“Once again money talks. This is madness and corruption all in one package. It is well known that these industrial steel environmentally damaging industrial turbines are not going to power anything except the need for more money. Pity the poor birds, bats and insects and not to mention the damage done to native flora. Eight thousand raptors (birds of prey ) have been killed in one year in America by turbines. We need to stand up and protest outside parliament .I will be doing this.
Julie”

“Gustav

Cost effective? You have to be joking.

Even Professor Sir David King, who served as government chief scientific adviser from 2000 to 2007, has criticised the UK¿s drive for wind power and its results in causing fuel poverty:

'The EU needed to renegotiate a more achievable and less expensive target, and he added: "This is an issue which needs to be revisited and I say this as somebody who feels that we really have to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions very substantially but in my view it is an expensive, and not a very clever route to go for 35 to 40% on wind turbines." ('Poverty fears over wind power', BBC News , 4 September 2008).”

“Gustav

Again, in reciting BWEA propaganda you are just plain wrong.

The wind industry and its apologists repeatedly suggest that wind turbines are the only 'mature' and 'proven' technology available. This is not true. Denmark, often cited as the shining example of wind power, actually produces much more power - and much more reliable power - from biomass (some 80% of renewable energy last time I checked).

The Teesport biomass power station, a compact industrial plant with a single 70-90 metre chimney, will occupy a brownfield, industrial site that is less than 10% of the area of a small (15MW) wind farm site. It will operate for some 8,000 hours per annum producing 2,400,000MWh of predictable, base load power.

The project scoping report notes:
"As the project will run 24 hours per day, 365 days per annum, it will generate as much renewable electricity as a 1,000MWe offshore wind farm (equivalent to that generated by the London Array wind farm which is one of the largest renewable energy projects in the world)".

The company state that this plant will save, ¿ approximately 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.¿

Oh, by the way, nobody has objected to this project! (And it creates employment).”

“Will the turbines get more effiecient in time like most technology does? Im glad central govt is taking these stupid hillbilly's to task and excuse me but just what is the attraction in a flat featureless piece of land, in fact no please dont answer that last question.”

“Wind energy's role in combating climate change is not a matter of either-or. The UK will need a mix of new and existing renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency measures, and as quickly as possible. Significant amounts of investment have been allocated for wave and tidal energy development, and these technologies, along with solar and biomass energy, will have an important role in the UK's future energy mix. However, wind energy is the most cost effective renewable energy source available to generate clean electricity and help combat climate change right now.”

“I would like to see Great Britain not reliant on any form of energy and with a 90% spare capacity in all methods of generation so we cannot be blackmailed by anyone. So lets be having it Neuclear, Gas, Coal, Wind,
Tidal, Hydro,Solar and anything else thats available.”

“These so called "greens" really amuse me; they are like Oliver Hardy in one Laurel and Hardy sketch. Unsuspectingly but excitedly, Ollie pays a man $10 for an "Inflator" - a device to print $20 notes. Of course it's an expensive con, doesn't print or do anything and lets him down when he most needs it - when he tries to pay a bill.

So it is with the energy companies trying to flog the idea of wind-farms. You could litter the country from tip to toe (like Denmark did) and get negligible energy. And, like the Inflator, it will let us down when we most need electricity.

In fact, several large energy companies were about to put their wind-farm initiatives on hold due to the economic climate. Now why would they do this if wind-farms were going to be so proitable - or could it be due to diminishing government subsidies? Another fine mess....etc.

These turbines need tearing down without compensation.”

“Gustav

Please stop parroting BWEA propaganda and have a look at the real world experience of wind power generation.

It seems that you know better than National Grid, Tyndal Centre and most power engineers who say that large scale wind power generation needs 70-90% backup:

"E.ON said that it could take 50 gigawatts of renewable electricity generation to meet the EU target. But it would require up to 90% of this amount as backup from coal and gas plants to ensure supply when intermittent renewable supplies were not available. That would push Britain's installed power base from the existing 76 gigawatts to 120 gigawatts."

Do you disagree with the most authoratitive research on de-carbonising electricity supplies:

"We observed that wind generation has a relatively small capacity credit. At lower levels of wind penetrations the capacity credit of wind generation is found to be about the same as the average load factor of wind. However, as the level of wind penetration rises, the capacity credit begins to tail off. That is why in order to maintain the same level of system security a significant capacity of conventional plant will still be required."

"However, these conventional plants will be required to run either occasionally and/or at part load when shortages of supply are likely to occur due to a low total wind power output. Considering that conventional plants at full load are the most efficient and generate the lowest amount of CO2 emission (per electricity produced) such occasionally and/or part-loaded plants will be less utilised and/or produce more CO2 per electricity produced." (Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, 'Security of decarbonised electricity systems').

E.ON Netz say of the largest installed capacity in the world:

"Wind energy is only able to replace traditional power stations to a limited extent."
"Their dependence on the prevailing wind conditions means that wind power has a limited load factor even when technically available. It is not possible to guarantee its use for the continual cover of electricity consumption. Consequently, traditional power stations with capacities equal to 90% of the installed wind power capacity must be permanently online in order to guarantee power supply at all times." (E.On Netz, Wind Report 2005, p. 4)”

“Hurrah! It's about time central government got a grip and backhand slapped these ridiculous protests from the obligatory carrot crunching brigade. It may well be that these machines are not very efficient but the reality is that we have to start somewhere. Once we get these up and running they well become more acceptable as the process of familiarity takes hold of future generations. In 10 or 20 years the offspring of Mr and Mrs too much time and my hands so I'll protest for the sake of it, will come to enjoy the sight of these magnificent entities.”

“All forms of power generation require back-up and no energy technology can be relied upon 100%. The UK's transmission system already operates with enough back-up to manage the instantaneous loss of a large power station. Variations in the output from wind farms are barely noticeable over and above the normal fluctuation in supply and demand, seen when the nation's workforce goes home, or if lightning brings down a high-voltage transmission line. Therefore, at present, there is no need for additional back-up because of wind energy.

Even for wind power to provide 10% of our nation's electricity needs, only a small amount of additional conventional back-up would be required - in the region of 300-500 MW. This would add only 0.2 pence per kilowatt hour to the generation cost of wind energy and would not in any way threaten the security of our grid. In fact, this is unlikely to become a significant issue until wind generates over 20% of total electricity supply.”