Low Benefit of Industrial Wind
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A concise collection of data. Summary:
¶ The addition of industrial wind power, which is nondispatchable and varies according to the wind, requires corresponding maintenance and eventually addition of back-up conventional power, along with expansion of transmission capacity.
¶ The accommodation of wind power causes thermal plants to run less efficiently, adding to financial costs and increasing emissions.
¶ Spinning standby power must be kept burning to cover the short-term fluctuations of wind power. Thus, while wind power may displace generation of power from such plants, it does not displace the burning of fuel in them — the heat is simply diverted.
The most glaring cost of big wind is industrial development of rural and wild areas, which inarguably degrades rather than improves our common environment. That is impossible to justify if the benefits claimed by the industry’s sales material are in fact an illusion, propped up by subsidies and artificial markets for “indulgence credits” which allow the flouting of emissions caps and renewable energy targets.
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