Keeping The Lights On

In a recently published IPSOS-MORI poll some interesting statistics emerged, not least Q23H ‘The independence of scientists is often put at risk by the interests of their funders’. 77% agreed with that question, so all is not quite lost when pondering the vagaries of Big Pharma and the Big Six.

Then again, Q12C asks an opinion on this statement: ‘Human activity does not have a significant effect on the climate’. 75% disagreed.  That’s three-quarters of those polled who believe that we humans can, in some miraculous way, control the climate.

When asked about renewable energy (Q7J) 12% answered ‘very well informed’ and 49% ‘fairly well informed’. That leaves over a third content to pay ever increasing utility bills without question.  Rather scary, particularly when we’re all supposed to be feeling the pinch more and more.

Bishop’s Hill noted ’76% of adults support offshore wind’ and ’58% think that offshore wind will have a positive effect on the UK economy’.  Here’s a good link to the cost of off-shore wind farms.

This weekend the Sunday Post published a special investigation into the ‘true’ cost of the Scottish Government’s ‘turbine obsession’. The Sunday Post is well known for being a Tory supporting newspaper but over the years I have found its investigative journalism of a good quality.  Currently there are 210 operational wind farms in Scotland with at least 2,400 turbines. £2.8billion has been paid to operators since May 2007, adding almost £69 to the average household’s cost of living, with £33 of that in electricity charges alone.

The next paragraph is more concerning:

The annual subsidy in Scotland stands at £434 million, with experts speculating that figure could top £1 billion by the end of the decade.

If these ‘experts’ are anywhere near the mark, our utility bills will rise to such an extent that only the really wealthy will be able to buy food for themselves.

The Scottish Government’s answer to critics is that wind farms have secured almost 12,000 jobs.  I’ve yet to meet anyone who knows of anyone connected with the wind farm industry, have you?  Considering these farms are built by foreign businesses who use their own labour forces, I am sceptical about the contribution wind farms bring to the Scottish economy.

When you read the Sunday Post’s article, one word, repeated three times by wind farm supporters, gives a clue to the endless building of these monstrosities.  No, it’s not money (although that is also a priority) but targets.  

But, as the anti-wind farm campaigner said “Our communities are under siege”.  Indeed they are and the sieges will continue unless politicians are told firmly that wind farm targets must be reduced.  I support Murdo Fraser’s accusation that ‘the Scottish Government has an obsession with turbines’.

Will the public protest to continue to meekly pay ever increasing utility bills?

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A Little Of Wester Ross Is Safe (for now)

click to enlarge

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Bullying By The Scottish Government

These days only a few believe, hook, line and sinker, in the MSM's reporting, though sometimes the evidence is too strong to dismiss.

However, if this is true - and unfortunately it seems to be case - then my faith in Alex Salmond's government has fallen to a new low.

In the past year or so I've heard the whispers about pressure being put on various people to pursue the SNP's determination to cover Scotland with wind turbines, but I had no idea how widespread, or true, it was - until now.

This is a folly the SNP will regret for many a year. Quite a bit of the SNP's support lies in rural Scotland where there is an atmosphere of discontent; not only about windmills but also planning permissions for developments on land which was designated as green belt.  

Rural dwellers are far more likely to vote than those who live in cities.  Perhaps that's because they know, or know of, their MSP.  Rural politicians, because of the sparser populations, are usually recognised and some make great efforts to approach every section of communities.

For any Scottish council to be threatened by the appointment of 'a Scottish Government planning reporter to produce an "examination report", if they ignored the Scottish Government's views is shocking.  Scotland's senior Scottish Government planner, simon Pallant, continued, "You will be aware that examination reports are largely binding on planning authorities."

It's not often I sing the praises of the Westminster government, but with regard to windmills the Coalition's new policy has windmills in perspective:


The Telegraph article may make uncomfortable reading for SNP members and supporters of independence, but unease shows just how wrong this bullying behaviour is and should not be tolerated.

Will Scots wake up before their lovely country is covered in wind turbines?  I would like to say yes, but I hesitate to do so.

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Let The North Wind Blow

Originally three wind turbines were erected just north of the beautiful East Neuk of Fife village of Crail.

Now there are two left standing and both have bent blades.  The third is flat on the ground.

Mike Scott-Hayward saw the destruction on his way past the site on Saturday.

I'm assuming the damage was done by recent high winds and that the turbines are on agricultural land, because most applications with Fife Council show farming land as sites.  Having done a quick scan of wind turbine applications around Crail, the only one I could find was for a Lochton Farm which applied to erect 3 turbines in 2010.

There seems to be problems with turbines in this area and I know the east coast is definitely windy most of the time.  One of Mike's Facebook friends commented:

'The farmer opposite has a turbine and since it was erected which is less than a year ago, the developers have been back and forth like yo-yos sorting out problems and it's been on and off like the wind, A neighbour who is friends with the farmer said the latest problem was the pole cracked due to high winds!!'

