7 Myths About Wind Energy

 There are people who just don’t like wind turbines. Perhaps they don’t like how they look, perhaps they don’t like change, or perhaps they have ulterior motives. Everyone should be able to make up their own mind, but what confuses the issue are the wind power myths that are circulating and sometimes even appear in the press.

 

So to help you make your minds up about wind turbines, here are a few wind power myths.

Myth 1: Wind energy subsidies are significantly pushing up energy bills

Only a fraction of the increase we’re seeing in our energy bills is due to investment in renewable energy. In the six years until 2010, government support for renewables added £30 to the average energy bill while rises in the wholesale cost of gas added £290 and gas prices are only expected to increase. So shifting to renewable energy and improving energy efficiency are still the most effective ways to tackle fuel poverty and keep bills under control.

 

Myth 2: Wind farms depend on subsidies to be competitive

The cost of wind power is falling. There are already wind farms around the world that are producing power as cheaply as coal, gas and nuclear generators and it’s predicted that the average onshore wind farm will be fully competitive by 2016. So there’s no need to put a break on investing in renewables in the UK.

Myth 3: Wind power is bad for the economy

In Scotland, the wind energy industry already supports more than 11,000 jobs, and this could triple by 2020 with a further 20,000 jobs in related industries as well as bringing in up to £30 billion of investment. Across Europe, the wind industry contributed €32 billion to the EU economy between 2007 and 2010. In this period unemployment rose by 9.6%, but jobs in the wind industry went up by 30% to employ nearly 240,000 people. In the UK, research has shown that if wind power were to play a key role in the provision of electricity, by 2030 it would contribute £20 billion a year more to our GDP by 2030 and another 70,000 jobs compared to a future where the government opted for gas.

Myth 4: Most people don’t like wind farms

A recent Mori poll showed that two-thirds of people in the UK were in favour of using wind power. Only 8% were opposed, with only 3% saying they are “strongly opposed”. In Scotland, Whitelee windfarm near Glasgow has even become a tourist attraction, attracting 200,000 visitors since 2009.

Myth 5: Building a wind farm takes more energy than it ever makes

During its operational life the average onshore wind farm produces 20-25 times more energy than is used in construction and installation. The “energy payback” time of a typical turbine is 3-6 months.

 

Myth 6: Wind farms are inefficient and only work 30% of the time

Modern wind turbines produce electricity 80-85% of the time, though how much they produce depends on the wind speed. The 30% figure in the myth comes from confusion with something called “load factor” – which is a power plant’s average energy output as a percentage of the maximum amount it could theoretically produce. The load factor for an onshore wind farm is around 28 – 30% – not a great deal lower than a conventional power station (50%). Since the wind itself is a free resource, nothing is being wasted.

 

Myth 7: Wind power needs extra back-up from fossil fuel power stations which increases emissions

All power sources need back-up – for example, last year the system coped admirably when a nuclear power station was shut down because jellyfish got into the cooling water, and the electricity grid copes with big fluctuations in energy demand on a daily basis. Although wind speed varies, this can be forecast fairly accurately. Government figures show that in 2011 wind power produced 15.5 terawatt hours of electricity to the national grid in 2011 - this will have reduced CO2 emissions by at least 5.5 million tonnes if you assume it replaced the best available gas technology, or 12 million tonnes if it replaced coal.