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The wind industry and those that promote it look more ridiculous, by the day. An entirely weather dependent power source, abandoned a couple of centuries back for pretty obvious reasons, exhibits all the resilience of a snowflake in summer.

The irony that some ordinary old meteorological phenomenon (wind, rain and lightning) can easily knock wind turbines out of the game is, no doubt, lost on the wind cult. Surely, these incidents must be the result of some evil fossil-fuelled conspiracy?

When Hurricane Maria visited Puerto Rico last year, she managed to splatter wind turbine blades all over the island, leaving residents completely powerless: Weather Dependent Wind Power: Leaves Hurricane Victims Powerless

A typhoon in Taiwan did much the same:

Earlier this year in Ireland, a bolt from the blue smashed the blades of one of these whirling wonders to smithereens:

The self-immolation these things experience is so common that we could dedicate a separate site to these exhilarating and photogenic moments in our ‘inevitable transition’ to nature’s wonder fuels.

The crowd-pulling pyrotechnics depicted below might be seen as a reasonable substitute for the fun and games of bonfire night, but to locals it’s just another terrifying aspect of life after these things get speared into their backyards.

The incineration of a toxic cocktail of hydraulic oil (around 1,000 litres thereof), plastics, metals (like aluminium and copper) and fibreglass composites (around 10-12 tonnes worth in each of its three 45-55m blades) would, no doubt, prompt sensible mothers to drag their brood indoors to escape the poisonous plume.

The irony being that, yet again, it’s a natural phenomenon that brought this high-tech example of modern power generation to its knees; and locals fleeing for their lives.

A £1 million wind turbine – erected 11 years ago- is being allowed to burn itself out after being struck by lightning in the early hours of today.

Wisbech Standard

Ben Jolley

30 May 2018

Fire crews are at the scene of the blaze at Ransonmoor wind farm near Doddington.

Former fireman David Oldale, who woke up this morning to receive a phone call from his daughter who lives in a farm house next door to the wind turbine, said: “I would leave it it’s too dangerous, I’d let it go.

“It started in the motor room where the turbine is at several hundred feet.

“It’s gradually burning down the tower; all the bits are dropping off.

“The fire crews are still here and I think they are going to let it burnt out, because there’s nothing else they can do really.”

One woman wrote on social media: “I can see it from my house, probably the lightning storm.”

Cambs Fire and Rescue crews are currently at the scene.

Ransonmoor wind farm is located in the Fens of Cambridgeshire.

Wisbech Standard