Letters / The wind farm delusion
Some seem to believe that building more wind farms in Shetland is a necessary (if unwelcome) contribution to tackling climate change. This claim does not withstand even basic scrutiny.
The United Kingdom currently accounts for approximately one per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. What is more, UK emissions have been falling year on year for over three decades—down by over 50 per cent since 1990, and now at their lowest levels since the 1870s.
Scotland’s share is around 10 per cent of that total, meaning its contribution to global emissions is roughly 0.1 per cent. Shetland’s contribution, in turn, is a mere fraction of that—estimated at less than 0.0003 per cent of the global total.
Even if Shetland’s entire emissions footprint were erased overnight, the impact on global climate would be mathematically negligible.
Meanwhile, global emissions continue to rise, driven largely by China (over 30 per cent of global emissions), the United States (around 14 per cent), India, and other rapidly industrialising economies.
Whatever moral weight we attach to local action, it is a statistical fact that what happens in Shetland—or even in Scotland—does not influence the global trajectory.
And yet, it is Shetland’s most ecologically sensitive landscapes that are being targeted in the name of “net zero.” The way the UK and Scottish governments are choosing to pursue their climate targets is increasingly detrimental to the environment itself -particularly through a predilection for industrialising fragile habitats under the banner of green energy.
In Shetland, that means vast turbines and road networks imposed on land that is home to rare species, wetland systems, and carbon-rich soils. Wind farms are being installed with a design lifespan of around 40 years, yet we are told this destruction represents long-term climate leadership.
It does not!
There is no functional equivalence between short-term infrastructure and the environmental value of what is being lost.
Nor is there any functional climate benefit. Scotland already generates more electricity from renewables than it consumes—113 per cent in 2022. The claim that building yet more turbines in Shetland will slow climate change is not just exaggerated – it is a myth.
These projects are not solving a generation problem. They are serving a grid and investment model that demands continuous expansion regardless of environmental cost.
We need honesty. It is perfectly acceptable to support renewable energy – but only when it is pursued intelligently, proportionately, and with genuine regard for the natural world. The current approach is none of these.
Save Shetland
Ernie Ramaker
Whiteness
References:
BEIS (2023) UK greenhouse gas emissions: provisional figures 2023. Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provisional-uk-greenhouse-gas-emissions-national-statistics-2023
Carbon Brief (2024) Analysis: UK emissions in 2023 fell to lowest level since 1879. https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-emissions-in-2023-fell-to-lowest-level-since-1879/
Scottish Government (2023) Energy Statistics for Scotland – Q4 2022. https://www.gov.scot/publications/energy-statistics-summary/
Shetland Islands Council (2024) Annual Climate Change Report 2023/24. https://www.shetland.gov.uk/downloads/file/8284/sic-annual-climate-change-report-2023-24
Shetland Partnership (2023) Carbon Emissions Indicator. https://www.shetlandpartnership.org/indicators/carbon-emissions
European Commission (2023) EDGAR – Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research: Global greenhouse gas emissions 2023. https://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/report_2023
Global Carbon Atlas (2023) Global CO₂ Emissions by Country. https://www.globalcarbonatlas.org/en/CO2-emissions
IUCN UK Peatland Programme (2018) Peatland Hydrology: Scientific Review No. 6. https://www.iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme.org
LSE Grantham Institute (2023) Why should the UK act on climate when its share of global emissions is small? https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/explainers/why-should-the-uk-take-action-on-climate-when-it-is-responsible-for-only-a-relatively-small-fraction-of-todays-global-emissions/
