Wind farm proponents continue to fall short of sound arguments

I was very pleased to see the Danish Ambassador’s letter about wind farms (October 30) in answer to my enquiry about their cost efficiency. But he has not addressed key issues which I will endeavour to outline below. 

The main problem with wind farms, apart from their astounding construction cost and the use of some 40 tonnes of concrete per tower (this in itself contributing massively to CO2 emission) is that their fickle and very poor output must invariably be matched by conventional, always-on energy production, which is an obvious paradox. Moreover, these windmills need tremendous space and they have a life of no more than 25 years. The decommissioning costs are never discussed. 

In economic terms, it is instructive to learn that Germany, with an enormous number of wind farms, will be paying more than a billion euros to link these farms to its national grid. It would be cheaper to insulate old buildings or renew existing power stations. Be aware there is big money to be made by the manufacturers of wind turbines and a disturbing amount of covert subsidy paid, which governments are most reluctant to reveal. Meanwhile, nobody speaks about a modest-sized wind farm requiring eight tonnes of an element called neodymium, which is produced only in inner Mongolia, by boiling ores in acid, leaving lakes of radioactive tailings so toxic that no creature goes near them. And on the subject of creatures, how many know that wind turbines slice thousands of birds to bits every year? 

In summary, wind farms cannot be developed in sufficient numbers significantly to reduce CO2 emissions and they cannot significantly slow the depletion of other fuels, nor produce a reliable and sufficient amount of electricity to replace power-generating stations, especially nuclear ones. And note the startling fact which has recently been revealed by the International Energy Agency that there is a quarter of a millennium’s worth of cheap, clean, shale gas which has just been discovered, so making any arguments for wind farms almost obsolete. 

 

Clive Turner,

Paphos

 

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