They’re a great white elephant 

Re: The report on the Conisholme wind turbines, not all Conisholme villagers like wind turbines and the report given does not appear to give a balanced viewpoint – previous reports on this wind farm included a number of residents who did not like them.

The claim they power 14,000 homes is rather disingenuous – I should expect it excludes heating and white goods usage, that’s to say it only means powering light bulbs.So much for jobs in Britain, more like Germany with all those trucks. BTW CO2 doesn’t affect 03, that’s CFCs.

When it comes to selling your property, who wants to see an eyesore? Static pylons are one thing, but moving blades I find most distracting, I can always see them in the corner of my eye.

On cost, the Government stated that the total subsidy is now nearly £50/MWh which is almost 300 per cent of the price of conventional electricity. Mixed in (and therefore cost diluted) with other power sources, our bill would effectively rise by 38 per cent – a stealth tax raised for subsidies Government gives to private power firms because they would never get the money back if they weren’t subsidised to build the things if it were out of their pockets – they’re only doing it because they’re profiteering from taxpayers. It’s no wonder the owners are pleased, the report reads more like sales PR for more wind turbines.

They’re not carbon neutral because the power generators do not shut down fossil fuel power stations to offset the power from wind farms. Wind power only adds to overall capacity at a slightly reduced rate of embedded carbon energy. The only thing they have got right is that they’re painted white, which is rather apt for a white elephant.

Name and address supplied.

WHY are we being told that wind power is great?

It is, in fact, a great white elephant.

If anyone took the time to study them they would find that they cannot perform. Seeing the blades going around does not mean they are producing power.

It is possible they are in fact using power by being driven by the grid.

Read some of the studies that show that they can never be a reliable power source.

We cannot control the wind therefore we cannot rely on wind power.

It must have back-up from reliable sources of generation. This reserve must be immediately available (spinning reserve), therefore, greenhouse gasses will be produced if the reserve is fossil fuel driven. If you depend only on the vagaries of the wind, you will spend a lot of time in the dark.

Jim, Email address supplied.

THERE are no subsidies – the value of the ROC which is referred to is not three times conventional power price, it’s about 60 per cent.

The impact on electricity bills is way less, as we only have one or two per cent of our energy costing in this way – add £15 per year to a typical bill and you’re much closer to the truth. That’s adding three or four per cent – not your 38 per cent (which is way out).

The carbon cost of installing with turbines is “repaid within six months, as is the energy used to build and install them” (yes all the way from Germany!).

And finally – wind turbines do not need conventional plant running to back them up, they do make real savings of energy and carbon.

Dale Vince, Ecotricity.

Grimsby Telegraph

7 July 2008