Wind and Solar Renewables Farce Continues

[marchesarosa]

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/8869492/Engineers-warn-Alex-Salmond-has-no-practical-strategy-for-keeping-lights-on-in-Scotland.html

Engineers warn Alex Salmond has no 'practical strategy' for keeping lights on in Scotland

By Simon Johnson, Scottish Political Editor 04 Nov 2011

Scotland faces buying power from abroad to keep the lights on because Alex Salmond has no “practical strategy” for delivering his promise of a green energy revolution, a damning report by a leading engineering group has concluded.

Alex Salmond has no practical strategy for meeting his green energy targets, according to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Photo: Reuters

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IME) said the First Minister has set a target of generating the equivalent of 100 per cent of all Scotland’s electricity from green sources by the end of the decade with little heed to infrastructure that will be required.

Mr Salmond’s has not compiled the necessary “factual data” or a “comprehensive engineering assessment” on what can realistically be achieved, the group said, and he has made too few allowances for the intermittent nature of wind and wave power.

The engineers concluded that Scotland faces being transformed from a net exporter of energy to a country that has to import power, either from nuclear stations south of the Border or the Continent.

Their scathing analysis came after Citigroup, the banking giant, warned that independence would mean each Scottish household paying an extra £875 per year to subsidise Mr Salmond’s green energy plans.

Nicola Sturgeon, the Deputy First Minister, dismissed this by claiming that the English would continue buying electricity from Scottish wind and wave farms after separation.

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David Cameron backs report warning of rising energy bills in independent Scotland
By Simon Johnson, Scottish Political Editor 04 Nov 2011

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/8869455/David-Cameron-backs-report-warning-of-rising-energy-bills-in-independent-Scotland.html

David Cameron has endorsed an expert report that warned Alex Salmond’s plan for a renewable energy revolution would increase the average household power bill by £875 in an independent Scotland.

David Cameron has backed a report by Citigroup that warns household in an independent Scotland would each face an £875 increase in energy bills


The Prime Minister cited an analysis by banking giant Citigroup that said Scottish home owners and businesses would have to provide £4 billion of subsidies per year to make wind and wave farms economically viable.

Distributed to companies across the world, the report warned them to exercise “extreme caution” over investing in Scotland before the SNP’s separation referendum as a ‘yes’ vote could render green energy plants “unaffordable”.

The Citygroup study said green energy currently relies on subsidies paid by all 27 million UK households and 4.5 million businesses. Scotland only accounts for eight per cent and five per cent of these totals respectively.

English and Welsh taxpayers would be highly unlikely to agree to continue paying this money to a “foreign country” post independence, it said, leaving green energy investors with “stranded” assets.

It concluded that the First Minister’s two flagship policies of separation and an energy revolution are incompatible and his referendum plans are creating “huge uncertainty” at a critical moment for the renewables industry.


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What a pity Mr Cameron is not as sceptical about plans for renewables in the rest of the UK!

[rsmith7]

I have a picture of the much vaunted "Oyster" wave device. I wish I knew how to post it here. A picture is worth a thousand words.

[marchesarosa]

Great Scot, he’s got it!

The Duke (of Edinburgh) has it right – the fatal flaw of wind power is that it requires high subsidy and almost 100% backup capacity from conventional power stations.



Courtesy of Allan MacRae at WUWT

[marchesarosa]

The Telegraph
www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/8901282/The-Duke-of-Edinburgh-sees-clearly-over-wind-turbines.html


The Duke of Edinburgh sees clearly over wind turbines

The Duke of Edinburgh is right when he describes the claim that wind power can meet Britain's imminent electricity deficit as 'a fairy tale'.

It is difficult to improve on the Duke of Edinburgh’s description of the policy of covering Britain’s countryside with wind turbines: “an absolute disgrace”. Views on the aesthetic merits of the objects, which can be over 400ft tall, may legitimately differ. But what should be beyond dispute is the simple truth that wind turbines do not, and cannot, provide a significant part of Britain’s energy needs.

