UK Wind Power All Hot Air

British consumers are being forced to subsidize an energy programme which loses money, blights the landscape and is dangerous to wildlife. Industry and employers also pay the ‘tax’ with households paying an average of £47/year.

---

British government and industry figures show that wind turbine operators were paid £1.2billion in subsidies via electric bill subsidies from March 1st 2012 – February 28th 2013. The employment of 12,000 people in the industry translates into £100,000 consumer sponsorship per employee. This is the same kind of wastage seen on the other side of the Atlantic as the Obama Administration threw money at solar power companies, only for them to lose it all and file for bankruptcy. The wind industry though claims it is economically viable, creating jobs, and saving the planet with cleaner energy. Renewable UK, the industry trade body says on its website “We aim to create thousands of jobs across a wide range of business sectors.”

---

---

But an owner of multiple wind farms speaking to the Daily Telegraph had a different account saying “Anybody trying to justify subsidies on the basis of jobs created is talking nonsense. Wind farms are not labour intensive.” Wind power is not cheaper to produce and tends to require more upfront costs because the rate of return is slower. This is due in part to the fact that wind power is dependent on, well, the wind blowing. Power from coal and nuclear can be produced on a pre-determined schedule which affects the cost. Wind production is variable, unpredictable and largely un-storable. This means that other systems have to be available idly sitting on standby, costing money, ready to kick in. Even some of the global warming advocates realize that wind power doesn’t solve their mythical problem. At best it puts a dent in carbon emissions but it really can’t replace coal, just take away about 10% of its market. When the Labour party introduced the forced subsidy on consumers they pledged to provide 20% of Britain’s energy from renewable sources by 2020. Ho, ho, ho! It would take a wind farm the size of Wales to do that. If the ministers’ weren’t so arrogant they would have realized they produce more hot air themselves. Current wind farm planning suggests that, upon completion and with British households having been hosed for over £600, the industry will be able to provide 3.5% of Britain’s household electrical needs for 65% more cost than coal or nuclear power. There is, sadly, no stopping this in sight. Successive British governments continue to chase the latest environmental work of fiction and the false but re-assuring assumption we are saving the planet. Yet perhaps the bigger corruption is they also understand that the numbers just don’t add up.

---