Permalink  International, Renewables, Wind Farms  Comments Off
Dec 092011
 

Wind turbine bursts into flames as hurricane-force winds hit Scotland

The turbine in a North Ayrshire wind farm caught fire on Thursday afternoon as storms hit the country.

By Mike Farrell

08 December 2011

Wind turbine bursts into flames as hurricane-force winds hit ScotlandFire: The wind turbine in North Ayrshire went up in flames on Thursday. Pic: © Stuart McMahon

A wind turbine went up in flames as gust of up to 160mph battered parts of Scotland.

The turbine in a North Ayrshire wind farm caught fire on Thursday afternoon.

Fire engines attended the blaze which died out after a matter of minutes at the wind farm situated above Ardrossan at around 3.40pm.

Ardrossan resident Stuart McMahon said the turbine had not been in operation due to the severe weather warning.

Mr McMahon, who captured the spectacular fire in photos, added: “I didn’t hear any explosion or anything, but my wife shouted for me to come down and see the fire.

“There are around 13 or 15 wind turbines in the farm above Ardrossan. They were all off today because of the high winds, so something has obviously shorted out and gone on fire.

“The fire was out quickly, but some debris fell from it and drifted quite a distance in the winds. The fire brigade are there, but the turbine was turning in the wind for a while after the fire.”

Another resident, Tom Young, caught the blaze on video. He said: “Loads of fire engines and police have been called out, but the fire was out pretty quickly.

“It was quite spectacular to say the least.“

SOURCE

Well, Blow Me Down!

 International, Renewables, Wind Farms  Comments Off
Dec 092011
 

Coldingham wind gusts see houses evacuated

Wind turbine - Image by Billy Muir A nearby road was closed and homes evacuated after the turbine toppled

Homes had to be evacuated and a road was closed after a turbine fell over in gusts of wind in the Borders.

The incident happened near Coldingham in Berwickshire on Wednesday.

The turbine had been erected but was not turned on and appears to have been unable to cope with gusts of up to 50mph.

The A1107 was shut from the north side of Coldingham, at the Croftlaws Caravan Park, down to Lumsden Farm and a 200m cordon was in place.

Lothian and Borders Police said the turbine had suffered a break system failure and had been “freewheeling”.

Local resident Billy Muir saw the results of the incident.

“The tip of one blade made it to within five metres of the road,” he said.

“We live 500m away but there are a few houses about 200m away.

“No-one was injured – it was dealt with by Lothian and Borders police.”

SOURCE

Wind farms are useless, says Duke

 Renewables, Wind Farms  Comments Off
Dec 062011
 

The Duke of Edinburgh has made a fierce attack on wind farms, describing them as “absolutely useless”.

Wind farms are usless, says Duke of Edinburgh

The Duke’s views are politically charged, as they put him at odds with the Government’s policy

In a withering assault on the onshore wind turbine industry, the Duke said the farms were “a disgrace”.

He also criticised the industry’s reliance on subsidies from electricity customers, claimed wind farms would “never work” and accused people who support them of believing in a “fairy tale”.

The Duke’s comments will be seized upon by the burgeoning lobby who say wind farms are ruining the countryside and forcing up energy bills.

Criticism of their effect on the environment has mounted, with The Sunday Telegraph disclosing today that turbines are being switched off during strong winds following complaints about their noise.

The Duke’s views are politically charged, as they put him at odds with the Government’s policy significantly to increase the amount of electricity generated by wind turbines.

The country has 3,421 turbines — 2,941 of them onshore — with another 4,500 expected to be built under plans for wind power to play a more important role in providing Britain’s energy.

Chris Huhne, the Energy Secretary, last month called opponents of the plans “curmudgeons and fault-finders” and described turbines as “elegant” and “beautiful”.

The Duke’s attack on the turbines, believed to be the first public insight into his views on the matter, came in a conversation with the managing director of a leading wind farm company.

When Esbjorn Wilmar, of Infinergy, which builds and operates turbines, introduced himself to the Duke at a reception in London, he found himself on the end of an outspoken attack on his industry.