The problems are legion. The turbines are hugely expensive to build and to operate, and are not a reliable source of power. The figures on their electricity-producing “capacity” are thoroughly misleading, since they are based on what the turbine would produce if the wind blew constantly at the optimum speed. But, of course, the wind on which the turbines depend does not blow constantly – and when, as often happens during some of the coldest spells in winter, it does not blow at all, the turbines generate zero power. When the wind blows too hard, they also have to shut down – and there is no financially practicable way of storing the electricity they produce when the wind blows at the optimal rate. So in order for the country not to run out of electricity on a regular basis, wind power has to be supplemented by gas-fired power stations, whose operation pushes more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The facts about wind power are obvious, and have been frequently pointed out in this newspaper, not least by our columnist Christopher Booker. Yet the Government’s energy policy is based on denying them. Onshore wind turbines are essential to the official plan to produce 32 per cent of Britain’s electricity from renewable sources by 2020, meeting a European target signed up to by Tony Blair. Yet it cannot work. Even if we were to build 10,000 wind turbines between now and then, they would come nowhere near meeting a third of our electricity needs – indeed, during the coldest winter months, when demand is highest, they would supply only about one tenth of the demand. Yet the cost will nevertheless be met by every household in the country. Electricity generated by wind is vastly more expensive than that generated by gas-fired power stations. And yet the Government is determined to press on with its hopeless strategy.

We accept that there is an urgent need to generate clean electricity while cutting our use of fossil fuels. We do not accept that it should be done in such a self-defeating and ruinously expensive way. Solar power, in Britain, is not yet a feasible option, except for the production of small amounts of electricity. Generating electricity from wave power or tidal power has not yet lived up to its promise – which means that until there is a fresh technological breakthrough, nuclear power remains the best, if not the only, option for producing large amounts of electricity reliably without also adding to greenhouse gas emissions.

If the Government is committed to its green energy policy, building a series of new nuclear power stations should be the cornerstone of its efforts. But instead it is committed to generating ever more ridiculous amounts via wind power. The Duke of Edinburgh is absolutely right when he describes the claim that this can meet our imminent electricity deficit as “a fairy tale”. We hope the Government will finally take notice.

[marchesarosa]

Is the BBC reporting this royal renewables story?

Not bloody likely.

[marchesarosa]

Chris Huhne, the UK Energy Secretary, has said that people who oppose windmills are “curmudgeons and fault-finders”. He finds windmills “elegant” and “beautiful”.

No peerage for him, then? (Quite apart from the scandal of getting wifey to take his penalty points. Can you imagine the Duke of Edinburgh trying to get the Queen to comply with such a scam? "Sod off, Philip!")

[marchesarosa]

Duke of Edinburgh has been presiding over the WWF in various capacities for 40 years. From the official royal website:

“Prince Philip was the first President of World Wildlife Fund – UK (WWF) from its formation in 1961 to 1982, and International President of WWF (later the World Wide Fund for Nature) from 1981 to 1996. He is now President Emeritus of WWF.”

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As has been quoted elsewhere, the WWF used to do a good job before it was captured by entryists obsessed with CO2. Now it just makes its money getting the gullible to adopt a seagull and spends it infiltrating the IPCC and funding bogus climate research.

[principled]

Marchesa, if a 90 year-old can see through the hype of wind turbines without even using special advisers, then what does that say about the intelligence of politicians like Huhne who, even WITH the advantage of special advisers, are still in cloud cuckoo land?
We are told that we get the politicians we deserve. What I want to know is what the hell did we do wrong to end up with a muppet like Huhne determining whether or not we'll have to use candles in 10 years? Doh.
It makes me weep.
P

[marchesarosa]

Yes, principled, isn't it fortunate for us (and irksome for the youngsters) that the older we get the wiser we get?

[rsmith7]

Nov 21, 2011 11:33:42 GMT 1 principled said:

Marchesa, if a 90 year-old can see through the hype of wind turbines without even using special advisers, then what does that say about the intelligence of politicians like Huhne who, even WITH the advantage of special advisers, are still in cloud cuckoo land?
We are told that we get the politicians we deserve. What I want to know is what the hell did we do wrong to end up with a muppet like Huhne determining whether or not we'll have to use candles in 10 years? Doh.
It makes me weep.
P

Huhne's not a muppet, he's a socialist.
The renewables anti-energy policy is all part of the plan to collapse western economies.
I posted my "conspiracy theory" a while back:
Collapse the economies, suspend democracy then institute wealth and property taxes.

Have a look at what's happening in Italy and Greece.

Dark times...

[marchesarosa]

Ex-Chancellor backs Philip over attack on wind farms which Duke described as 'absolutely useless'

By TAMARA COHEN
Mail Online 21st November 201

The Duke of Edinburgh's criticism of wind power has been backed by Lord Lawson. Former Chancellor Lord Lawson yesterday led the backing for Prince Philip after he branded wind farms ‘absolutely useless’. In a scathing attack, the Duke of Edinburgh said the turbines were ‘completely reliant on subsidies’ and ‘would never work’. His comments are a rebuke to the Government, which is trying to increase the amount of energy generated by wind farms and other renewable technologies. Last night Lord Lawson said the Duke was ‘spot on’ and speaking on behalf of ordinary people in fuel poverty.

