Wind farms are useless, says Duke of Edinburgh

[martyh]

The Duke of Edinburgh has made a fierce attack on wind farms, describing them as “absolutely useless”.
In a withering assault on the onshore wind turbine industry, the Duke said the farms were “a disgrace”.

He also criticised the industry’s reliance on subsidies from electricity customers, claimed wind farms would “never work” and accused people who support them of believing in a “fairy tale”.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...says-Duke.html

Well he sure knows how to put the cat amongst the pidgeons .One thing i am concerened with though is the amount of government subsidy that is going to foriegn companies to build them .

Two-thirds of the country’s wind turbines are owned by foreign companies, which are estimated to reap £500million a year in subsidies.

[Taf]

I still maintain that wind power is often a waste of money, but wave/tidal power, a constant around our coasts, is the way we should go... so why don't we?

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Taf

I still maintain that wind power is often a waste of money, but wave/tidal power, a constant around our coasts, is the way we should go... so why don't we?

My feelings exactly

[martyh]

One of the biggest issues with it is that if there is no wind they shut down and if there is too much wind they shut down and as a result they will always need a backup source which at the moment is either gas ,coal or nuclear power stations .I have no idea how many wind turbines are needed to replace a power station but i'm guessing it's a lot and for something that won't actually be producing any electric for a substantial time and still needs a power station to generate it seems a totally pointless exercise imo

[Taf]

The Severn Estuary could knock the socks off this French system... but all we ever get are £millions spent on investigation, and no construction! A barrage from Wales to England would also provide a wind-proof motorway platform.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rance_Tidal_Power_Plant

http://thesevernbarrage.com/

[mertle]

Originally Posted by Taf

I still maintain that wind power is often a waste of money, but wave/tidal power, a constant around our coasts, is the way we should go... so why don't we?

I agree but think government hoping windfarms create influx of jobs. They hoping this will there equivalent of .com boom which thatcher got in 90's.

I think its alot to pin our hopes on one thing there has been esperiments in wave machine turbines. I remember company designed offsore windturbine which combines both it can use the currents and the wind to generate electricity.

Hybrid would for me be the way to go. However still think they need to make them support the big winds its crazy to think they cant work when the wind is really strong when thats the exact time they would generate alot.

---------- Post added at 15:32 ---------- Previous post was at 15:30 ----------

Originally Posted by Taf

The Severn Estuary could knock the socks off this French system... but all we ever get are £millions spent on investigation, and no construction! A barrage from Wales to England would also provide a wind-proof motorway platform.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rance_Tidal_Power_Plant

http://thesevernbarrage.com/

Humber estuary would its got strong currents problem is would we interfere with bussiest shipping river.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by mertle

I agree but think government hoping windfarms create influx of jobs. They hoping this will there equivalent of .com boom which thatcher got in 90's.

Thatcher didn't get the .com boom. That was the late 90s/eary 00s. Blair got it, although it's an easy mistake as he did have a lot of the same policies.

[bw41101]

Originally Posted by Taf

The Severn Estuary could knock the socks off this French system... but all we ever get are £millions spent on investigation, and no construction! A barrage from Wales to England would also provide a wind-proof motorway platform.

In fact this could be done across many rivers in the UK - one in particular the Ribble in Lancashire. This too could provide a road link across to Southport and vice versa across to Lytham/Blackpool.

In fact if it was a toll road, the monies could be used to partly recoup the cost of it's construction. But unfortunately, bureaucracy always seems to take precedence over common sense.

Sigh.......................!

Si thee

[Stuart]

I had read somewhere that the main problem with Hydroelectric schemes is that they can have a bad effect on local wildlife. Just done a google search for evidence to support that theory, and it seems that while building dams often requires flooding an area to use as a reservoir, the impact can be minimised by careful planning. Obviously, that careful planning would also require checking if the dam itself is likely to prevent any creatures that live in the water from reaching their breeding grounds.

It's also worth noting that off shore windfarms could do the same.

The tide also has the advantage that it's at least roughly predictable. Wind isn't.

The only reason I can think of for our current headlong rush into Wind power is simply that it requires a lot of hardware to capture. Hardware that attracts lucrative (and therefore profitable) grants. Hydro electric power doesn't need as much hardware.

Now, you may argue that the government knows this, and they probably do. However, the previous two or three governments seem to have made it their business to do whatever is required by big companies.

[martyh]

i'm not sure how much power can be generated by tidal forces but i suspect it cannot replace the current generation of power stations .It would have to work in conjunction with those and wind power and again tidal power won't be generating all the time and depending on the speed and level of the tide won't be a uniform power supply

[Chris]

Originally Posted by Stuart

Thatcher didn't get the .com boom. That was the late 90s/eary 00s.

Stuart, didn't you know, everything that ever went wrong is Maggie Thatcher's fault.

---------- Post added at 17:13 ---------- Previous post was at 17:12 ----------

Originally Posted by martyh

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...says-Duke.html

Well he sure knows how to put the cat amongst the pidgeons .One thing i am concerened with though is the amount of government subsidy that is going to foriegn companies to build them .

I expect Phil the Greek's main beef is that the turbines spoil his view while he's out shooting things.

[swoop101]

How much power would the menai Straits generate?
The flow of water there is very fast and with land close to both sides would be easy (ish) to build a system there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menai_Strait

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Chris

Stuart, didn't you know, everything that ever went wrong is Maggie Thatcher's fault.

True, and while I am no fan of Thatcher, you'll notice I didn't include her government in the statement about governments doing what big business wants. On the contrary, she was quite capable of telling most people, including business, where to go.

[martyh]

Originally Posted by Chris

was at 17:12 ----------
I expect Phil the Greek's main beef is that the turbines spoil his view while he's out shooting things.

yes i had concidered that but concidering the amount of money the crown estate will make/does make from offshore wind farms then i think he should keep out of it ,especially considering this

Last year, the Crown Estate, the £7billion land and property portfolio, approved an increase in the number of sites around the coast of England. The Crown Estate owns almost all of the seabed off Britain’s 7,700-mile coastline.
Experts predict that the growth in offshore wind farms could be worth £250million a year. Britain has 436 offshore turbines, but within a decade that number will reach nearly 7,000. From 2013, the Royal family’s Civil List payments will be replaced, and instead they will receive 15 per cent of the Crown Estate’s profits, although the Queen, the Duke, the Prince of Wales and other members of the family do not have any say over how the estate makes its money.

[Cobbydaler]

Originally Posted by Taf

I still maintain that wind power is often a waste of money, but wave/tidal power, a constant around our coasts, is the way we should go... so why don't we?

I always thought wave power would be the way to go, but looking at the size of this thing which only powers 250 homes...

http://www.wavegen.co.uk/news_press%...20handover.htm