“He said they were absolutely useless, completely reliant on subsidies and an absolute disgrace,” said Mr Wilmar. “I was surprised by his very frank views.”

Mr Wilmar said his attempts to argue that onshore wind farms were one of the most cost-effective forms of renewable energy received a fierce response from the Duke.

“He said, ‘You don’t believe in fairy tales do you?’” said Mr Wilmar. “He said that they would never work as they need back-up capacity.”

One of the main arguments of the anti-wind farm lobby is that because turbines do not produce electricity without wind, there is still a need for other ways to generate power.

Their proponents argue that it is possible to build “pump storage” schemes, which would use excess energy from wind power to pump water into reservoirs to generate further electricity in times of high demand and low supply.

It emerged last year that electricity customers are paying an average of £90 a year to subsidise wind farms and other forms of renewable energy as part of a government scheme to meet carbon-reduction targets.

Mr Wilmar said one of the main reasons the Duke thought onshore wind farms to be “a very bad idea” was their reliance on such subsidies.

The generous financial incentives being offered to green energy developers have led landowners to look to build wind farms on their estates, including the Duke of Gloucester, the Queen’s cousin.

Prince Philip, however, said he would never consider allowing his land to be used for turbines, which can be up to 410ft tall, and he bemoaned their impact on the countryside.

Mr Wilmar said: “I suggested to him to put them on his estate, and he said, ‘You stay away from my estate young man’.

“He said he thought that they’re not nice at all for the landscape.”

The Duke’s comments echo complaints made by his son, the Prince of Wales, who has refused to have any built on Duchy of Cornwall land.

Yet a turbine will be erected opposite the Castle of Mey in Caithness, where he stays for a week every August, if a farmer succeeds in gaining planning permission from Highland Council.

While they are opposed to onshore wind farms, the Royal family stands to earn millions of pounds from those placed offshore.

Last year, the Crown Estate, the £7billion land and property portfolio, approved an increase in the number of sites around the coast of England. The Crown Estate owns almost all of the seabed off Britain’s 7,700-mile coastline.

Experts predict that the growth in offshore wind farms could be worth £250million a year. Britain has 436 offshore turbines, but within a decade that number will reach nearly 7,000. From 2013, the Royal family’s Civil List payments will be replaced, and instead they will receive 15 per cent of the Crown Estate’s profits, although the Queen, the Duke, the Prince of Wales and other members of the family do not have any say over how the estate makes its money.

Mr Wilmar was at a reception last week in Chelsea, west London, marking the 70th anniversary of the Council of Christians and Jews at which the Queen and Duke were guests of honour.

The Dutch businessman’s company describes itself as committed to preserving the planet. Infinergy, which is a subsidiary of the Dutch firm KDE Energy, is planning to build on a number of sites across the country, from the north of Scotland to Totnes in Devon.

Mr Wilmar claims that onshore turbines are less reliant on subsidies and more cost-effective than those built in the sea. “If you go offshore it costs you twice as much as being on-shore because you have to lay foundations in the sea,” he said. “It’s very expensive for very obvious reasons.”

Two-thirds of the country’s wind turbines are owned by foreign companies, which are estimated to reap £500million a year in subsidies.

A spokesman for the Duke said that Buckingham Palace would not comment about a private conversation.

Cape Wind: The Air Traffic Safety Issue of a Government-enabled Project

 International, Renewables, Wind Farms  Comments Off
Nov 102011
 

by Lisa Linowes

November 8, 2011

“While of course the wind farm may be one of those projects with such overwhelming policy benefits (and political support) as to trump all other considerations, even as they relate to safety, the record expresses no such proposition.”

- Town of Barnstable, Massachusetts v. Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Court of Appeals (DC Circuit), October 28, 2011.

Earlier this year, Industrial Wind Action Group wrote how turbines sited within fifty miles of U.S. radar installations are now disrupting our navigation aids and impairing U.S. national security.

FAA and military radar experts in the field are well aware of the compromises to radar resolution caused by poorly sited turbines. But with the debate surrounding energy policy dominated by politics and money, they’ve bowed to the pressure.

