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Thread: Wind Power

  1. #11
    Master ydt's Avatar
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    Re: Wind Power

    Wind power production must be viewed as one of a number of methods to produce low pollution power.
    As for tidal barrages, they can be very good and reliable; they will have an effect on the environment but the estuaries concerned will still be tidal although with a different pattern. Life there will soon readjust. ydt

  2. #12
    Master Deejay's Avatar
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    Re: Wind Power

    Quote Originally Posted by ydt View Post
    Wind power production must be viewed as one of a number of methods to produce low pollution power.
    As for tidal barrages, they can be very good and reliable; they will have an effect on the environment but the estuaries concerned will still be tidal although with a different pattern. Life there will soon readjust. ydt
    Agree with that about tidal power YDT that could be a way forward.

    But, from the research I've made, wind turbines make no sense at all economically or ecologically. They aren't particularly green given the coal/gas oil back up they need, the rare earth metals they use in construction and the infrastructure needed to put them in place. Worse still, a lot of corporations and already wealthy people are making a huge fortune out of the government subsidies available. Subsidies that come from taxes paid by ordinary people. I also feel that the politicos are so keen on them because they are an easy way for them to get plenty of "Green Brownie(!)" points. Not quite a rant I think!!!
    If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.
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  3. #13
    Master ydt's Avatar
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    Re: Wind Power

    Quote Originally Posted by Deejay View Post
    .....They aren't particularly green given the coal/gas oil back up they need, the rare earth metals they use in construction and the infrastructure needed to put them in place. Worse still, a lot of corporations and already wealthy people are making a huge fortune out of the government subsidies available. Subsidies that come from taxes paid by ordinary people. I also feel that the politicos are so keen on them because they are an easy way for them to get plenty of "Green Brownie(!)" points. Not quite a rant I think!!!
    I agree with the engineering side of the argument and that is why I use the phrase 'low pollution' rather than 'pollution free'. But we must not condemn wind power just because politicians and money lenders can profit from it in their perverse way. ydt

  4. #14

    Re: Wind Power

    For green electricity, check out this company
    http://www.greenenergy.uk.com/
    I've been with them for approx 5 years, my bill is £30 per month, it's not a perfect solution but this company appears to care and has a big array of suppliers, lots of 'little suppliers'. Their website has a wealth of info and might help some in this discussion.
    (and no I don't work for them or get commision, though power companies do get rather stressed when you refuse to switch to their dual fuel deals!!)

  5. #15
    Master lantern rouge's Avatar
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    Re: Wind Power

    Quote Originally Posted by ydt View Post
    Wind power production must be viewed as one of a number of methods to produce low pollution power.
    As for tidal barrages, they can be very good and reliable; they will have an effect on the environment but the estuaries concerned will still be tidal although with a different pattern. Life there will soon readjust. ydt
    Sad?

    I hear the arguments contributed above and concur with Yiannis...
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  6. #16
    Master Witton Park's Avatar
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    Re: Wind Power

    Quote Originally Posted by lantern rouge View Post
    Sad?

    I hear the arguments contributed above and concur with Yiannis...
    There has to be a sensible mix, but from the work I do which actually gains revenue from the renewables sector, I can see vast subsidies that I think are way OTT.

    I can see a roll for some wind, but of course it doesn't always blow and the turbines aren't that efficient. I would see a much better use of wind turbines on homes and businesses, to do the thing such as heat water, that can be done at anytime.

    Tidal has more scope as tide is always there, but the efficiency and development so far is extremely limited and it looks like we will end up with a whole minefield of upside down offshore turbines so again this should be limited.

    As I've said before, I think we should make more of hydro electric. It is constant and of course water flow does have peaks and troughs, but the peaks are in the winter when demand is also likely to be highest.

    Of the top of my head, I would like to see something like
    Nuclear 20%
    Fossil Fuels 20%
    Hydro 20%
    Tidal 20%
    Wind 10%
    Solar 10%

    If we had over capacity in each, then we could use the 1st 2 options slightly less as allowed.

