Practise Exam Question – Q1, Week 1 (Wind Farms)

What do you learn from Ben Leach’s article about the issues and concerns regarging the building of wind farms?

Before reading this article I thought that wind farms were widely encouraged and very supported by the public because of its green, renewable process which helps the planet. However, from Ben Leach’s article, I’ve learnt about the many issues surrounding wind farms.
Firstly, the turbines aren’t really pleasing to the eye. They would ruin the natural landscape of the coastal areas like Cornwall and Lake District. This would reduce the amount of tourists coming to the coast which would further dampen the name and legacy of ‘said’ coast.
In addition, I’ve learnt that these wind turbines could be a huge hazard to the wildlife on the coast (especially birds). These birds could easily fly into the spinning turbines which, in effect, would make the coastline look like the inside of a slaughter house.
Surprisingly, many environmentalists oppose it which is strange because you’d think that they would be in favour of renewable energy sources. However, from the article I can see that they are focussing on the local impacts instead of the global ones.
Overall, I think that the issues and concerns on the coast are true and justified but it is a form of renewable energy. It might cause some protests but, in the long run it would indirectly aid those very objectors with energy.


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One response to “Practise Exam Question – Q1, Week 1 (Wind Farms)”

  1. Christopher Waugh Avatar

    This is a good response to the question.

    By identifying what you already thought, you were able to show a level of engagement that is expected for the top marks. You also then expressed the unexpectedness of some of the information – again, this is more developed than simply stating what each party thought.

    The fact that you were able to conceptualise it as a ‘local vs global’ matter was a sign of a clear grasp of the wider issues and prior knowledge of the matter – which will always be rewarded over a simple re-statement of what is already in the article (as long as you DO also carefully cover all that is said in the article too)

    This would have received a mark of about 7/8 (around A)

    What was missing was (all related to balance)

    1) A clear statement about the fact that there are strong views on both sides of the argument
    2) More specific reference to the text, particularly related to the pro-windfarm position

React!