Last week we learned of another project that poses safety risks.

Continue reading »

Australia: Carbon casualties – three million families will suffer under new carbon tax regime

 Australia, Carbon, Climate, Renewables  Comments Off
Nov 102011
 

That’s a big fraction of Australia’s total 22 million population

THE Samuelsons are the face of the carbon tax three million – the families who will bear the cost of the Gillard government’s latest levy.

Teddy Samuelson and her husband Nik from Castle Hill will be out of pocket about $700 a year even after receiving increased family payments of about $75, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The stay-at-home mum said her husband worked “bloody hard for his money” with the family battling existing expenses and the cost of raising three boys in Sydney on Mr Samuelson’s wage of more than $150,000 a year.

“When I look at bills I think what we pay now is more than enough – to think that number is going to rise is just wrong,” Mrs Samuelson said yesterday. “I don’t think anyone is really sure how much the tax is going to impact their lives.”

She said the concept of taxing families who are earning more but not compensating them was unfair: “I don’t see why we have to suffer because he earns slightly more.”

While the increased financial burden will hurt, it was the way the government handled the policy which frustrated the Samuelsons most: “I don’t believe the Australian public should pay for big business’s carbon emissions. “A lot of the debate is based on inconclusive scientific evidence … we don’t really get a say in anything any more.”

The almost three million Australian households who will either not be compensated or will get only partial assistance includes single-income parents earning $65,000 or more and singles on more than $55,000.

Treasurer Wayne Swan yesterday provided an example of parents on a dual income totalling $85,000 with two young children who would be $375 a year better off. But that will be paid for in part by families earning more.

The highest income earners – on $200,000 a year – will be out of pocket more than $1000 a year. At the other end of the spectrum, four million low-income households will be better off and two million will be fully compensated.

The government yesterday declared the debate over. Prime Minister Julia Gillard said in a speech to a carbon expo in Melbourne: “The time for words ended yesterday.” After a standing ovation, Ms Gillard said “a second industrial revolution is needed” and carbon pricing was the “key that unlocks the door to a clean energy future”.

SOURCE

Sober and cautious expenditure of the public’s money? Not in Washington DC

 Climate, International, Renewables, Wind Farms  Comments Off
Nov 102011
 

Solyndra Emails Claim Biden Team ‘About Had an Orgasm’ About Energy Loans to Firm

A series of emails provided to the House Energy and Commerce Committee from individuals tied to Solyndra offer striking characterizations about running strategy with the White House to secure assistance for the now-bankrupt solar energy firm.

Emails among George Kaiser, head of the George Kaiser Family Foundation; Ken Levit, the executive director of the Foundation; and Steve Mitchell, who manages Argonaut Private Equity and was a member of Solyndra’s board; show that Vice President Joe Biden’s office were very gung-ho.

“They about had an orgasm in Biden’s office when we mentioned Solyndra,” reads a Feb. 27, 2010, email from Levit to Mitchell. A follow-up email from Mitchell to Levit later that day responds with: “That’s awesome! Get us a (Department of Energy) loan.”

According to exchanges obtained by Fox News, in an email from Mitchell to Kaiser on March 5, 2010, Mitchell writes that “it appears things are headed in the right direction and (Energy Secretary Steven) Chu is apparently staying involved in Solyndra’s application and continues to talk up the company as a success story.”

In a Feb. 27, 2010, message from Levit to a party whose name has been redacted, Levit writes that there was a meeting with a group of people in “Biden’s office — they seemed to love our Brady Project — also all big fans of Solyndra.”

In an email from Mitchell to Kaiser on March 5, 2010, Mitchell writes that “it appears things are headed in the right direction and Chu is apparently staying involved in Solyndra’s application and continues to talk up the company as a success story.”

White House spokesman Eric Schultz said the document dump from the House Energy and Commerce Committee offers only “cherry-picked” emails.

