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Article by Robert Bryce from www.energytribune.com  This is an extended version of an article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal on August 24.

"Over the last few years, the wind industry has achieved remarkable growth largely due to the industry’s claim that using more wind energy will result in major reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. There’s just one problem with that claim: it’s not true. Recent studies show that wind-generated electricity may not result in any reduction in carbon emissions, or those reductions will be so small as to be almost meaningless.

There are two reasons wind can’t make major cuts in carbon emissions. The wind blows only intermittently and variably; and wind-generated electricity largely displaces power produced by natural gas-fired generators rather than that coming from plants that burn more carbon-intensive coal.

Because the wind is not dependable, electric utilities must either keep their conventional power plants running all the time (much like “spinning reserve” in industry parlance) to make sure the lights don’t go dark, or they must continually ramp up and down the output from conventional coal- or gas-fired generators (“cycling”).

Coal-fired and gas-fired generators are designed to run continuously. If they don’t, fuel consumption, and emissions of key air pollutants, generally increases. A car analogy helps explain the reason: An automobile that operates at a constant speed -- say, 55 miles per hour -- will have better fuel efficiency, and emit less pollution per mile travelled, than one that is stuck in stop-and-go traffic. But the wind, by its very nature, is stop-and-go. The result: minimal or no reductions in carbon emissions by shifting conventional generation to wind."

For the full article see:www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm/5103/Wind-Energy-Gets-Huge-Subsidies-So-Where-Are-The-CO2-Reductions  

Britain’s upland birds are in danger of being driven off hills and mountains by onshore wind farms.
Recent scientific study indicates the extent of  the potential negative impact of Britain's wind farm programme on wildlife. Scientists have found that birds, including buzzards, golden plovers, curlews and red grouse, are abandoning countryside around wind farms because the turbines act as giant scarecrows, frightening them away.

The impact is small now because there are few wind farms but researchers warn that, with hundreds more planned, plus an increase in the size of turbines, the effect could become much worse.

For the full article from the Sunday Times, January 3, go to:

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6974082.ece

A wind turbine burns in the German city of Uelzen.
The fire on the around 100 meter tall turbine caused €750,000 in damage
and is believed to have been caused by a technical defect



See also:

For a summary of Wind Turbine Accident data to 31 December 2008 go to:

http://www.wind-watch.org/documents/wp-content/uploads/accidents.pdf

An internal document from the National Grid, seen by the Sunday Express and reported in an article today, says wind turbine energy will at times cost over 3,000 per cent more than conventional power.  The Government’s renewable energy strategy is in tatters after a report exposing the true costs of generating electricity by wind power. Industry experts say over-reliance on wind power could mean fuel poverty for consumers, as older power plants reach the end of their working lives while Britain’s new generation of nuclear stations is still a long way off completion. Some experts claim the cost of upgrading the nation’s electricity grid – so it is possible to use all the renewable energy – could be £250billion or 10 times the Government’s estimates.

The revelations will make uncomfortable reading for Gordon Brown and his team, who have pinned much of their hopes of meeting carbon emission targets on wind power. Professor Ian Fells, Emeritus Professor of Energy Conversion at Newcastle University, said: “For a long time I have thought that the wind power bubble would burst. I think that’s starting to happen. Ed Miliband tells people that to oppose wind farms is morally indefensible, but as more people start to realise the reality of what wind power actually offers, that will change.”

The National Grid document, Accessing Renewable Energy, deals with the issue of “balancing the grid” to get the right amount of power from different sources across the UK so that it can maintain a supply to customers.

To read the complete article go to: www.express.co.uk/posts/view/140456/-250bn-The-real-cost-of-wind-power


Despite Europe's boom in solar and wind energy, CO2 emissions haven't been reduced by even a single gram. Now, even the Green Party (in Germany) is taking a new look at the issue -- as shown in e-mails obtained by SPIEGEL ONLINE. For the full article go to: http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,606763,00.html

The Danish governing party moves to correct over-emphasis on on-shore wind power

  In the last few days Venstre, the governing party in the Danish parliament, announced that it would be phasing out subsidy for onshore wind power in order to concentrate on other renewables such as biogas and solar.

In a press statement released on the 17th of September, Lars Christian Lilleholt, energy and environment spokesman for Venstre pointed out the very heavy burden now placed on consumers to support wind power, and announced the intention of putting a cap on this in order to concentrate on other technologies.

The change of emphasis comes after a year of increasing concern over the value for money offered by the Danish wind project. In May the Renewable Energy Foundation (REF) published a major study of the Danish and German spot price markets for electricity which noted that wind power was now beginning to place real strains on those systems. The author of the study, one of Denmark's most respected engineers and a onetime Planning Director for the Danish grid, Mr Paul-Frederik Bach, pointed out that wind was posing problems without obvious or easily costed solutions. (See http://www.ref.org.uk/PublicationDetails/53)

Then in August the Danish think tank CEPOS published a study revealing that the majority of Danish wind power was being exported at below subsidy prices, with a net economic loss to the Danish consumer. (See http://www.cepos.dk/)

Dr John Constable, Director of Policy and Research for The Renewable Energy Foundation said: "The Danish experiment with wind power is producing results of great importance for the UK, and nothing could be more important than the fact that subsidy for wind has caused an over concentration on this one technology, just as it has in the UK. A change is long overdue here as it is in Denmark."

