Wind power for free court

Greens from the Main-Kinzig district find out about wind turbines in Freigericht

“There will be no way around wind power for a successful energy transition. For this reason, the necessary inspections of designated areas for wind turbines must take place in good time – in the Main-Kinzig district and also here in Freigericht”, said Reine Bousonville, chairman of the parliamentary group of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen Main-Kinzig, during an inspection of the wind priority areas on the territory of the municipality. The district association Main-Kinzig, the district parliamentary group and the local association Freigericht der Grünen had invited. From the meeting point at Landhaus Fernblick, the group of around 25 interested people from the entire district walked through the wind priority area to discuss the challenges of building wind turbines at two different points.

“The forest we see here is not the paradise that wind energy opponents like to draw. There are good areas with mixed forest, but there are also areas with spruce monocultures. In particular, these trees are marked by climate change and will soon have to give way anyway. Only if we succeed in replacing fossil fuels with regenerative energies will we prevent further forest extinction by increasing temperatures," said the Freigericht spokesperson Achim Kreis at the beginning.

Johanna Lomax, also a member of the Green Group, added: ‘The municipality of Freigericht could supply all households in the village with electricity and heat by means of four wind turbines. For the installation, a cleared area of about four football fields would be necessary. This is a good 0.2 % the Freigericht forest area. For a comparable electricity production with photovoltaics, on the other hand, an area of 74 football fields would be necessary. About 50 % more if this electricity is also to be stored for the winter.’

Whether the examination of the construction of wind turbines will continue, the free courts decide on 10 July in a citizens' decision. "We very much hope that many citizens will take part in the decision and vote in favour of the continuation of the opinion. We are convinced that they would benefit from the facilities both ecologically and economically," said Maria Heider, Member of the Board of the Green Party Main-Kinzig.