Feb 04 2008
Fantasy Island
Well, at least one person in Britain has had more that enough of the wind power scams being run by folks trying to get rich off government subsidies. Edward Heathcoat Amory has a scathing column up over at the Daily Mail about what is going on.
My electricity company has just sent me a handwringing letter, explaining why, despite its best efforts to keep costs down, my bill is set to soar again this year.
The reason - apart from the usual rapacious profits enjoyed by our power suppliers - is a hidden subsidy paid towards the development of wind farms.
In the last financial year, electricity consumers were forced to pay a total of £600million in subsidy to the owners of wind turbines.
This figure is due to rise to £3billion a year by 2020 as vast areas of the most beautiful parts of the country will be pockmarked with 500fthigh windmills.
The sudden growth in this area of energy supply is because the green lobby has convinced many that this renewable power source is the answer to our looming energy crisis.
But the truth is that not only do renewables provide a mere 1.3 per cent of the country's energy needs but also that this money is being wasted.
The subsidy system works on the principle of encouraging the development of new wind farms by forcing traditional energy companies to pay producers of renewable energy. The firms then recoup the money by charging consumers higher bills.
After an initial surge in the number of new wind farms, few are currently being built. The most obvious sites, far from human habitation, have already been filled and energy firms are now facing delays in obtaining planning permission to build in more environmentally sensitive locations.
As a result, the huge subsidy is concentrated in a small number of hands. There is a rising amount of money for renewable energy and if less is produced each turbine gets more of the pot.
At current subsidy rates, anyone who constructs a wind farm, which is expected to last for a minimum of 20 years, will have paid off their investment in only five years. From then on, its profit all the way to the bank.
John Constable, director of policy at the Renewable Energy Foundation, says that the system "has encouraged underperforming onshore wind turbines in low wind areas. Though of little engineering value, such plants attract speculators because they require little capital investment".
As a result, consumers will soon be paying billions in unnecessary subsidy to a bunch of sharp-suited businessmen who have spotted an opportunity for easy money.
The number one hogs at the trough? Well, according to another article in the same newspaper, it would be the power companies in Britain themselves. It is so bad that the regulators themselves are calling for the system to be scrapped.:
Inflation-busting increases in electricity prices - which were supposed to pay for a massive expansion of wind power - have boosted the profits of power companies instead, it emerged yesterday.
Under a controversial Government scheme, British consumers pay £1billion a year in their fuel bills to subsidise the drive towards renewable energy.
The cash is supposed to act as an incentive to companies wanting to build green generators such as wind farms or hydro-electric dams.
However, because of a loophole in the system - and the vocal opposition to new turbines in the countryside - the scheme has failed to produce the expected surge in wind power. Instead, most of the money has lined the pockets of energy companies.
Energy experts yesterday warned that the "Renewable Obligation" subsidy system is "hugely flawed" and places a unfair burden on families at a time when household bills are soaring. Last year the energy watchdog Ofgem called for the
Renewables Obligation to be scrapped. "It is a very expensive way of providing support for renewables," said regulator Andrew Wright.
I've pointed out before why wind energy is a very bad idea . The best data I have seen is that the turbines are actually available and producing power about 30% of the time. Compounding that is that they can drop offline at any moment, because the wind dies or increases to too high a velocity. When they do, fossil plants have to be ready to take the load. The savings are illusory. But the profits - made up of our tax money - that are handed to those sharp-suited businessmen are quite real.
2 Responses to “Fantasy Island”
And what happens “downstream” if wind power ever gets 90 - 95% efficient? Weather patterns will certainly change - although, then, there might be the possibility to affect storms. Anyone else?
Gaius,
Thanks for the archive link, which was a very good essay. I like to think I know a little bit about the subject but I learned plenty from that post. The problem is few people can conceptualize electricity, period. Most electricians do not even understand how it works.
They do not realize the enormous amount of energy that would need to be stored for even one hour’s reserve. Therefore, you can not teach this to those people, it is a waste of time. Considering the high voltage needed to efficiently distribute power, and how it could be accomplished starting with batteries, the task is daunting.
The point you make about requiring a backup system of the same size as currently in place is an often overlooked point.
I know, maybe they could just “beam” electricity to your IPod.
On a different note, I spent time looking into windmills and how they work. My first interest was in maintenance. Windmills require fairly high upkeep. All the work is high above the ground. A windmill’s rotor has what I call from aviation a “constant speed” hub. This allows the pitch of the blade to vary with wind speed. I owned a small plane with a constant speed prop, and prop overhaul costs almost as much a new propeller and that is about 20% of the cost of the plane. Additionally the gearbox is enormous and requires regular maintenance. I would imagine that a major failure would require almost as much work as building another one.
OldeForce makes a good point, when wind meets enough resistance, it finds another avenue. But, I doubt we will ever put up that many.