Saturday 11 February 2012

From The Desk Of Donald Trump



Donald Trump is considering shelving his plans for his luxury golf resort on the Mennie estate near Aberdeen after claiming his ambitious project is being threatened by an offshore windfarm.

The proposed windfarm is backed by the European commission and will be a testbed for some of the most advanced offshore wind turbine designs.

This past week Trump had internet conference talks with the the joint venture owners Vattenfall, engineering firm Technip and Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group.

I take it the talks weren't too successful in Mr Trump's quest to"... save Scotland." or he wouldn't have taken to expressing his opinion via YouTube.

26 comments:

Richard T said...

It just shows how ill-advised our government was to overrule the Aberdeenshire councillors. Never mind perhaps this outburst is Donald's last trump?

JRB said...

I hate windfarms – but I hate Trump’s proposals for this piece of Aberdeenshire coast even more.

With any luck Trump has finally drawn a busted flush.

subrosa said...

Hopefully yes Richard.

subrosa said...

Me too JRB. Trump won the contract but has played the hand badly. I hope that's the end of him here.

Anonymous said...

I'm no fan of Donald Trump but he's right about the windmills.

On a daily basis now we hear about more and more scientific papers which debunk global warming. In the UK global warming is still real.

Regardless of Trumps rant and his plans for the area he is right about windmills.

Sandy said...

Talk about wind..... Trump is just full of it.

"Never before has a disaster like this befallen Scotland" eh ?

Highland clearances , dismantling the fishing industry, deforestation of the landscape.. mere blips in DTs esteemed opinion ?

Oh and foistering , what on earth is foistering. Could the man please just try and talk english, it might help if he is to deal with anyone at all over here.

subrosa said...

I'm very against onshore windmills TT and there's not much evidence offshore ones are viable financially (because of the maintenance etc costs), but it would appear this offshore setup is a testing ground.

Not only would Trump's golfers see the windmills, but lots of wee boats sailing round them doing their research.

Paints a bonny picture eh?

subrosa said...

Sandy I hope it all falls apart. His promises of employment are rubbish and the cost of playing on the course will far exceed what most golfers want to pay. Aye, maybe they'd play one round to say they've 'been there, done that' but that wouldn't provide a regular income.

Apogee said...

Find myself agreeing with what he says in the vid. And what is the "experimental " nature of this wind farm. Are we stuck with it because the European Commission says so?

Would you buy an expensive car if the fuel for it was free, but not available very often, and of such poor quality that the power from the engine varied from almost non ,to too much to use and you only could use it about 25% of the time,and often not when you needed it?
That's wind power.

subrosa said...

I found the 'testbed' bit of the article disconcerting Apogee but can't find any more info on it.

Anonymous said...

I love wind farms.

- Aangirfan

RMcGeddon said...

Common sense from Mr Trump.
This windmill stuff is madness.
In the last 24hrs our 3,600 windmills have supplied 1.5% of our needs in the UK.
Coal supplied 49% and nuclear 19%. I've no idea how we will cope when our coal and nuclear plant is de commissioned. We imported 1.5% from The Netherlands to fill a shortfall. We're already struggling in the UK and although Scotland is a net exporter to England this will collapse as our coal and nuclear plant goes offline.
Germany has just started to fire up 'de commissioned' coal plants as their windmills are no use. They did try importing electricity from Austria but the cost made that impossible as a long term plan.
I love this term 'research' when talking about wave and wind power. Just how many decades do you need to research this stuff before you realise you're flogging a dead horse ?

Apogee said...

Replace the rear wheel of a bike with a car generator. You want electricity you get on and pedal, just enough power to run the TV to watch Eastenders, and think how fit you will be, it will really get the fat off, and you will be much more selective with your viewing ! And its the ultimate "free, renewable energy". Get the unemployed onto powering human powered transport, possibilities are endless.

Key bored warrior. said...

Trump may be looking for an excuse to dump this project as the economics have changed and he can see that we are facing years of recession like Japan. he has done so before.

The vote against this was carried on the casting vote of the leader of the council who had a personal agneda going, he paid the price by being flung of. The project enjoys huge support amongst local trades and commerce bodies, and locally the people are for it.

However with regards to the original decision, would you go to Auchterarder and tell the people that James Braid wrecked the landscape there, when he designed and built the award winning golf courses of Gleneagle's that sustains the local economy?

Are you suggesting that all of Scotland links courses be torn up and allowed to return to wilderness again, despite them bringing in millions in trade each year?

Are you suggesting that the local chamber of commerce and the local trades and business people in Aberdeen and Menie are wrong in supporting this development?