“Even the documents cherry-picked by House Republicans today affirm what we have said all along: this loan was a decision made on the merits at the Department of Energy. Nothing in the 85,000 pages of documents produced thus far by the administration or in these four indicate any favoritism to political supporters. We wish that House Republicans were as zealous about creating jobs as they were about this oversight investigation,” he said.

Solyndra received a half billion dollars in loans from the Department of Energy even as questions were raised over whether the California-based firm would stay afloat. The company filed for bankruptcy in September just weeks after the administration weighed a bailout.

One email from Kaiser to Mitchell and Levit on Oct. 6, 2010, reads: “We can possibly reinforce the effort so long as it is in the form of ‘I thought you should know, in case it comes up’ rather than ‘can you help with this.’”

In another communique dated Oct. 6, 2010, Kaiser tells Mitchell and Levit that he is “concerned that DOE/Chu would resent the intervention and your problem could get more difficult. I would see an appeal as only as last resort an, even then, questionable. We need to discuss.”

In an email between Mitchell and Kaiser, Mitchell notes that the White House has “started a policy discussion as to whether a company should be able to get a second loan.”

House Republicans received the emails after subpoenaing the White House last week. Lawmakers say they want to know how much influence the White House put on the Energy Department to approve the loans. The administration denies anyone tried to influence the decision.

SOURCE

Noise victims get say on wind farms

 Australia, Renewables, Wind Farms  Comments Off
Nov 102011
 

THE completion of the nation’s second-biggest wind farm is in doubt after the South Australian Supreme Court gave opponents the right to appeal against development approvals because of noisy turbines.

The third stage of AGL’s Hallett wind farm was challenged by Mount Bryan resident Bill Quinn, who says the existing turbines emit so much noise that they deprive residents living within 3.5km of sleep.

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal on Friday after AGL admitted it had found that some of the turbines from the first two stages – opened by former premier Mike Rann in 2008 and last year – were emitting an audible tonal noise that breached government guidelines.

The court made no determination on the merits of the appeal but sent the case of the wind farm 220km north of Adelaide back to the Environmental Resources and Development Court for adjudication.

AGL now shuts down 16 of the 34 turbines at Hallett stage two at night.

The energy company is working with manufacturer Suzlon to develop a solution to the problem.

Mr Quinn said his mother and sister, who live near the existing turbines, had been in “absolute heaven” since the decision was made to shut the turbines down at night.

AGL general manager of power development Scott Thomas said he was confident the court case would not affect the future of the wind farm.

“The Supreme Court has not made a decision either way or given a determination,” he said.

“They’ve made the call to refer a technical matter back to the environmental court.

“At the moment, the issue with Hallett two is a technical one. Hallett three is a standalone project and is proceeding as planned.

The case follows the state government’s announcement of new planning regulations that will limit the ability of communities to challenge existing or planned wind farms.

In Victoria, the Baillieu government has announced strict regulation of wind farm developments, including a minimum 2km distance from houses.

In NSW, Premier Barry O’Farrell has indicated he intends to introduce similar laws.

The medical director of the Waubra Foundation, which monitors the effects of turbines, Sarah Laurie, said the court decision showed state planning authorities needed to play more attention to the location of wind farms near housing areas.

Massive bird kill at US wind farm

 International, Renewables, Wind Farms  Comments Off
Nov 102011
 

November 2011: With the deaths of nearly 500 birds at the Laurel Mountain wind facility recently, three of the four wind farms operating in West Virginia have now experienced large bird fatality events, according to American Bird Conservancy (ABC).

DEADLY: Wind farms kill thousands of birds

‘Wind energy has the potential to be a green energy source, but the industry still needs to embrace simple, bird-smart principles that would dramatically reduce incidents across the country, such as those that have occurred in West Virginia,’ said Kelly Fuller, ABC’s wind campaign coordinator.

Lights can leave birds fatally disorientated
There were three critical circumstances that tragically aligned in each of the three West Virginia events to kill these birds. Each occurred during bird migration season, during low visibility weather conditions, and with the addition of a deadly triggering element – an artificial light source. Steady-burning lights have been shown to attract and disorient birds, particularly night-migrating songbirds that navigate by starlight, and especially during nights where visibility is low such as in fog or inclement weather. Circling birds collide with structures or each other, or drop to the ground from exhaustion.