For further information please contact Margareta Stanley on 020 7930 3636 or 07968 049 832, email press@ref.org.uk or visit our website www.ref.org.uk

In The Wind Farm Scam, to be released on 30th September 2009, Dr. John Etherington argues that wind farm technology is a wholly counter-productive and undesirable response to the problems of climate change and electricity generation. Dr. Etherington is a former Reader in Ecology, Thomas Huxley Medallist at the Royal College of Science and former co-editor of the Journal of Ecology.
 
The Wind Farm Scam explains that the intermittent nature of wind power cannot generate a steady output, a fact that necessitates back-up systems from coal and gas-powered plants that significantly negate any reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, there are the ecological drawbacks, including damage to habitats and wildlife, and the far from insignificant aesthetic drawback of the assault upon natural beauty which wind turbines entail.
 
Moreover, wind power is being excessively financed at the cost of consumers who have been neither consulted nor informed that this subsidy is being paid from their bills to support an industry that cannot be cost-efficient.
 
With the recent proliferation of local groups opposing wind farm planning applications (now over 300), and the increasingly frequent and challenging discussions on wind farms in all the media - including a round condemnation by James Lovelock on the BBC’s Hard Talk programme - this meticulously researched and compellingly-argued book could not be more timely.
 
As Christopher Booker says in his introduction:

“Eventually the obsession of our politicians with tower blocks was seen to be one of the greatest follies of the age.  In time to come – it may be sooner than we think – the obsession with wind power will likewise come to be seen as an even greater folly”     

The Wind Farm Scam: ISBN 9781905299836, £9.99, published 30th September 2009 by Stacey International  Please contact David Birkett on 020 7221 7166, 07982 75 4646 or by e-mailing him at marketing@stacey-international.co.uk

Very expensive electricity coming our way

  A recent study into the effects of the government’s plan to increase the UK’s supply of wind power has concluded that the National Grid could cope. However, the report goes on to say that the increased use of intermittent wind power will result in greatly increased electricity bills for consumers. To read an interesting discussion on the report’s findings click here:

 "Onshore wind turbines : the myth, the reality and the bottom line" 

Mr. John Webley, Chairman of the The Kentish Weald Action Group (KWAG) has prepared a new article that challenges much of the information provided by the wind industry. His conclusion, based on UK wind data, is that virtually all the energy from onshore wind turbines will have to be backed up.

William Hyde, a Chartered Engineer and retired South Eastern Electricity Board engineering manager, has taken three daily readings from 30 Met Office weather stations across the whole UK for October, November, December 2008 and January and February 2009. The recorded wind speeds have then been converted into turbine electricity output, giving a very good understanding of the total output that would be generated by wind turbines evenly distributed across the UK, expressed as a percentage of installed capacity.

  The total average output from such turbines, on one or more of the daily readings dropped below 5% of installed capacity on an astonishing total of 58 days during this five month period. What is even more significant is, that on 24 of these days, the output never rose above 5%. Even on the 34 remaining days, when there was at least one reading at above 5%, it should be borne in mind that wind speeds seldom change that rapidly and, on most of those days, average output never rose above 10%.

To read the article click here

Grass-roots revolt against wind farms - New national alliance of community action groups formed to challenge turbines’ impact on communities and countryside

  A new national alliance of over 30 local action groups against wind farm development in the British countryside has been launched today. The new group – to be known as the National Alliance of Wind Farm Action Groups (NAWAG) – brings together community organisations from England, Scotland and Wales who are standing up to the financial muscle of wind farm developers, rushing to capitalise on the public subsidies that sweeten the construction and operation of turbines. Click here to download NAWAG aims and objectives in MS Word format.

The launch members of NAWAG will recruit as many as possible of the estimated 200-plus local action groups in existence across Britain, to create a powerful and authoritative voice for communities in the face of the highly resourced pro-wind lobby. The Mynydd Llansadwrn Action Group is already a member of NAWAG.

March 2009: RSPB calls for more UK wind farms

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has announced its support for an increase in onshore wind farms in the UK, stating that wind farms do not pose a threat to wildlife if carefully sited. The charity argues that climate change poses a long-term threat to many species and renewable energy projects such as wind farms will help to reduce that threat. The RSPB policy statement on wind farms can be see at http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/details.asp?id=tcm:9-213213.

The RSPB website also announces a new ‘green electricity’ scheme in collaboration with the Scottish and Southern Energy plc. For each new electricity and/or gas customer the RSPB solicits for this scheme, Scottish and Southern Energy donates money to the RSPB. Is it possible that this commercial arrangement with a wind farm developer has influenced RSPB’s views on wind farms? For details on the RSPB green energy scheme see http://www.rspb.org.uk/supporting/green/energy.asp.

Not surprisingly, not all birds experts and conservationists are in agreement with the RSPB’s call for more wind farms. For other points of view see http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1137922?UserKey.=

For earlier news items, click here for the News Archive page for 2008 

and here for 2005 to 2007.

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