Comments on: Independent Grid Operator Study Confirms Wind Power’s Economic, Environmental Value

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 15:35:00 +0000

“It has become an article of popular faith that building wind farms also involves constructing fossil-fuelled power stations for back‑up when the weather is calm. As a result, some opponents go on to say, wind turbines do little or nothing to cut carbon dioxide emissions.

Now the National Grid has studied what actually happens in practice, with explosive, if surprising, results. Between April 2011 and September 2012 – its head of energy strategy, Richard Smith, told the Hay Festival – wind produced some 23,700 gigawatt hours (GWh) of power. Only 22GWh of power from fossil fuels was needed to fill the gaps when the wind didn’t blow. That’s less than a thousandth of the turbines’ output – and, as it happens, less than a tenth of what was needed to back up conventional power stations.

It proved to be much the same with emissions. Wind saved nearly 11 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over that 18 months; standby burning of fossil fuels only reduced this by 8,800 tonnes, or 0.081 per cent.

Not surprisingly, given these figures, no new fossil‑fuel power station has been built to provide back‑up for wind farms, and none is in prospect.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/10091645/The-badger-cull-is-no-black-and-white-issue.html

By: Thomas Stacy

Thomas Stacy — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 15:15:00 +0000

You misunderstand the question and its answer, Arne-nl. But since my goal is to educate LAWMAKERS – not idealistic green energy rent-seekers, I’ll say no more.

By: arne-nl

arne-nl — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 11:32:00 +0000

To counter the lie that balancing the variability of wind and solar power only increases the CO2 emissions, I always like point to the real time generation information in Spain: https://demanda.ree.es/generacion_acumulada.html

It neatly shows how they manage the variability (in both generation and demand) mostly by hydro. Their fossil generators are allowed to slowly ramp up and down, which hardly affects efficiency.

Furthermore, solar variability HELPS the energy company because solar peaks when demand is high. It’s variability is an advantage because it tends to follow demand.