Below is what Viv Forbes, Chairman, of Carbon Sense has to say. Carbon Sense” is a newsletter produced by the Carbon Sense Coalition, an Australian based organisation which opposes waste of resources, opposes pollution, and promotes the rational and sustainable use of carbon energy and carbon food. Please spread “Carbon Sense” around. You may also find this of interest, click on the links below.
http://think-right.com/2011/01/27/flood-risks/
http://carbon-sense.com/index.php?s=floods&Submit=Go
Please note! I publish this as a mater of public interest, and I, as the blogger, may not necessarily agree with the sentiments expressed. - Werner
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Why Wind Won't Work? - It's Weaker than Water.
A Submission from the Carbon Sense Coalition to the Australian Senate Enquiry into Wind Farms. February 2011. For a PDF of the full report with pictures and all the gory and depressing details see: http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/why-wind-wont-work.pdfWhy are governments still mollycoddling wind power?
There is no proof that wind farms reduce carbon dioxide emissions
and it is ludicrous to believe that a few windmills in Australia are going to improve global climate.Such wondrous expressions of green faith put our politicians on par with those who believe in the tooth fairy.
The wind is free but wind power is far from it. Its cost is far above all conventional methods of generating electricity.
Tax payers funding this "Wind Welfare" and consumers paying the escalating power bills are entitled to demand proof.
Not only is there no climate justification for wind farms, but they are also incapable of supplying reliable or economical power. It is also surprising those who claim to be defenders of the environment can support this monstrous desecration of the environment.
Wind power is so dilute that to collect a significant quantity of wind energy will always require thousands of gigantic towers each with a massive concrete base and a network of interconnecting heavy duty roads and transmission lines. It has a huge land footprint. Then the operating characteristics of turbine and generator mean that only a small part of the wind's energy can be captured.
Finally, when they go into production, wind turbines slice up bats and eagles, disturb neighbours, reduce property values and start bushfires. Wind power is intermittent, unreliable and hard to predict. To cover the total loss of power when the wind drops or blows too hard, every wind farm needs a conventional back-up power station (commonly gas-fired) with capacity of twice the design capacity of the wind farm to even out the sudden fluctuations in the electricity grid. This adds to the capital and operating costs and increases the instability of the network.
Why bother with the wind farm – just build the backup and achieve lower costs and better reliability? There is no justification for continuing the complex network of state and federal subsidies, mandates and tax breaks that currently underpin construction of wind farms in Australia. If wind power is sustainable it will be developed without these financial crutches. Wind power should compete on an equal basis with all other electricity generation options.
To contact Viv Forbes, write to: MS 23, Rosewood Qld. 4340 Australia. E-mail: info@carbon-sense.com Phone: 07 5464 0533 For more information visit our web site at www.carbon-sense.com Literary, financial or other contributions to help our cause are welcomed.
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My thought for today: - Werner We all live under the same sky, but we don't all have the same horizon. Konrad Adenauer 
2 comments:
I dont think I have ever read such an falsehood based, biased, ignorant and mis-informed rant.
I could substitute "fossil fuel based generating systems" for every "windpower" in this deranged article and it would be closer to the truth.
I could provide absolute scientific and power industry published proof to refute everything contained in this rant, but I doubt it would have any effect on Ms/Mr Forbes.
Ross
Let's try to understand wind power.
Every wind farm needs backup generators to supply power when the wind fails.
If there is no wind, zero electricity is produced by the turbines and all power comes from the backup generators (mainly coal or gas in Australia).
If wind speed exceeds design capacity, the turbines are shut down to prevent damage, and all power comes from the backup generators.
In freezing still air, the wind turbines take electricity from the backup generators to prevent damage from cold. And they draw power to get reconnected.
When the wind blows strongly all over the wind farm, the grid may not be able to cope with the surge in supply so some turbines may be paid to close down, producing no electricity.
And on those rare occasions when a steady wind in the right place produces just the right amount of power to supply the demand at that time, the backup generators produce no useful power but waste fuel to maintain "spinning reserve" and to ramp up and down when the wind fluctuates.
Now we find that wind power probably increases the production of carbon dioxide (not that this matters).
One question.
Why not scrap the wind turbines and produce a steady supply of low cost power from the backup generators?
Viv Forbes
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