Wind turbines 'may actually do more harm than good'

Besoeker · 18-11-2006, 11:40 PM

For what it is worth, I have a commercial interest in renewable energy. I am also aware of its limitations. The system offered by B&Q is not stand alone. It requires a bulk system (the grid) to connect into. The same requirement applies to the commercial wind farms in operation in UK.
We, the consumers, expect energy on demand. Wind produces energy on availability. The slack/excess resulting from this variability is taken up by the national grid. But there are limitations on how far this can go. The consensus among power engineers is that about 20% renewable contribution is the maximum that would produce net benefit. Beyond that, the generating capacity that would need to be sitting on line (spinning reserve) ready to meet demand would consume more energy than is saved by the variable renewables.

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18-11-2006, 11:40 PM	#31 (permalink)
Besoeker Uber Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 5,012	For what it is worth, I have a commercial interest in renewable energy. I am also aware of its limitations. The system offered by B&Q is not stand alone. It requires a bulk system (the grid) to connect into. The same requirement applies to the commercial wind farms in operation in UK. We, the consumers, expect energy on demand. Wind produces energy on availability. The slack/excess resulting from this variability is taken up by the national grid. But there are limitations on how far this can go. The consensus among power engineers is that about 20% renewable contribution is the maximum that would produce net benefit. Beyond that, the generating capacity that would need to be sitting on line (spinning reserve) ready to meet demand would consume more energy than is saved by the variable renewables.