dennis@home wrote:


"Tim W" wrote in message
...

Not too sure what you are on about.

Wind power doesn't work when it isn't windy? We knew that.

So it needs to be mixed with other sources? We knew that too.

So you mix it..
that means you need the same generating capacity as the wind farms
idling away so they can switch in when the wind doesn't blow.
This costs £££ and generates carbon, so much for wind farms being carbon
neutral.
I suppose the solution is to back them up with something that doesn't
generate carbon, like nuclear, but then you wouldn't need the wind farms.
We could offset some of the problems by switching off all the people on
green tariffs as there isn't any green electricity for them.
We don't want them to get the idea that they are actually a part of the
solution rather than being a part of the problem.

German Wind farms produced about 7% of the energy consumed in Germany
in 2009. That is a heck of a significant delivery.

I bet they didn't, how much carbon does that mean they produce over
their life then?



well lets just say that that 7% of windpower on the grid has not
markedly changed carbon emissions in electrical power.

It (Germany) stands at 1351.
The UK is 1228
France (largely nuclear) is 193
Switzerland - hydro and nuclear, is just 11

(Source: http://carma.org/region/detail/185 et al).

In short Germany adds wind and switches off nuclear, and sees no
reduction in CO2. And has to add gas plant to balance the wind.