Proposed Berrier Wind Farm Turbines

FACTS ABOUT WIND POWER

• Wind turbines do not generate in light or very strong winds. True. Below 8-10 mph wind speed they do not generate and have to cut out for safety reasons above 56 mph. Their maximum generation is reached at about 30 mph which is uncommon in the UK. As a result onshore turbines produce only about 26% of their potential electricity. This rises to 30 to 33% for offshore sites.
• Wind farms only produce power for 25% of the time. False. They generate some power for 70-75% of the time but this is often a mere trickle, so the total electricity produced is only about 26% of their full potential. The figure of 26% (called the load factor) varies from site to site from 18-35%.
• Wind energy is free but extracting it is not. The electricity produced cannot be stored and feeding it into the national grid is complex and costly – a bill ultimately paid by the consumer.
• Coal or gas-fired power stations are essential to maintain uninterrupted supplies of electricity when the wind is not blowing. So any reduction in CO2 emissions derived from wind energy is minimised by power stations running on standby.
• Developers claim a turbine lifespan is 20-25 years but many are being replaced after just 9-12 years – with yet larger turbines.
• It is claimed that windfarms help reduce global warming. This is based on the claim by developers and the British Wind Energy Association that for every megawatt hour of electricity generated by a wind turbine, 0.86 tonnes of CO2 is saved. DEFRA, the DTI, Ofgem, the Carbon Trust, and the House of Commons do not accept this figure. Instead they use a figure of 0.43 t/MWh and are suggesting an even lower figure by 2010 of about 0.31t/MWh. Hence developers greatly exaggerate the climate-related benefits of wind farms. The use of the figure 0.43t/MWh was recently supported by the Advertising Standards Authority when they upheld a complaint against Renewable Energy Systems Ltd (a wind farm company) for using the higher value of 0.86t/MWh.
• Wind can replace nuclear. False. The main role of nuclear power stations is to produce cheap, base-load power essential for our Western life-style for seven days a week and 24 hours a day all year. Wind is an unreliable ‘bit player’ on the energy scene. It would take 1,500 wind turbines spread over 20 km2 to produce the same electricity as a 1,000 megawatt nuclear power station – even then it would only be available when the wind blew and cannot, therefore, provide base load.

 

WIND POWER AND THE ENVIRONMENT

• The Northwest contains some of England’s last tracts of wilderness greatly valued by wildlife and people. Such areas are a major breeding, over-wintering and migration area for birds, including declining species such as the Hen Harrier, Merlin, Skylark and Lapwing. These will be directly threatened by the inappropriate siting of wind farms.
• In 2001 the Government gave greater protection to Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs). It is therefore perverse to allow developers to consider developments in or adjacent to AONBs or National Parks.
• A turbine 375 feet high requires a base of some 1000 tons of reinforced concrete, to say nothing of the materials needed to build service roads. Together with peat destruction on peat-rich sites, this means that wind farms can take years to pay back the carbon dioxide they release during and after construction, reducing even further their contribution to climate change.
• A DEFRA report into the hazards of ‘infrasound’ – frequencies of 20 cycles per second or less (well below the lowest note on a piano) identifies it as a source of stress-related illness, and cites wind turbines amongst the common hazards. As yet, Environmental Health and Planning Officers have to rely on a 1997 report and are ill-equipped to measure infrasound levels. Notably, some people are much more sensitive than others.

ENERGY SAVING

• UK electricity usage has grown steadily at 1.5% a year since 1990. By 2020 It is expected to increase by another 15%. Wind power cannot satisfy this growth let alone reduce overall usage. Worldwide, demand is expected to double by 2050.
• CO2 emissions from electricity generation can be reduced. This should be possible by using less electricity, through greater incentives to increase efficiency, more investment in energy saving technology, the development of other ‘green’ energy generating systems (tidal, wave, solar, hydro, biomass, heat pumps), or investing in nuclear power stations which produce almost no CO2 or ‘clean coal’ where the CO2 is captured and stored instead of entering the atmosphere.
• The Government invests far more in wind power than in energy saving. Between 1982 and 2000 wind power was the only renewable energy source receiving Government investment. A recent upgrade to the Building Regulations made little effort to increase the energy efficiency of new houses – of which 3-4 million are planned by 2020.
• If every home used one additional low energy light bulb, one conventional power station could be decommissioned.
• Alternative renewables have significant long-term potential but need much greater investment, financial incentives and political vision for their development and deployment. This is likely to take the form of micro-generation in which each household or locality have their own renewable electricity supply – supported as required by the National Grid.

GOVERNMENT POLICY

• The Government has no “joined-up” energy policy linking conventional, nuclear and renewable sources. It is placing undue reliance on natural gas imports from unstable regions to meet our needs when North Sea gas runs out, and our existing nuclear and coal-fired power stations are decommissioned without replacement.
• To encourage private investment the Government has manipulated local planning procedures and is now seeking to allow the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders to gain access to wind farm sites.

ECONOMIC ISSUES

• Sweden and The Netherlands have scrapped Government subsidies for wind. Norway decided not to provide any. Germany has realised that wind power is a “bottomless pit” for subsidies. Wind works in Denmark ONLY because they have import cables with Sweden, Norway and Germany (called interconnectors) to balance their grid – not so in the UK.
• The Institution of Chartered Surveyors found that 60% of their members reported a fall in property prices in a windfarm area. The fall may range from 5% to 50% depending on type of property, proximity and visual impact.
• Tourism contributes 18% of Cumbria’s GDP just under £1bn in 2003 and employs over 30,000 people. It is folly to put this at risk by cluttering the countryside with largely pointless wind farms.
• Wind power is an exceptionally costly method by which to try and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, as pointed out in a recent Audit Commission Report to the Government.

Issued by FELLS, Firbank House, Sedbergh, Cumbria, LA10 5EF Phone/Fax: 015396-20465

We have made the facts in this document as accurate as possible but industry sources are notably reluctant to provide consistent information. By all means question the foregoing, but also question just as closely anything put out by those favouring wind power.