Public in favour of wind reveals national survey

Nine out of ten people in France are in favour of wind energy according to a survey by Synovate on behalf of the Agency for the Environment and Energy Management (ADEME). The survey confirms the results of a poll carried out last year which found 92% of respondents favourably disposed to wind power. It suggests that public understanding -- or at least sympathy towards -- wind has improved. Of those surveyed, 51% (against 43% last year) considered it an "economic" source of power. The results are more favourable to wind the closer the respondent lives to a wind farm. Micro surveys were carried out in two regions which have a high concentration of wind farms and the findings compared with the national results. Whereas 37% of those questioned nationally considered wind turbines to be aesthetically pleasing, the figures rose to 50% in Aude département in the Southwest and 56% in Finistère (in Brittany). In France as a whole, 19% of those questioned said wind farms had no disadvantages, but the figures for Aude and Finistère were 40% and 44%, respectively.