Philip made the remarks to Esbjorn Wilmar, managing director of Infinergy, which is building offshore turbines around Britain. Mr Wilmar said he introduced himself to the 90-year-old Duke at a reception and suggested he put wind turbines on royal property.‘He said that they were absolutely useless, completely reliant on subsidies and an absolute disgrace. I was surprised by his very frank views,’ he said. When Mr Wilmar tried to argue that onshore turbines are one of the most cost-effective forms of renewable energy, the Duke apparently replied: ‘You don’t believe in fairy tales do you?’

Mr Wilmar added: ‘He said they would never work as they need back-up capacity.’
And the Duke apparently told him: ‘You stay away from my estate young man.’

Electricity customers pay an average of £90 a year towards wind turbines and other forms of renewable energy such as solar power.

Yesterday Lord Lawson, a former Tory Chancellor and leading climate change sceptic, said: ‘[The Duke] is spot on. He rightly feels strongly about the issue and equally clearly knows what he is talking about. ‘If you tried to devise the most costly and inefficient means of generating electricity imaginable, you would choose wind power – which is also an environmental monstrosity, desecrating ever more of our English landscape. ‘And the cost of all this – to no benefit except to the wind power industry itself – is paid by all electricity consumers, including the poorest, and damages the British economy which is fragile enough as it is.’


Glyn Davies, Tory MP for Montgomeryshire, which has seen huge protests against wind farms in the area, added: ‘[The Duke] speaks for a large section of the population.
‘The industry is not just being subsidised but is making a big contribution to the increase in fuel poverty and reducing the competitiveness of British industry. We need to look at other technologies, such as solar and nuclear power, not put all our eggs in the wind farm basket which is sacrificing beautiful countryside at the altar of a false god.’

Britain has 3,421 turbines, of which more than 2,900 are onshore. Thousands more will need to be built if the Government is to meet its target of generating 15 per cent of energy from renewable sources by 2020. The current level is just 6.6 per cent.
Adam Bell, of Renewables UK, which represents the wind industry, said that last year wind farms generated enough electricity to power two million homes, and would cost the same to produce as fossil fuels by 2016.
He added: ‘Wind technology is working now. The era of cheap energy is over due to rising oil and gas prices and if we are first to invest, we will have a powerful technology which will create thousands of jobs.’

Yesterday the Government’s chief energy scientist, Professor David McKay, said that even if just 10 per cent of the country was covered in wind turbines it would only meet a sixth of our energy needs.




Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2064054/Prince-Philip-blasts-useless-wind-farms-Lord-Lawson-backs-attack-wind-power.html#ixzz1eMlTa8XP

[marchesarosa]

WIND TURBINES: MONEY-SPINNERS FOR ROYALS

Despite his claim that wind farms don’t work, Prince Philip does not seem averse to making money out of them.
The seabed off Britain’s 7,700-mile coastline is almost entirely owned by the Crown Estate, the Queen’s £7billion land and property portfolio – which leases it to developers to build massive offshore turbines.
Last year the royal family secured a deal which industry insiders claimed would earn them up to £38million a year from renewable energy.
There are now around 500 offshore wind turbines – but this is predicted to rise by to 6,400 by 2020. The Estate has invested more than £100million in some of the largest wind farms in the world, including 100 turbines at Gunfleet Sands off the coast of Essex and 175 under construction at London Array in the outer Thames Estuary.
Its website is enthusiastic about their potential, saying: ‘The burgeoning offshore wind industry is set to become a major UK manufacturing activity, bringing significant new inward investment, businesses and jobs.’
The Crown also stands to make vast sums from wave and tidal energy. But household energy bills will have to rise to pay for the £75billion expansion of wind power. Prince Charles is against onshore wind farms, which he has described as a ‘horrendous blot on the landscape’, but is a keen proponent of them offshore.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2064054/Prince-Philip-blasts-useless-wind-farms-Lord-Lawson-backs-attack-wind-power.html#ixzz1eMlTa8XP

[marchesarosa]

Google pulls plug on renewable energy plan

Search giant quitting non-core projects, including solar power

By Alexei Oreskovic

11/22/2011

SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc. has abandoned an ambitious project to make renewable energy cheaper than coal, the latest target of Chief Executive Larry Page's moves to focus the Internet giant on fewer efforts.

