Wind Farms aren’t really farms
September 5, 2009 | 9:30 amMy sister is due to start a new job soon designing wind farms (well done Michelle). It got me thinking: why are wind farms called wind farms? A farm is somewhere you grow a product (normally a crop or animal) to be harvested for consumption in some way.
Wind farms don’t grow anything. They capture a wild resource: wind. If anything they are wind hunters, or wind traps.
It’s not something that annoys me (unlike some uses of english – what’s chocahol for example), I just thought it was interesting how we apply names to new technologies without thinking about whether they really apply.
Anyway, that’s enough from me. I must get Abby up, get myself dressed and finish packing for our holiday – a week in the Peaks. Keep your fingers crossed for nice weather for us.
