Wind farms always seem to be a bone of contention whenever one is proposed for a certain area. Arguments rage for and against them, the benefits and the pitfalls, with those most closely affected accused of NIMBYism. Locally the nearest wind farm to Scunthorpe is The Bagmoor Farm at Flixborough which consist of eight 125m tall towers, other windfarms planned for the area included 34 turbines at Keadby and up to 23 turbines at Saxby Wold although just recently plans to build an 18-turbine wind farm at Horkstow, near South Ferriby has been thrown out after fierce public opposition. The offshore windfarm business looks set to take off with four large farms being planned for the North Sea, the Firth of Four, Dogger Bank, Hornsea and Norfolk Bank with the Humber area best placed to serve the latter three. The Government is aiming to produce 15 per cent of energy from renewable sources by 2020 and the river Humber is within 12 hours "steaming time" of the Dogger Bank, Hornsea and Norfolk Bank development zones, which will require almost 5,000 turbines. Companies like Able UK have recently been given planning permission to build a wind turbine testing facility as part of plans for a Marine Energy Park in the South Humber Gateway near Killingholme, which is said, could create tens of thousands of jobs. In Hull, Associated British Ports are looking to attract a major wind turbine manufacturer to the city and has engaged in talks with a number of companies, including Siemens. GE and Mitsubishi over plans for a wind turbine factory for Alexandra Dock. Tata Steel is investing �1.3 million in a new processing and distribution centre in Scunthorpe to take advantage of anticipated growth in the wind power sector and help realise the UK�s ambitious renewable energy programme over the next decade. The new hub will handle up to 200,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of steel plate manufactured at the company�s adjacent Scunthorpe Plate Mill, as well as at the Dalzell Plate Mill in Motherwell. Three profiling machines with a total capacity of 40,000 tpa have been installed on site to process plate for delivery to fabricators, who will use it to build tubular wind tower structures. Wind towers typically contain between 150 and 250 tonnes of steel. Most of the material Tata Steel will supply for wind towers will be delivered to customers in the UK and mainland Europe, but the completed wind towers may be shipped around the world. Amongst the arguments for wind farms include; � Provide a renewable energy source: Once they have been put up, turbines provide a clean source of energy with no pollution and no waste products. � Have a small footprint: The base of a turbine occupies only a small area. � Are easy to decommission: When a turbine reaches the end of its life, or has been replaced by more advanced technology, it is easy to dismantle without harming the environment. � Will create jobs: If new wind farms are established on land and offshore then a manufacturing, installation and maintenance industry will also be created. This could bring a new source of employment to rural areas as the sites are often remote. � Can be built offshore: New technology allows wind farms to be built off the coast and beyond the horizon line meaning that they are not visible from the shore. Arguments against include; � An eyesore: The best sites for wind farms are often remote areas and the turbines spoil the natural beauty of the landscape. � Expensive: Currently wind energy not as efficient as fossil fuel or nuclear energy and farms are expensive to set up. � Cause noise pollution: People living close to turbines claim that the low level noise is causing stress-related illness. � Poor consideration of sites: Turbines can cause disruption to TV and radio signals and even the migration of birds when they are not positioned correctly. � Interfere with defence: The Ministry of Defence are concerned that offshore wind farms will interfere with coastal radar systems. � The arguments often come down to whether the potential benefits overshadow the impact on the landscape. � Some people near wind farms believe that most of the benefits are seen by the energy companies (who make a profit from their turbines) and the government (which gets closer to its carbon reduction targets), while the negative affects are all heaped on the local community. Whatever the arguments for or against wind farms, the government are determined to press ahead to meet its targets to provide about 15 per cent of the country's electricity by 2020. The potential development of the Humber area to service this industry along with the thousands of jobs it could create can only be a good thing for this area, can it?