  7. #17
    Master mr brightside's Avatar
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    Re: Wind Power

    “By the headwaters of the River Findhorn, lies Carn na Saobhaidhe, the cairn of the fox’s den, arguably the remotest Corbett in the land… a vast, sprawling hill which I first climbed with my friend Peter Evans as part of a cross-Scotland walk many years ago… We couldn’t have imagined, in our wildest nightmares, that these hills could be taken over by towering metal giants, like something from an HG Wells novel. How wrong we were. As I lay by the small summit cairn and allowed the vastness of this wild landscape to percolate my own spirit I’m afraid I cried. I wept tears of frustration at man’s arrogance and greed. I wept tears of helplessness that people like me, to whom these wild places mean everything, couldn’t effectively fight the political/corporate forces that are determined to steal Scotland’s soul in the name of green energy. And I wept tears of genuine sorrow that my children’s children wouldn’t enjoy these places as I have done.”
    A very powerful passage. I would replace 'arrogance and greed' with 'desperation' had i written it myself; i fear reliance on renewables, wind most notably, is fed by the need to meet targets rather than anything else. That, and nuclear paranoia. I'm just glad i don't live in germany in light of Merkel's u-turn, that country is poised to be over-run by windmills but time will tell as regards the nitty gritty. But look on the bright side, with Sarkozy's 1Bn euro investment in nuclear the germans might never have to see a single windmill erected in anger.
    Luke Appleyard (Wharfedale)- quick on the dissent

  8. #18
    Master mr brightside's Avatar
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    Re: Wind Power

    Quote Originally Posted by Witton Park View Post
    As I've said before, I think we should make more of hydro electric.
    Found this...



    For my money we don't make quite enough of HEP.

    Interesting sidenote on HEP, the smallest HEP facility is Sturston Mill @1.5kW! What do they run with that, the christmas tree?
    Last edited by mr brightside; 11-07-2011 at 10:01 PM.
    Luke Appleyard (Wharfedale)- quick on the dissent

  9. #19
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    Re: Wind Power

    Quote Originally Posted by Trig View Post
    Just read this on one the blogs on the blog strand - powerful stuff - stopped me in my tracks as I imagined how I might feel if my favourite hill tops went the same way...High Brown Knoll, Heptonstall Moor, Stoodly Pike....

    “By the headwaters of the River Findhorn, lies Carn na Saobhaidhe, the cairn of the fox’s den, arguably the remotest Corbett in the land… a vast, sprawling hill which I first climbed with my friend Peter Evans as part of a cross-Scotland walk many years ago… We couldn’t have imagined, in our wildest nightmares, that these hills could be taken over by towering metal giants, like something from an HG Wells novel. How wrong we were. As I lay by the small summit cairn and allowed the vastness of this wild landscape to percolate my own spirit I’m afraid I cried. I wept tears of frustration at man’s arrogance and greed. I wept tears of helplessness that people like me, to whom these wild places mean everything, couldn’t effectively fight the political/corporate forces that are determined to steal Scotland’s soul in the name of green energy. And I wept tears of genuine sorrow that my children’s children wouldn’t enjoy these places as I have done.”
    The author of this blog should be weeping tears of guilt - after all he/she is part of the generation that has wasted more of the world's resources than any other. Wind turbines are said by some to be ugly, but so is climate change. As to how useful wind power is there are so many vested interests on both sides of the argument, particularly the " I want to be able to use power ad infinitum, but I do not want to see any turbines " brigade. We all know what to do - much less travel/buy local/recycle/let the car rot/fewer children/fewer pets/no BBQs/etc but we choose not to act and future generations will suffer accordingly.

  10. #20
    Master Witton Park's Avatar
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    Re: Wind Power

    It's not a question of "we" Mike, it's the government. How much influence can any one of us have individually?

    And what of climate change? It's been going on since the Earth was here. We rarely hear global warming these days do we as these experts look to cover their backs just in case we are getting a cooling?

    Of course we have to look after our environment and behalf responsibly, but let's not try and con people with this tosh about climate change.

    We have to produce our energy in a different way and we have to try to be more energy efficient and pollute less.

    Unfortunately "we" are not in control of how we do it, the politicians are, which is why we have this complete dog's breakfast of indecision.

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