Wind Power - Another Damning Report

RenewablesUK and the government have really thrown their toys out of the pram over the latest energy report by the AF Mercados engineering consultancy.  (  Title: Powerful Targets - Link Here* )

The original version of the report was originally due to be published by KPMG last year. Consequently it held a very high profile. But contents of the report were so explosive KPMG bottled out. The report was suppressed at the last moment.

According to KPMG this had nothing to do with any pressure from the government, RenewablesUK or their many wind farm clients. They said the report was so complex it was open to misinterpretation. Hmmm - thats believable (not).

The engineering firm who did the research for KPMG has decided to publish anyway.

According to the government and RenewablesUK (the wind industry trade body), AF Mercados produced a simplistic and shoddy report.

Bearing in mind AF Mercados is a large and highly respected international firm of consulting engineers - obviously with enough status to be hired by KPMG, that hardly seems likely does it?

Of course, if this was the only report detailing the absurd squandering of resources that epitomise wind power then we all may be forgiven for treating the report sceptically.

But this is very far from the first report.

Go back a few weeks. There was a damning report by Civitas ( Title: Electricity Costs. the Folly of Wind Power - Link Here.)  RenewablesUK, obviously lacking any reasoned defence of their position, blamed the report on "Cranks"

Then there was the report by Stuart Young Consulting for the environmental group the John Muir Trust (roughly a Scottish equivalent of the CPRE). ( Title: Analysis of UK Wind Power Generation - Link Here.) Scottish Renewables announced they had no confidence in the Stuart Young figures (no surprise there then)

Previous to these there was a report by Royal Academy of Engineers (Title: The Cost Of Generating Electricity - Link Here) which detailed the horrific cost associated with wind power compared to other generation techniques. It looks like the wind sector ignored this damning report completely and simply hoped it would go away.

Four separate and detailed reports by four independent and highly respected bodies.

Each independant report presents a damning vision of current government policy. Each report displays how hopelessly ineffective and how unaffordable wind turbines are.

They all display the wind industry as an industry gripped by a gold rush. An industry squandering our money and resources on what is little more than a fashion statement.

Have a good read.

-------
* if this link to the AF Consult document (hosted on "businessgreen") mysteriouly breaks, drop me a note and I'll make my copy available directly
------

Windfarm Wars: Last Chance To See on iPlayer

It is your last chance to see Windfarm Wars on BBC iPlayer. The four episodes expire tomorrow and I have a dark suspicion that the BBC will then find the deepest and darkest cupboard in their vaults and bury this series forever. Such must be their embarrassment at portraying the ugliness of the corporate wind developers.

This documentary series concerns a proposed Industrial Wind Turbine Complex, planned to be built in the middle of a Devon beauty spot.

If you have not read my previous posts on this documentary series, which went out over 4 weeks at 7pm on BBC2 on Fridays then, if you like, there is a more detailed description of three of the episodes Here, Here and Here .

The series started out with a typical BBC portrayal of the decent people of Den Brook as a bunch of out of touch, middle class, aged buffoons.

But by episode 3 something had happened.

I can only guess that the production crew got tired of the ugly multinational, their propaganda and secret data.

Or maybe they realised that the people of Den Brook were not just some cartoon charactitures, but real people trying to defend their countryside and way of life.

Or perhaps they were just sickened by the horribly greedy land owner.

The ritual pastiche portrayal of the common folk as selfish Nimby yokels went to the wall.

We all saw (and started to cheer on) the protesters, led by Mike Hulme - An ordinary bloke, living a low impact life with his wife. He got pushed just a bit too far by the intransigence of the developer.

Oh Boy! I bet they regret taking him on.

Episode 4 is Here , Episode 3 is Here, Episode 2 is Here and Episode 1 is Here

But only for the day!

If you are time limited I recommend episode 3 as the best. But then, after that you will really want to watch episode 4.

Episode 2 is interesting as it is where the production team appear to start distancing themselves from the developer.

Episode 1 shows the initial condescending attitude of the BBC to the people of Den Brook. Watch out for the crumbling icebergs and smoking chimneys. But it is still worth a watch.

While you are on the BBC page(s) look at the Windfarm Wars base webpage Here Notice the promoted websites on the right. Not a mention of critical sites like Renewable Energy Foundation or The John Muir Trust or even the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

Just one by a no-name company, allegedly offering you "Green Energy Guide: The Pros and Cons of Wind Energy and Wind Farms".

But what you get is a condescending and  ill informed propaganda  piece that trots out all the usual ludicrous claims made by the wind lobby.

The BBC should be truly ashamed the this website gets such a promotion.

 I wonder why it is there?

Maybe to try and kiss and make up with their  truculent friends in Renewables UK?

Who knows.

But certainly such an unbalanced page, masquerading as impartial information should never get an airing.

By all means have a page (or even two) from the wind lobby.

But then we would know who and what we are dealing with.

Junk Energy and Wind Turbines

The John Muir Trust is an honourable institution, dedicated to protecting wild places. It seeks to protect the remaining wilderness that is so diminished in our country. As a result of this focus, they commissioned a report of the affects of wind turbines upon this countryside and also (critically) how effective and worthwhile these turbines would be.

Their report, compiled by Stuart Young Consulting has just been published. It is totally damning. It can be found HERE

It shows that the national wind turbine output:

below 20% of capacity more than half the time.
below 10% of capacity over one third of the time.
below 2.5% capacity for the equivalent of one day in twelve.
below 1.25% capacity for the equivalent of just under one day a month.

Billothewisp did a similar though much smaller analysis ( See Here ) here for a 3 month period over winter 2010. The results were just as bad.

The John Muir Trust analysis covers over 2 years and is comprehensive and irrefutable. Stuart Young Consulting freely admit that they were surprised at how appalling these figures are.

How long are we going to have to put up with this scam?

All the wind turbine industry does is mercilessly ruin rural communities, while pandering to the fashion sense of vacuos green bigots. The only real  winners are the carpet bagging developers who in turn line the  the pockets of ruthless and amoral landowners who allow these things to desicrate their local communities.

The actual energy contribution from the whole of the wind turbine fleet is dismally unreliable, erratic and excruciatingly expensive.

One observation from the Stuart Young Consulting document says it all:
[quote]
It is clear from this analysis that wind cannot be relied upon to provide any significant level of  generation at any defined time in the future. There is an urgent need to re-evaluate the implications of reliance on wind for any significant proportion of our energy requirement. 
[unquote]

The politician who puts the country before this scam (and probably before his mates who are profiting from it) gets my vote.

The John Muir Website can be found HERE
The report by Stuart Young Consulting (pdf) can be found HERE
Billothewisps 3 month summary post is HERE

Hat tip to Charles For this Post  over at nucleargreen.blogspot.com