At the Laurel Mountain facility in the Allegheny Mountains, almost 500 birds were reportedly killed after lights were left on at an electrical substation associated with the wind project. The deaths are said to have occurred not from collisions with the wind turbines themselves, but from a combination of collisions with the substation and apparent exhaustion as birds caught in the light’s glare circled in mass confusion.

More than 2,000 golden eagles killed
At the end of September, at the Mount Storm facility in the Allegheny Mountains, 59 birds and two bats were killed in one evening. Thirty of the dead birds were found near a single wind turbine that was reported to have had internal lighting left on overnight. This incident stands in stark contrast to industry assertions that just two birds per year are killed on average by each turbine. Data from Altamont Pass, California wind farms – the most studied in the nation – suggest that more than 2,000 golden eagles alone have been killed there.

‘The good news is that it shouldn’t be hard to make changes that will keep these sorts of unnecessary deaths from happening again, but it’s disturbing that they happened at all. It has long been known that many birds navigate by the stars at night, that they normally fly lower during bad weather conditions, and that artificial light can draw them off course and lead to fatal collision events.

Banning night-time operations seems to work
A fourth wind farm in West Virginia, the Beech Ridge Wind Energy Project in Greenbrier County, has not experienced large mortality events, probably because it is banned from operating during nighttime between April 1 and November 15.

‘Some West Virginia conservation groups have suggested that other wind farms in the state should shut down their wind turbines at certain times and seasons to protect birds. Given the recurring bird-kill problems, that idea needs to be seriously considered, at least during migration season on nights where low visibility is predicted. A wind farm in Texas is doing just that, so it is possible,’ said Fuller.

Never mind the panorama – listen to the turbines’ noise

 International, Renewables, Wind Farms  Comments Off
Nov 102011
 

Plans for a giant wind-farm in North Devon always inspired blot-on-the-landscape style concerns, says environment journalist Martin Hesp – but now all 22 turbines at Fullabrook have been erected and tested it’s the problem of noise that is causing a nightmare for some local residents.

Imagine never being able to open your windows at night, no matter how hot the weather…

  1. ​The new wind farm with its 22 turbines towering over Barnstaple. Picture: Richard Austin

    The new wind farm with its 22 turbines towering over Barnstaple. Picture: Richard Austin

It’s a problem some North Devon residents now claim they face since the blades of 22 giant wind-turbines at Fullabrook began to turn.

Sue Pike’s bungalow is just 600 metres from one of the 110-metre turbines at the new wind-farm and she says: “It is dreadful – the main sound is like a huge great cement mixer going around – then you get the loud whoosh and also whistles and hums.

“Altogether we have counted four different noises coming from it,” she told the Western Morning News. “Back in the warmer weather when the turbines were being tested we couldn’t open the bedroom or lounge windows – fortunately we are double-glazed so that helps cut out the noise – but we were stewing indoors.”

Retired farmer Brian Pugsley has lived in the Putsford area close to the centre of the wind-farm all his 67 years and he says his thoughts on the development are “unprintable”.

“It’s affected everybody in a large area, but we’re in the middle of it – you’ve got the drone of the motor and also the blade and its whooshing sound.

“I don’t know how loud it was – but it just went on and on and was definitely worst when all 22 were going round,” said Mr Pugsley referring to the recent turbine tests.

“It’s not too bad indoors, but you can’t go in your garden,” he added. “I was born here – and some of the things I want to say now I’ve heard the noise wouldn’t be printable.”

After meetings with local residents ESB, the Irish-based owner of the wind-farm, has commissioned experts to undertake noise monitoring tests at some neighbouring properties.

The measurements recorded will be in addition to the formal tests which ESB must undertake as part of the conditions set out in its planning permission. But the company points out the research can only be undertaken when the wind farm is fully operational.

“ESB will continue to work closely with the local community – particularly our immediate neighbours and North Devon Council – to ensure we not only meet all conditions of the planning permission, but that we are able to discuss local concerns and take what measures we can to address issues,” commented a company spokesman.