Google said on Tuesday that it was pulling the plug on seven projects, including Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal as well as a Wikipedia-like online encyclopedia service known as Knol.
The plans, which Google announced on its corporate blog, represent the third so-called "spring cleaning" announcement that Google has made since Google co-founder Page took the reins in April.

The changes come as Google is facing stiff competition in mobile computing and social networking from Apple Inc and Facebook, and as some investors have groused about rising spending at the world's No.1 Internet search company.

"To recap, we're in the process of shutting down a number of products which haven't had the impact we'd hoped for, integrating others as features into our broader product efforts, and ending several which have shown us a different path forward," wrote Google Senior Vice President of Operations Urs Holzle in the blog post.

Google said that it believed other institutions were better positioned to take its renewable energy efforts "to the next level."

Google began making investments and doing research into technology to drive down the price of renewable energy in 2007, with a particular focus on solar power technology.

In 2009, the company's so-called Green Energy Czar, Bill Weihl, told Reuters that he expected to demonstrate within a few years working technology that could produce renewable energy at a cheaper price than coal.

"It is even odds, more or less," Weihl said at the time. "In three years, we could have multiple megawatts of plants out there."

A Google spokesman said that Weihl had left Google earlier this month....

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45409951/#.Ts0okq5dyRo

[marchesarosa]

China Solar Makers Face ‘Suicidal’ Prices on Excess Output
November 25, 2011, 1:41 PM EST

Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Losses for China’s largest solar manufacturers, including Suntech Power Holdings Co. and JA Solar Holdings Co. may continue through next year as declining shipments prompt them to slash prices and liquidate inventory.

Shipments at Suntech will fall about 20 percent in the fourth quarter from the third, the world’s largest panel maker said today in its third-quarter earnings report. JA Solar, the country’s biggest cell producer, also said shipments will fall sequentially, and it wrote off inventory in response to falling prices, driving down gross margins.

Cell prices have fallen 59 percent since Dec. 27, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Seven Chinese companies reported lower gross margins since yesterday and three said margins have moved into negative territory, an unsustainable level, said Hari Chandra Polavarapu, an analyst at Auriga USA in New York.

“Liquidation is leading to suicidal pricing.” Polavarapu said in an interview today. There are too many solar companies in China, he said, and they are cutting prices to maintain share. “China’s strongest manufacturers are sacrificing profitability because the weakest players still exist.”

Chinese solar manufacturers expanded capacity faster this year while demand growth slowed in Europe, the top regional market.

“We are seeing a softening in the European market continue into the fourth quarter,” Suntech Chief Executive Officer Zhengrong Shi said today on a conference call. “We expect that the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first half of 2012 will be a challenge for all solar companies.” Panel shipments for 2011 will be about 2,000 megawatts, down from an Aug. 22 forecast of 2,200 megawatts, Suntech said.

‘Pricing Has Collapsed’

JA Solar said it expects shipments of solar cells and modules of 310 megawatts to 330 megawatts in the fourth quarter, compared with 445 megawatts last quarter. Neither gave a forecast for next year.

“Demand has not lived up to expectations and pricing has collapsed over the last three quarters,” Aaron Chew, an analyst at Maxim Group LLC in New York, said today in an interview. “Most of the major cell, wafer and module manufacturers are poised to report four quarters in a row of losses and this is just the first one.”

more here
www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-25/china-solar-makers-face-suicidal-prices-on-excess-output.html

[marchesarosa]

Chinese Solar Industry Goes Belly Up
blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2011/11/25/chinese-solar-industry-goes-belly-up/

One of the big arguments proponents of the ‘green jobs’ scam often bring out is that the argument that China, thanks to its support of green tech companies, will own the future while the United States is left behind.

Think again. According to a report on Bloomberg, the Chinese solar power industry is on the ropes; massive over investment has run up against flat demand. Margins have turned negative at some companies where solar panels can only be sold below cost.
“Demand has not lived up to expectations and pricing has collapsed over the last three quarters,” Aaron Chew, an analyst at Maxim Group LLC in New York, said today in an interview. “Most of the major cell, wafer and module manufacturers are poised to report four quarters in a row of losses and this is just the first one.”
The alternative energy market is still an artificial market; except for a handful of novelty customers rich enough to afford inefficient green tech, firms and households only choose green tech when subsidies bring the price within range or regulations force people to choose expensive green products.
Two years ago, when delusional greens thought they were on the way to a global carbon treaty, green tech looked hot. But as that project collapsed under its own weight, the prospects for the green market withered. The recession strengthened public opposition to expensive new green regulations, and the European financial crisis means that countries like Spain (which had a big alternative energy program) and Greece have no more budgetary room for frills.