January 4, 2014
British Columbia, Letters

Wind power sucks as energy alternative

The Vancouver Sun | January 4, 2014 | www.vancouversun.com

Re: Consumers will benefit from abundant wind energy; Low-cost alternative: Free of emissions and price volatility, it can play a major role in providing power, Dec. 31 Industry-paid spokesperson Nicholas Heap makes wind power sound like the salvation of modern living.

It’s not. It’s only a way for a few investors to make money until the downside of their operations becomes better known.

Opposition to wind power is growing in the United States and other countries where many have discovered what these giant propellers impose on the landscape, from bird slaughter to visual blight.

Those chiefly concerned with cost might note that Great Britain paid millions in “constraint payments” to its wind farm operators to keep their machines off during the storms of December.

These bizarre subsidies are built into the wind contracts, a result of the basic facts that wind “farms” produce the most power when it is least needed, and vice versa.

Don Robinson

Vancouver


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/01/04/wind-power-sucks-as-energy-alternative/