Blinded by the wind
The Forecaster, www.theforecaster.net 23 August 2010
Are the Howletts of Yarmouth living in another dimension or are they so blinded by ideology that facts do not matter? There is no empirical evidence anywhere that wind power reduces emissions. All of the studies which state this as fact are actually “conceptual” projections and not measurements of performance. Denmark is the standard-bearer of wind development in the world and they were the only industrialized country that failed to meet EU power industry emissions reduction requirements in the last audit.
First Wind is the largest developer of wind power in Maine, yet despite taking hundreds of millions of dollars in free government money and guarantees, their operating losses are increasing as they complete each new wind power project. If they fail what happens to their existing projects in Maine? The state has pursued development of wind power in a vacuum void of both actual historical performance data and scope of analyses. Wind power is an intermittent resource being forced upon a grid system that requires dispatchable control and consistency. We can transform the electric power grid system to accommodate wind power, but at great cost and huge risk to reliability. But the real question is why are we mandating a controversial energy source with no proven efficacy when it will not become viable until we have economically viable electricity sequestration?
William Downes
Cape Elizabeth
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2010/08/24/blinded-by-the-wind/