Truth about wind

Government must have been misled by the Scientific Advisory Group

I am surprised that the Engineering Professions have not come together to refute the ridiculous claims made by the wind farm lobby. Also the fact that the Government must have been misled by the Scientific Advisory Group. There should be an Engineering Advisory Group who would be able to highlight the real problems

1. When quoting the large number of houses that will be served by wind generators they have assumed 100% output when in fact it will be only 25%.
   
2. Every wind generator is given a subsidy of between £250,000 to £375,000, each and every year. The public will be paying for this in their bills.
   
3. According to the NETA figures the output from wind is between 1 and 1.5% of the total UK electricity generated. This is updated daily.
   
4. Thousands of highly skilled jobs are quoted. Where are they? At present the new offshore Thanet wind farm is owned by a Swedish Company Vattenfall and the generators were built by Vesta in Denmark More that 80% of the equipment, services and manpower were imported. Vattenfall will collect £1.2 billion in subsidies.
   
5. Conventional power stations must always be on standby in case the wind does not blow.
   
6. Denmark has stopped all wind farm activity mainly due the revolt of consumers at the large increase in electricity prices.
   

There have been numerous letters to the press and technical publications on this subject but so far they have had little effect. That is why it will be essential for the Engineering Professions to bring pressure on the Government.

Blair Malcolm F.I.Mech.E