Some facts about wind power … and the arguments often deployed against wind farms Bob Whitmarsh...
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Transcript of Some facts about wind power … and the arguments often deployed against wind farms Bob Whitmarsh...
![Page 1: Some facts about wind power … and the arguments often deployed against wind farms Bob Whitmarsh (Winchester Action on Climate Change) [see Notes for added.](https://reader030.fdocuments.net/reader030/viewer/2022032523/56649d935503460f94a79e1b/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Some facts about wind power
… and the arguments often deployed against wind farms
Bob Whitmarsh(Winchester Action on Climate Change)
[see Notes for added information]
![Page 2: Some facts about wind power … and the arguments often deployed against wind farms Bob Whitmarsh (Winchester Action on Climate Change) [see Notes for added.](https://reader030.fdocuments.net/reader030/viewer/2022032523/56649d935503460f94a79e1b/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
![Page 3: Some facts about wind power … and the arguments often deployed against wind farms Bob Whitmarsh (Winchester Action on Climate Change) [see Notes for added.](https://reader030.fdocuments.net/reader030/viewer/2022032523/56649d935503460f94a79e1b/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
![Page 4: Some facts about wind power … and the arguments often deployed against wind farms Bob Whitmarsh (Winchester Action on Climate Change) [see Notes for added.](https://reader030.fdocuments.net/reader030/viewer/2022032523/56649d935503460f94a79e1b/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Some basic facts about wind turbines• Need smooth terrain• Wind speed increases with height so big is best
• Power output depends on (wind speed)3
(good wind data is essential beforehand to estimate output)
![Page 5: Some facts about wind power … and the arguments often deployed against wind farms Bob Whitmarsh (Winchester Action on Climate Change) [see Notes for added.](https://reader030.fdocuments.net/reader030/viewer/2022032523/56649d935503460f94a79e1b/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Criticisms often levelled (incorrectly) against wind turbines (1)
• They’re inefficient (turbines convert 33% or more of wind energy into electricity; no worse than a coal-fired power station!)
• The output is variable (load factor is 25% but this can be designed for and anyway the energy is free; nationally the output is smoothed out. it is very unusual (2% of the time) for more than half of the country to have wind speeds too low to operate a wind turbine. Variability will eventually be partly tackled by ‘batteries’)
• The load factor decreases with age (Hughes 2012 claimed down from 25% to 15% in 10 years. Spurious analysis discredited by Chief Scientist of DECC; actually down from 25% to 21%)
• Turbines require stand-by back-up power generation for windless days (all power supplies require some back-up to cope with planned maintenance and breakdowns. Current UK generating infrastructure can cope until wind contribution exceeds 20%)
![Page 6: Some facts about wind power … and the arguments often deployed against wind farms Bob Whitmarsh (Winchester Action on Climate Change) [see Notes for added.](https://reader030.fdocuments.net/reader030/viewer/2022032523/56649d935503460f94a79e1b/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Criticisms often levelled (incorrectly) against wind turbines (2)
• They’re noisy (noise energy falls off as the square of distance. Windfarm at 350m is on average no noisier than highest rural background noise at night) [DoE, 1993]
• They generate impulsive sounds (only if the blades are downwind of the tower. Not in UK)
• They cause flicker which potentially causes epilepsy (Flicker only occurs under special conditions. DECC 2011 noted that ‘Researchers only identified one case of shadow flicker in the UK’! Only 1 in 2500 of the population liable to suffer epileptic seizure from flicker)
• They kill birds and bats (but birds are killed by cats, cars, buildings, large window panes etc. in far greater numbers. Little evidence of bat kill in UK)
![Page 7: Some facts about wind power … and the arguments often deployed against wind farms Bob Whitmarsh (Winchester Action on Climate Change) [see Notes for added.](https://reader030.fdocuments.net/reader030/viewer/2022032523/56649d935503460f94a79e1b/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
An inconvenient factor
• Wind turbines are ‘unsightly’ (This is a subjective opinion. Anyway surveys show that people tend to get used to them c.f. pylons, telecom masts)
• Some wind turbines are visible from a great distance (true, for someone with perfect eye-sight but in many cases the actual image will be minute. A 90m diameter turbine blade viewed at a distance of 10km will look about the same size as the head of a map pin held at arms length!)
• Is ‘camouflage’ the solution? (Grey is proven to blend in better than green, brown and black against a rural background (trees, hedges, leaves etc) and also against the generally grey skyline in UK)
![Page 8: Some facts about wind power … and the arguments often deployed against wind farms Bob Whitmarsh (Winchester Action on Climate Change) [see Notes for added.](https://reader030.fdocuments.net/reader030/viewer/2022032523/56649d935503460f94a79e1b/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
The good news about wind farms• Wind energy is free• Onshore wind turbines are a mature technology
which can be bought ‘off the shelf’• Onshore wind has lowest greenhouse gas
emissions per kWh compared to nuclear, gas turbine and coal-fired power stations
• Energy payback time is 6-12 months; financial payback is 7-8 years
• Provide energy which today is mostly no more expensive than nuclear, gas or coal; will become relatively cheaper as fossil fuels prices rise
• Local communities can benefit financially• Can be dismantled at end of life (20-25 years)
![Page 9: Some facts about wind power … and the arguments often deployed against wind farms Bob Whitmarsh (Winchester Action on Climate Change) [see Notes for added.](https://reader030.fdocuments.net/reader030/viewer/2022032523/56649d935503460f94a79e1b/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)