Who will pay the bill for the repair of those turbines or will, in the long term, it come from the extra utilities tax we pay?  Quite possibly.

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An Economic Analysis Politicians As Sure To Ignore

Wind turbines in Stirlingshire

My opinion of wind power is well known so there is no point in repeating it.

However I would like to draw attention to this article by Watts Up With That.

Dr Gordon Hughes is a Professor of Economics at the University of Edinburgh where he teaches courses in the Economics of Natural Resources ad Public Economics.

His full report on 'Why Is Wind Power So Expensive' is here.

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'The Wind Gives and the Wind Takes'

Alpha Ventus is currently the largest wind farm to be built under open-sea conditions. It is situated in the North Sea off the coast of Germany.

The Spiegel has an informative article on Germany's offshore wind turbine industry and in particular details of the installation of Alpha Ventus.  The base elements, which are as tall as buildings, were welded together in Scotland and Norway.  The tubes in the seafloor came from Rostock in north eastern Germany, the transformers from Regensburg in Bavaria and the rotor blade from Bremerhaven and Stade, near Hamburg.

Notice anything? As Alex Salmond remarked in his speech at the SNP conference on Saturday, it's a sad state of affairs when Scotland can't afford to develop and produce its own turbines and has to rely upon foreign companies for supplies.  The decision to bring Longannet to an abrupt halt is a massive blow to the fledgling offshore renewable industry and a decision which appears to have been taken for political rather than practical reasons.

Germany, like Scotland, has made a bet it can't afford to lose when it decided to at least partially replace nuclear with wind energy. But offshore energy production is an expensive business and each individual plant currently requires about 450 maintenance hours a year - far too much according to Ralf Klooster who is the supervising technician for an Alpha Ventus maintenance team.  The amount of time his ship's crew can work in a single stretch will be reduced to 10 hours soon and when that happens two crews will be needed for maintenance.  Costs will increase. Says Klooster: "They're not as strict about this in England."  I wonder if that also applies to Scotland.

The Spiegel article is written by a journalist who spent a day with Klooster and his team.  It certainly gives an insight into the offshore wind turbine industry.  A worthwhile read.

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A Sad Border Crossing

Travelling up and down the M74 through the border of Scotland and England in the past few weeks, I was stunned by the size of the windfarm on the east and the pylons on the west side of the motorway.  What a wonderful welcome to motoring visitors to Scotland to see such a display of renewable energy - plus old energy - within a few miles of the Scottish border.  How pleased visitors must feel to be entering a country where wind turbines are sprinkled like the heather they thought would welcome them.

Covering the countryside with wind turbines is not the answer to resolving Scotland's energy problem. It's exceptionally well recorded that they do not provide the energy suggested and yet the Scottish government continues to sing their praises, yet we hear little about the actual amount of permanent jobs which have been created since their inception.  Could that be because the jobs are so few?  I wonder.

Yesterday the Scottish media heralded the removal of electricity pylons in the Cairngorm National Park prior to the start of construction work on the controversial Beauly to Denny power line.  What the BBC or ITV did not mention is that pylons on other parts of the route are to be replaced with new ones between 42m and 65m tall - around 50% larger than those being felled.

The technology is there for all power supplies to be put underground yet, because the energy companies refuse to do this owing to cost, government has decided to compromise.

There should be no compromise on this matter. Companies should be told underground or not at all.  Two years ago the German green party started to doubt their efficiency yet the Scottish government has ignored the warning.

Of course we need to create jobs, but work which will be of a long-term benefit to society. Windfarms don't do that, but they do seriously reduce the impact of Scotland's magnificent countryside - it's best-selling point. I suspect more than a few Scottish politicians hope that more and more visitors arrive by air rather than road.  Let's not even consider those treacherous emissions...

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A Disappointing Scene

Last week it was disappointing to see Alex Salmond welcome to Scotland the former US vice-president, in his capacity as the world's climate change guru.

Obviously environmental issues need to be discussed, but to invite Al Gore to talk at the Scottish low-carbon investment conference merely shows the Scottish government need to progress with their environmental policies rather than listen to a somewhat discredited Yesterday's Man.

There's little doubt Mr Gore has become a multi-millionaire on the back of the carbon scam and he continues to produce his false science to the world.  Thank goodness there are those who are prepared to examine his claims with a fine toothed comb. (The link is a lengthy read but very worthwhile).

How I wish the Scottish government would withdraw from the carbon scam, stop filling our lovely countryside with giant turbines which produce little long-term employment and begin to use our expertise in the renewables field for the benefit of the people.  The only 'benefit' bestowed on us at present are ever increasing utility bills - and we are the only oil producing country in Europe.

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