September 26, 2006
Opinions, U.K.

No wind, but turbines still spin

I was recently told by an ADAS [Government agricultural adviser] specialist in energy saving that he has seen the 400ft-high wind turbine near M4 junction 11 at Reading revolve when there is very little wind. He said it was obviously being turned by electricity from the National Grid, not by wind power. He was sure of this because wind turbines are part of his work. He was an English adviser, on holiday in Wales.

This is a disgrace. It means that the wind turbine, instead of generating electricity to replace that from fossil fuels, is actually consuming fossil fuels instead, in order to dupe the public. That wind turbine is in a very prominent position, seen by millions. It is obviously not in the interest of the wind energy industry for it to be seen to be static, because it is bad publicity for the industry.

During July there was very little wind above eight knots in much of the UK for days on end. Wind turbines do not even revolve at wind speeds of eight knots or less. Official Met Office wind speeds for 70 UK locations can be viewed on www.metoffice.com/education/archive/uk There is ample proof of low, non-productive wind speeds across the UK. This should be investigated. Can any of your readers confirm similar findings?

I have seen wind turbines in Wales spinning in windless conditions. I am told that many are computer-controlled from Germany. German electricity giants RWE and EoN (who own Powergen) own hundreds of UK wind turbines. Do they possess more spin than their turbines? The Powergen TV ad suggests as much. Only a minuscule proportion of Powergen/EoN’s electricity comes from the wind.

They own four nuclear power stations in Germany and dozens of fossil fuel power stations in Germany, the USA and the UK. They produce Powergen’s electricity, so why show wind turbines in their TV advertising? They are misleading the public. What is the Advertising Standards Authority doing about that?

L J Jenkins

Cardigan, Wales

westernmorningnews.co.uk


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2006/09/26/no-wind-but-turbines-still-spin/