Local MP Nick Harvey is so concerned over noise complaints that he recently added a special online survey to his official website.

“This was launched three weeks ago after Nick visited residents up at Putsford who have been complaining about noise problems, vibration, loss of TV reception, flicker etc, now that the farm is almost completely operational,” said Mr Harvey’s press officer, Anthony Tucker-Jones.

He added that North Devon Council’s Environmental Health Department was about to conduct site analysis at five locations in response to residents’ concerns.

The results of Mr Harvey’s online survey will be collated soon, but the site is still getting about two returns a day and his office says the response has been huge.

Local artist Christine Lovelock launched her own website (artistsagainstwindfarms. com) when plans for the development were first mooted: “The scale of this development was always going to be far too large,” she told the WMN. “Now the 22 turbines are all up I would say it’s worse than I ever thought it would be.”

She added: “A lot of local people are very upset by the noise, but a lot of them are afraid to speak out because they are worried that will immediately reduce the value of their properties.”

However, Sue Pike said she and her partner John were only too keen to voice their concerns…

“We reckoned our property had devalued by 20 per cent without the noise – we worked that out when they went ahead with the wind-farm,” she said. “But, with the noise, it’s going to be worse. And no one has ever talked about compensation. We feel we’re under siege.”

Bob Barfoot, chairman of the Campaign for Preservation of Rural England’s North Devon branch, helped fight against the wind-farm and he commented: “At the public inquiry it was very clear from the evidence that the wind-farm would have massive landscape and visual impacts and that turbine noise would be a real problem. The inspector overrode all of these concerns…

“But it was made clear at the public inquiry that the turbines would breach the accepted noise guidelines and now that the turbines are operating the local people are reporting problems, especially at night when it appears that the classic ‘swish and thump’ of ‘amplitude modulation’ is preventing some of them from sleeping with their bedroom windows open.

“The Fullabrook situation should be a lesson to us all,” added Mr Barfoot, who is now preparing to rejoin the fight against a proposed wind-farm at Batsworthy Cross, also in North Devon.

Developers of that scheme recently decided to appeal against a North Devon Council decision earlier this year to refuse permission for the wind-farm, and Mr Barfoot says: “I hope the inspector at the forthcoming public inquiry will dismiss the appeal and save the people in the Batsworthy Cross area from the same sad fate as those living close to the Fullabrook turbines.”

The newly completed Fullabrook wind-farm does find support in some areas… Barnstaple town councillor and Green Party candidate Ricky Knight says he’s been to the site to hear the “so-called” noise and was left mystified.

“I have thought long and hard as to what they (people protesting against the noise) are talking about. I stood in a friend’s garden near the turbines and essentially all we heard was the wind, birds and farm machinery. I was not able to discern any sound coming from the turbines.

“I am in receipt of criticisms (from people who don’t like the wind-farm) but I get far more support from people who simply register confusion about this subject,” added Mr Knight.

All eyes – and ears – will now be on Fullabrook on November 18 when the wind-farm is due to become fully operational.

ESB claims each turbine will have a three megawatt capacity and that collectively the 22 turbines will power 30,000 homes and help keep people warm. Ironically, local residents like Sue Pike and Brian Pugsley could be using some of that power in summer to run air-conditioning units.

Peak Stuff Has Been and Gone

 General, International, Renewables  Comments Off
Nov 092011
 

Prices are fixing “waste”

One of the amusements I delight in about the environmental movement is that they’re generals, always fighting the last war. We’ve still got doomongers warning about population when we already know the answer to that. Indeed, are implementing the answer to it. Population, birth rates, fall when places get rich (not least because rich places have more for women to do than endlessly pump out more babies) and as the world is getting rich we’ve solved that problem. We’ve similarly got doomongers telling us all that minerals are about to run out: without noting that we’re recycling ever more of them and in many places co0nsumption of virgin material is falling as we replace it with recycled (the iron industry being an obvious example).

