China Confidential: Like Corn Ethanol and Soy = Biodiesel, Big Wind Power Push Depends on Government Mandates

Saturday, April 05, 2008

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Like Corn Ethanol and Soy Biodiesel, Big Wind Power Push Depends on=20 Government Mandates

Carbon=20 Confidential....

Another renewable nightmare.

China = is=20 expected to overtake Germany and the US to become the world's largest = wind power=20 producer by 2020. Boasting long coastal lines and abundant wind power = resources,=20 China has set up more than 60 wind power farms around the country.=20

According to China's national development plan, the total = installed=20 capacity of wind power will reach 5 million kw by 2010 and 30 million kw = by=20 2020.

Critics say it all adds up to a planning fiasco. Pointing = to=20 Europe, they cite at least two major studies that reached identical = conclusions:=20 (1) wind power actually provides only 8 percent effective capacity, and = (2) the=20 relative contribution of wind power to Germany=E2=80=99s guaranteed = capacity will fall=20 continuously to 4 percent by 2020.

Germany's Windmill = Madness

Though=20 Germany has more than 20,000 wind turbines, it is currently building 26 = new=20 coal-fired power stations--a sad commentary on the state of the wind=20 industry.

The German magazine Der Spiegel exposed what it called = "The=20 Windmill Madness" in March of 2004. What had begun as "the dream of=20 environmentally friendly energy" had turned out to mean the "highly = subsidised=20 destruction of the landscape," the magazine found, explaining that in = one=20 region, the wind was strong enough to utilize more than half the = available=20 capacity on only 36 days of the year--less than one day in 10. On 150 = days, less=20 than 10 percent of capacity was being used. Der Spiegel reported that = for every=20 megawatt of wind power, the system required 800-900 kilowatts of power = in=20 reserve from other sources.

Denmark, which has one of the world's = highest=20 concentrations of wind turbines, has ironically become a case study for = the=20 downside of wind power. The installation of large numbers of wind = turbines has=20 led to problems balancing the Danish power grid. On windy days, more = electricity=20 is produced than can be used locally and the excess has to be sold on = the open=20 market, usually for much less than the subsidised price paid to create = it.=20 Conversely, on calmer days, the country has to import electricity from=20 neighbouring countries.

Constant,=20 Horrible Hum

Wind power is also running into increased = opposition=20 in the US and Australia, where neighbors of the metallic monsters = complain of=20 unbearable noise--a constant, horrible hum from which there is no=20 escape.

A team in Portugal investigating heart, lung, and nerve = damage=20 from industrial low-frequency noise has found that the conditions for = causing=20 "vibroacoustic disease" exist inside houses near large wind turbines. = Canadian=20 News has reported families forced to leave their homes because of = headaches,=20 dizziness, irritability, and sheer lack of sleep.

The = land-intensive=20 technology is far from green. The towering turbines--which are typically = well=20 over 400 feet tall to the tip of their blades--weigh anywhere from 150 = to 350=20 tons, sweep a vertical air space of 1.5 to 2 acres with tip speeds = between 150=20 and 200 miles per hour, and need a thousand tons of steel-reinforced = concrete,=20 extensive road infrasture and acres of road clearance. In terms of = visual=20 pollution, the turbines can be just as bad or worse than high-voltage = overhead=20 power lines.

Not surprisingly, wind energy companies worldwide = are=20 targeting vulnerable rural communities and landscapes for construction = of the=20 turbines; and developers are building roads and wind power plants in = wilderness=20 areas, particularly on prominent ridge lines.

Hazardous to Birds

Giant wind = farms are=20 also hazardous to birds. Wind blades have killed thousands of birds = worldwide in=20 the last decade, including endangered species. The results of a = five-month study=20 of the new giant turbines on New York State's Tug Hill plateau suggest = that the=20 annual toll for the complete facility is more than 16,000 birds and = bats. The=20 Sierra Club and the National Audubon Society have criticized wind = power=E2=80=99s=20 effects on birds, but wind power zealots--and their fawning supporters = in the=20 media--have largely ignored the problem.

Reason: in the US and = abroad,=20 wind power is currently the favorite source of renewable energy. The=20 forever-in-its-infancy industry benefits from heavy government = incentives=20 stretching back more than two decades. For all the help, however, the = Energy=20 Information Administration of the US Department of Energy projects that = wind's=20 share of electricity production in the US will be less than one percent = in=20 2030.

In short, like corn-based ethanol and biodiesel derived = from soy=20 and other edible and unsustainable oilseed crops, wind power--at least, = in its=20 current technological incarnation--appears to be a destructive=20 boondoggle.

Peter Glover and Michael Economides have written a=20 devastating critique of windmill madness in the UK. Click here = to read the=20 entire piece in Energy = Tribune.=20 Excerpts appear below.

If you have a hankering to see Britain's green and pleasant=20 countryside or its rugged coastline, you shouldn't wait too long. They = are=20 both likely to disappear soon under thousands of massive, swirling, = 400-foot=20 wind turbines. Recently, UK Industry Secretary John Hutton announced = that the=20 British government is planning 25 gigawatts of offshore wind power = capacity,=20 adding to the 8 GW already in development. A grand plan that could, in = theory=20 anyway, power all of Britain's 25 million homes by as early as=20 2020.

Wind seems to be blowing in the minds of the politically = correct=20 and those on the environmentalist bandwagon. But the cost is going to = be huge,=20 no companies will plunge into it without massive government subsidies, = and=20 should the turbines actually be built, power reliability will almost = certainly=20 take a nosedive.

The extent of Britain's wind power commitment = can be=20 shown by the fact that by itself, the 8 GW capacity under construction = will=20 give Britain world leadership in installed wind power production. So = why is=20 Britain jumping ahead?

Wind power has become the energy source = du jour,=20 the darling of (most) environmental groups and governments. Currently, = just 2=20 percent of the UK's power comes from renewable energy sources, with = wind=20 providing less than 0.5 GW of the total generation capacity. Hutton's = plan=20 would mean an astonishing leap for the British wind power industry. Of = the 8=20 GW in capacity that=E2=80=99s currently planned, the London Array, = with 271 wind=20 turbines to be built in the Thames estuary, will be the world's = largest plant,=20 providing 1 GW of nominal capacity by itself. The London Array should = be=20 operational by 2014 and is expected to power 750,000 homes. But it = would be=20 upstaged by an even bigger project currently under consideration: the = proposed=20 $6 billion Atlantic Array, which would consist of 350 turbines off the = southwest coast of England

Hutton's plan would literally change = the=20 face of Britain. On the BBC's =E2=80=9CPolitics Show=E2=80=9D he = recently said the plan will=20 result in roughly 7,000 turbines =E2=80=93 astoundingly, one every = half-mile around=20 the entire coast of Britain....

#=20 posted by Confidential Reporter @ 6:31 PM =

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Saturday, April 05, 2008

Like Corn Ethanol and Soy Biodiesel, Big Wind Power Push Depends on=20 Government Mandates

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