WIND TURBINES AND LANDSCAPE TRANSFORMATION: A NECESSITY TURNED TO AN ARTIFACT

One of the biggest environmental threats of our planet nowadays is climate change, following from the greenhouse gas emissions which are mainly a result of energy production with conventional fuels [1]. In order to cover the current multiplying needs of our society in energy use, there is an international call for using sustainable methods of energy production so that the natural environment is efficiently protected at present as well as in the years to come.
In the context of promoting “clean” energy, like solar, wind, geothermal and other, wind turbines are widely used and promoted as they are considered an important short-term solution for the battle of climate change. Their technology is based on the same principles of function of the traditional windmills found all over Europe since Antiquity, which converted the power of wind to mechanical power for grinding grain or pumping water. As the modern version of windmills, the wind turbines convert the Aeolian energy to electricity with the help of a generator, simply by using wind as fuel. In spite the simplicity of the concept of energy transformation, the use of wind turbines has been an ambivalent topic of discussion as concerns their positive and negative impacts on the landscape, the economy and the wellbeing of the local society.
There are various installations of wind turbines, according to their size and capacity. Small turbines below 100 KW, are usually found in small groups e.g. on a bridge, or single on buildings for residential use. Because of their size and elegant design they may be located in urban open space as a sculpture, an artifact which is both functional and attractive.
Large turbines are often found in different environments and patterns, on land or offshore in large bodies of water. When on land, they are usually grouped in a row along a highway, on a mountain ridge, or in a wide area of many hectares into plantations, and rarely may they be found single in private properties and exceptionally on a building.
The discussion around the environmental and socio – economic effects focuses on large wind turbines which are most cost-effective when grouped, may support the electrical grid, but at the same time cause greater transformation of the landscape and as a consequence, they become subject of opposition by the public and the scientific community.