One that is similarly popular is that we’re just simply using too much stuff, that on a limited planet we can’t all just keep having more. But it appears that peak stuff has already been and gone:

In 2001, Goodall says, the UK’s consumption of paper and cardboard finally started to decline. This was followed, in 2002, by a fall in our use of primary energy: the raw heat and power generated by all fossil fuels and other energy sources. The following year, 2003, saw the start of a decline in the amount of household waste (including recycling) generated by each person in the country – a downward trend that before long could also be observed in the commercial and construction waste sectors.

In 2004, our purchases of new cars started to fall – as did our consumption of water. The next year, 2005, saw our household energy consumption starting to slump (notwithstanding an uptick last year due to the cold winter). And in 2006 we seem to have got bored with roads and railways, with a decline in the average distance traveled on private and public transport. All of this while GDP – and population – went up.

The secret to this is that GDP is the “value of all goods and services produced”. And we can, as we have been, increase GDP by increasing the value added rather than the quantity of goods and services. There’s actually no great secret here at all: it’s exactly what we would expect to happen in fact, if raw materials get more expensive (as those who insist they are running out would say they are) then we’ll use less of them.

And note, no one planned this, insisted upon it, regulated for it or imposed it. Just happened quite naturally as the market response to higher raw material prices. As we’ve seen the quite natural market response to greater wealth being fewer children, prices encouraging recycling of metals and all the rest.

Great things markets, aren’t they? If only more environmentalists would realize that they are the method of getting what we all desire, that cleaner, greener, richer, world.

SOURCE

Scrapping wind farms in favour of nuclear and gas would save each Briton £550

 General, International, Renewables  Comments Off
Nov 092011
 

Shelving expensive wind farms in favour of cheaper nuclear and gas-fired power stations would save every Briton almost £550, it is claimed. Government plans to cut pollution by a third by 2020 rely heavily on wind power and will cost £108billion to implement, an accountancy firm has calculated.

But shifting the emphasis away from turbines and towards nuclear and gas-fired power stations would slash the bill by £34billion, according to KPMG. This equates to around £550 for every person in the country.

The preliminary conclusions of the Thinking About the Affordable report come as spiralling gas and electricity bills have left millions worrying about how they will keep warm this winter.

The average annual dual fuel bill stands at £1,345, almost double the £740 of five years ago.

Bills are predicted to rise another 25 per cent over the next four years, taking one in four households – 7.25million – into fuel poverty.

Wind turbines produce around 5 per cent of the country’s electricity, or enough to power 3.2million homes. This will increase around five-fold by 2020 under plans to raise the amount of green energy produced, while cutting carbon emissions.

But wind power is one of the most expensive forms of electricity generation to build. For instance, an offshore wind farm capable of powering 800,000 homes would cost £2.4billion. The bill for an equivalent power station fired by gas, a cleaner alternative to coal, would come in at £400million, or one sixth of the amount.
Power station: Nuclear power could prove to be more economical than wind

Wind farms and nuclear power stations cost similar amounts, but turbines are seen as more expensive as depending on nature means they often operate at a fraction of full capacity.

KPMG, which advises the Government on energy pricing, says wind power is too expensive. Mark Powell, the report’s author, said: ‘Taking a clinical economist’s view of hitting our carbon-reduction targets for the least cost shows we can reach our goal for a lot less. ‘However, to do this, the most expensive forms of renewable energies, particularly offshore wind, need to be scaled back.

‘Trying to meet carbon targets with a heavy reliance on renewable energy was a laudable vision but … it’s time to face facts on how the huge level of investment may translate into fuel poverty.’

He said focusing on gas-fired and nuclear power plants would help Britain reach its target of a 34 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide by 2020 and increase the level of energy from renewable resources to 15 per cent. The bill, which will be footed by the consumer, would fall from £108billion to £74billion.

But the wind industry said the figures do not factor in points such as the farms being cheaper to run or benefits of not being reliant on imported gas.

The Energy Department echoed the criticism, saying KPMG ‘ignored long-term benefits to customers of energy sources that involve no on-going fuel costs’. [But DO involve huge maintenance costs]

SOURCE

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