Wind turbines are the cheapest and most convenient of all the renewable technologies. While some people find them ugly and visually intrusive, we recognise that they have a vital role to play in averting the catastrophic loss of life, which further rapid global warming will cause. So, arguments over whether they are beautiful or ugly are irrelevant, they are necessary and needed now to avoid the appalling impacts of global warming upon agricultural production, human health and whole species of wildlife.
We must build wind turbines in their thousands - off-shore and on-shore, on our industrial estates, beside our motorways and wherever people need them. We will learn to love them for the clean, safe power they provide and in the years to come see them in the same way as we look upon the 17th century windmills - as objects of great aesthetic and architectural beauty.
While people tend to think of wind farms as a collection of 20 or so individual turbines on a remote windy location, technological advances mean that wind turbines can generate a far greater quantity of electricity in a wide variety of locations.
We demand that wind turbines be attached to roofs as part of the construction of all new build properties. This will create the economies of scale to bring down the cost to just a few hundred pounds of products like the Windsave generator.
We demand that Stamp Duty be reformed, to allow property sellers to off-set the full cost of wind turbines installed on homes and businesses, and the provision of new grants to facilitate the mass roll-out of this technology.
Micro wind power has the potential to generate 15% of the UK's electricity needs, but, together with large scale wind farms, wind power could provide all the energy the UK needs. New, much more powerful turbines are planned in the USA, with a single 10MW turbine under development (just 120 of these would equal the output of the UK's most powerful nuclear power plant at Sizewell in Suffolk).
Some argue that wind turbines are ineffective because they are subject to the vagaries of the wind. But, the UK is blessed with highly predictable breezy conditions and so it is extremely rare to experience a prolonged period without wind. Wind has the potential to ensure our energy security. By the year 2020 we will be importing around 95% of all our gas, much of it from Russia, and subject to considerable danger of interruption of supply.
There are three main factors of concern when importing gas from eastern suppliers:
- Russia has a history if using energy as a political tool. The Russia-Ukraine gas dispute taught the entire world a lesson in over dependence upon any one source for energy supplies. See the BBC online report.
- Gas pipelines are vulnerable to terrorist attack, as in Chechnya (see the global guerrillas website for an indication of what is at stake).
- Despite the UK market offering much higher prices for gas than in mainland Europe in the cold snap of January 2006, there was strong evidence that German and French companies kept gas back for their own domestic needs. Crucially, the UK is at he very end of the gas pipeline supply from Russia and The Caucasus, and in a world which will soon be running short of gas, we can see that the UK will be particularly vulnerable to disruption of supply.
So, it is crucial that wind power is used to reduce the quantity of gas burned in power stations. When the wind blows, we burn less gas, as it blows less, we burn more gas. The two technologies complement each other ~V saving gas which can easily be stored in the UK for when it is needed.
The longer term future for wind is remarkable. Researchers at the University of Warwick have concluded that 96,000 wind turbines would be needed to provide all the hydrogen needed to power the UK's vehicles.
So, when the oil does run out, we can use wind power to obtain the hydrogen needed to drive vehicles. Iceland has already declared its intention to become the world's first hydrogen economy.
Blessed with plentiful geo-thermal energy, Iceland will use this energy source to obtain all the hydrogen it needs to run its road vehicles and its boats. While the UK has very limited (but still valuable) geo-thermal options, our huge wind resources can fill the gap, providing all the nation with all the hydrogen we need. Wind, together with the other renewable technologies can provide the UK with all the energy we need.
Another well researched site, which provides a mass of useful information about wind farms is www.wewantawindfarm.org