John Watson, of Modbury, writes:

Some points do not seem to have been mentioned in the wind turbine controversy.

Firstly, the situation appears to be a modern manifestation of the enclosure of the commons per cent where one individual – the landlord benefits to the detriment of the public. In this case the public amenity, the scenery, may be damaged and those being disadvantaged should be compensated by sharing in the benefits. In parts of Germany turbines are not permitted unless the local public can invest. Surely schemes could be devised like the Green Homes deal where interest and long term repayment on the investment is met from the income generated? The Totnes proposal seems to partially satisfy this point.

Secondly, there are important national considerations. We now import 50 per cent of our food and 35 per cent of our energy. With north sea output falling at 7-11 per cent annually, by 2020 energy imports will be 60 per cent or more. Both food and energy costs are rising rapidly and cannot be paid for on credit.

In 2007 we had the highest public and personal debt per head of any country in the world and the third worst ratio of export income to debt. In these circumstances any home produced energy investment will be invaluable and of increasing worth. The reverse of the situation for imports.

Thirdly, climate change has not been mentioned above. My personal view is that we have already passed the tipping point for catastrophically rapid deterioration through feedback. But if in a hole there is no point in digging deeper by using more gas however plentiful it may be.

Finally, it is notable how the energy return on energy input (EROI) has deteriorated for oil and gas and to some extent coal. For oil the ratio was 100:1 a century ago. On current discoveries it is said to be 5:1 while the cost is increasing. At the same time ratio and cost for wind and photo voltaics are improving due to better technology.

The EROI for onshore wind is now 20-25:1 The same improvement could be said to have occurred for combined cycle generation of electricity from gas, efficiency at 60 per cent nearly double that of existing plants, but gas is still highly polluting. As a stop gap its use may be necessary but not at the cost of reducing investment in renewable energy.