Brora, Golspie, Dornoch, Fortrose, Nairn, Moray, Fraseburgh, Cruden Bay, Royal Aberdeen, Montrose, Arbroath, Monifeith, Panmure, Elie, Crail, St Andrews, Kilspindle, Dunbar, Leven, Musselburgh x2, Longniddrie, Kilspindle, Craigelaw, Lufness, Gullane, Muirfield, North Berwick, Glen, Whitekirk, Winterfield, Dunbar, Troon, Prestwick, Largs, Turnberry (Ailsa’s lighthouse hole is one of the most photographed in the world. Even if you’re not playing it, take a look. The rocks are 390 million years old and from the green you can see the remains of Robert the Bruce’s castle.) The above places all depend on Golf to bring much needed trade and commerce to their areas, are you seriously suggesting that it was wrong to build these links courses also?

I have played and worked on several of Scotland's top courses, and I can tell you that the stewardship of the land in and around these courses could not be in better hands. At Luss on Loch Lomond they employed a professor to advise them how to best preserve the environment and cater for the local wildlife, they have done a spectacular job. Golf course design and management is one of the few land based activities that goes to such lengths to preserve and encourage the local wild life and it's habitats.

To read some of the hysterical nonsense about the trump development you would think that Alex Salmond and Donald Trump were personally bulldozing Aberdeen shire in to the North Sea whilst eating live babies.

RMcGeddon said...

kbw.
I've heard from locals that the new Trump course is fantastic.
All paid for by private cash.
Unlike the useless wind farms that will produce nothing and create fake jobs.

subrosa said...

Each to their own Aangirfan. :)

subrosa said...

I may do a wee post about this later RM.

subrosa said...

Is that what you do in your spare time Apogee? Not a bad idea though.

subrosa said...

I'm hearing Trump's upset quite a few folk who were pro his golf course KBW, but not being a golfer I can't comment on his course. Being surrounded by reasonable golfers though I'm sure I'll hear about it soon enough, but the word here is that it'll be too pricey to be anything more than another Old Course (played just a few times in a lifetime because of cost).

Indeed no, I'm not suggesting that at all. I was for this project initially but the man's behaviour, including his nonsense about how much work he'll bring to the area, has dampened my enthusiasm a great deal.

I've visited a few of these courses you mention but of course some are male only (such as Muirfield) so banned from there.

I'm aware of the professionalism put into designing and maintaining golf courses. A visit to the greenkeepers' department at Gleneagles can open eyes quickly.

RMcGeddon said...

Just looked at our energy usage here...


http://www.bmreports.com/bsp/bsp.php

00.15am 13 Feb 2012

We're currently importing the same amount of electricity from The Netherlands as our 3,600 windmills are producing in order to keep the lights on. Not seen that before. Scary.
Over the last 24 hrs our 3,600 windmills have produced 0.8% of our electricity requirements.
Coal has provided 51.8%
Once our coal powered stations are de commissioned we're going to struggle.

subrosa said...

I can't get the site to load RM. Says no data to upload. :(

Will try again tomorrow. I think the figures are based UK wide there aren't they?

RMcGeddon said...

It's a big site SR so will take a few seconds to upload. 'No data' will disappear as it uploads.
Imports from The Netherlands were 1.9% over the last 24hrs. Wind now at 1.9% for last 24hrs so it's been windy overnight.
Scroll down to the last quarter of the page for the energy chart showing each source.
Yes it's for the UK. Scotland is still a net exporter to England but this will change as our power stations are de commissoined and we embrace the 'renewables revolution'

footdee said...

R mc Geddon-------------So you favour untreated emmissions from coal fired power stations -----------global warming seems to have passed you by

RMcGeddon said...

footdee.
The fact that the globe isn't warming seems to have passed you by.

subrosa said...

Worked fine this morning RM. It's a worrying concept - even more so for England because they don't seem to have come to any decision.

RMcGeddon said...

It's a good site SR. Shows the hard truth rather than having to rely on the nonsense in the MSM.
England (UK) have come to a decision SR. They made it law in the 2008 Climate Act and it means a drive for more windmills to reduce their CO2.
They've totally ignored all the data showing they're wrong about CO2 and it's supposed link to 'global warming'.
Here's the wording from the new law..

"a legally binding target of at least an 80% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, to be achieved through action in the UK and abroad. Also a reduction in emissions of at least 34% by 2020. Both targets are against a 1990 baseline"
This can only be achieved by replacing coal fired powered stations with windmills.
So unless they have a vote in the London Parliament to change the new law then we're stuck with it.
The energy companies and land owners aren't bothered. They will make millions whether we use their electricity or not. Most of the electricity is produced in the middle of the night when it's not required and this surge destabilises the grid forcing a shutdown of the wind farm. They're then paid not to produce any power.
The unpredictability of wind power means the gas fired stations must run in parallel and ramp up and down creating extra CO2. The opposite to what they want.


http://www.ref.org.uk/press-releases/233-consumers-pay-scottish-wind-farms-to-throw-energy-away

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