On Sun, 7 Dec 2008 15:10:35 -0800 (PST) someone who may be jim
wrote this:-

Oh yes? There's loads of idiots out there, including govt ministers
and advisers and civil servants, who obviously cannot do the simple
sums & do not think it is a silly idea. And they are right there in
the middle of govt putting up all of our elec bills.

The RO scheme was costing each household £9 a year in 2007. £2.25 a
quarter, somewhat less than the price of a pint of beer.

To this one should add the various energy efficiency schemes, around
£10 per quarter and around £12 for the EU emissions trading scheme.

The estimate was that in 2008 all these measures would increase
bills by £9 per year.

http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications/downloads/DomesticEnergyPriceAnalysis.pdf

I'm not a fan of the emissions trading debacle, but I think the rest
is money well spent.

The daft idea has got out that wind energy is 'free' and all you do is
put up a fan, plug it into the mains and lie back whilst the cheques
roll in.

I think that this idea is only a feature of straw man arguments.

It is perhaps inexhaustable, but is it truly renewable? The
expected life of a wind turbine is c.30years. Not very long as
electrical generation infrastructure goes.

What we are beginning to see often happens is that the original wind
farm is repowered after a decade or so and the old wind turbines
re-used elsewhere. The Dancing Ladies of Gigha are an example of
re-used turbines
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/SustainableDevelopment/CaseStudies/DancingLadiesofGigha.

Plus there is a large plug of expensive-energy-consumed concrete under it.

Vestas included the "large" amount of concrete in their studies
http://www.vestas.com/en/about-vestas/sustainability/wind-turbines-and-the-environment/life-cycle-assessment-(lca).aspx.
I will be interested in seeing your rebuttals.



--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54