recent coal mine leases cancelled were over 50 kilometres from the barrier reef.
Each turbine will require around 300 litres of synthetic oil that will need changing every three to six years. That's around 40,000 litres with lots of polypropylene in it. Oil is also needed for open gearing of the turbines. They last 20 years, while coal-fired power stations endure around 40 years. On top of that is the infrastructure needed to connect the turbines to land and then to the grid. That's 25 kilometres of cabling on the ocean floor by my calculations, then more to convert DC to AC current, either at the turbine or on shore.
