Letter: Giant cash crop

LANDOWNERS have discovered a new and very profitable cash crop which grows very well on the foothills north of the Central Belt. Already it has appeared from Stirling to central Fife.

Spring is the ideal time to plant, so the planning authorities are being inundated with applications to grow these "golden beans".

The situation is exacerbated by the banks' agricultural advisers, suggesting people "get in quick, while the loans last".

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It also ensures an increased income for the planters. The problem is that these "beans" grow to heights of 50 to 120 metres and totally disfigure the scenic beauty of the local area.

The "crop" is the wind turbine, which on average only produces 24 per cent of its green energy capacity - confirmed by the John Muir Trust's figures over a two-year period surveying Scottish wind farm output.

The owners of these monsters receive a feed-in tariff, an 8 per cent subsidy which is added to electricity bills, paid by the consumer irrespective of income. Jack is having a giant laugh at our expense.

Peter Fogg

Dunfermline

Fife

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