CliveH Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 An interesting article at Bishops Hill today - it is that thought provoking re Wind Power that I reproduce it here - I Hope Andrew Montford does not mind. It demonstrates an interesting example of "spin" by one of our Newspapers - The Independent. ................................ There is much excitement this morning about a Cambridge Econometrics report on windfarms. The headline finding is this (according to the Independent): "British economy would be £20bn-a-year better off with focus on wind power, says think tank" There is a parallel article here at Greenpeace's Energy Desk, which is perhaps surprisingly slightly more honest than the Independent. For example we learn from Greenpeace that: "Based on the government's own price assumptions, and the rising cost of carbon, the report found the cost of power from offshore wind would be within 1% of the cost of power from unabated gas power." That's the assumption that, contrary to all the available evidence, that gas prices will continue to rise in the face of a worldwide glut of shale gas. It also reads as if they have invoked the great levelised costs lie in their support. The Independent doesn't mention this rather outlandish assumption, unlike Greenpeace: "Even if the gas price falls due to shale, the authors argue, the results would be similar. But the economic benefit of a 'dash for wind' depends on foreign firms opening UK factories to supply any growth in renewables beyond 2020." OK, so the result depends not only on an unrealistic assumption for gas prices, but also on manufacturing countries suddenly deciding to build their wind turbines here rather than somewhere cheap like China. If I said this was risible nonsense, I think I would probably be understating matters. As an aside, I should mention that both articles quote Professor Paul Ekins as follows: "Much of the debate around the choice between gas-fired and offshore wind electricity generation in the years post-2020 assumes wind is more expensive. This study represents powerful evidence to the contrary." In both articles, Professor Ekins is introduced as "professor of resources and environmental policy at University College London". It is perhaps worth noting, however, that Professor Ekins was also a long-time leading light in the green party. Oh yes, and he's a senior consultant director of Cambridge Econometrics, the company that produced the report in the first place. Normal day in the green media then. .............................................. What to make of it? Goodness knows. Osbourne today is reported to be about to announce the building of 30 new gas fired power stations which will use the Shale Gas we are all sitting on that it seems could supply our energy needs for decades to come and has already seen the price of gas in the USA tumble. Whereas over here in the UK - it seems that idiot Davey wants us to pay more so that we can build more wind farms that only work when the wind blows and will need these extra gas fired stations running on idle to back them up when the wind does not blow or it blows too hard 8-) The joys of a ConDem government. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 Interesting thing Shale gas Clive ;-)...............read an article the other day that said the US could be self sufficient in fuel soon due to shale gas, and the author went on to point out that this could well change the US policy on the middle East as they no longer need to protect their oil supplies :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliveH Posted December 4, 2012 Author Share Posted December 4, 2012 I read that too. The worrying thing is that if we ever got another "W Bush" in charge (Thank the lord the little "Mitt" got knocked into touch) - such a glut of home grown energy could make nuking parts of the middle east an attractive option to such an idiot. Sounds like a scenario for a James Bond movie!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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