Asda wants to go green by installing a turbine which will stand over 60 feet tall in its car park on Carberry Road.

The machine's blades will span almost 15 feet and, when powered, would provide enough green energy to power SEVEN homes – or half the store's checkouts every year.

But the store giant's planning application for the turbine to Fife Council has sparked concern among locals living across the road.
They claim the noise generated will be unacceptable.

Asda wants to site the 19-metre high grey and white turbine next to the petrol station at the entrance to its main car park, and last week it circulated details of its plans to local residents.

One Earn Road resident told The Press: "This is hardly a 'small scale wind turbine' - it's more of a visual monstrosity.

''I stay roughly 100 metres away and at night time if there is a strong wind all the tenants/owners in Earn Road will no doubt hear the noise being generated from this rather large turbine, whooshing around constantly.

"I will not be able to live with that noise every day and night."
However, Asda property communications manager for Scotland, Lisa Rooke, has said the only noise would be the swish of the blades turning in the wind as there is no mechanical gear box.

She said the blades also had a very low rotation speed and tips designed to reduce noise.

She said: "Our commitment to reducing the amount of energy and fuel we consume enables us to use the savings to deliver quality products and services to its customers.

"The proposed wind turbine for our Kirkcaldy store will generate approximately 15KW of electricity, enough to power a minimum of seven homes within the Kirkcaldy area.

"We are extremely committed to implementing measures that reduce our impact on the environment, reduce our carbon emissions and improve the energy efficiency of our stores.

"We look forward to rolling out our work in this area and hope that we are able to deliver these smaller-scale wind turbines at our stores to continue this commitment."

The application to build on the Carberry Road site is part of ASDA's pledge to ensure its existing store energy requirements are reduced by 20 per cent by 2012.

Friends of the Earth Fife told The Press it backed the turbine plan.
Claire Reid said: "We welcome Asda's attempts to reduce its carbon emissions.

"The noise generated by modern turbines is negligible especially compared to that of busy roads in the area. 'We would, however, like to add that Asda could be reducing its energy consumption in far simpler ways such as fitting doors to its fridge and freezer cabinets"