We could probably harness more energy by bottling the SPIN
Thinking wind power is viable as a national energy source is like pretending submarines fly.
That is insane.
That percentage can never be achieved unless we cut our electrical use by 80% and the cost would be astronomical
Gee, for 90 billion they could build about 10 nuclear power plants
The cold weather has been accompanied by high pressure and a lack of wind, which meant that only 0.2pc of a possible 5pc of the UK's energy was generated by wind turbines over the last few days.
Jeremy Nicholson, director of the Energy Intensive Users Group (EIUG), gave warning that this could turn into a crisis when the UK is reliant on 6,400 turbines accounting for a quarter of all UK electricity demand over the next 10 years.
He said the shortfall in power generated by wind during cold snaps seriously undermined the Government's pledge on Friday to build nine major new wind "super farms" by 2020.
"If we had this 30 gigawatts of wind power, it wouldn't have contributed anything of any significance this winter," he said. "The current cold snap is a warning that our power generation and gas supplies are under strain and it is getting worse."
Coal stations are currently used as back-up generation when there is a surge in demand for gas and the wind does not blow – which both tend to happen during cold weather.
However, increased dependence on wind farms will coincide with a European Union directive shutting down Britain's dirtiest coal and oil fired power stations.
The UK has committed to switching off these stations by 2015, leaving it uniquely vulnerable to gas shortages and the intermittency of wind farms.
I’m sure that Obama’s off shore wind farms are causing a lot of alarm among the coastal limousine liberals. I’m laughing my head off, thinking about all those wealthy liberals in Cape Cod and Nantucket who opposed drilling in the ANWR and off shore drilling anywhere because of the unsightly oil rigs, now facing wind farms.
Ten years ago, the Nantucket residents were bemoaning the damage that the cormorants were doing to their boats, now suddenly, they love the darn birds.