WAG - Windfarm Action Group - the growing blight on the good earth ☯
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The Maths - simple and worrying
This page is an attempt to illustrate with the simplest of Maths- Why wind power can't be the answer
Preamble
These calculations relate to the UK as a whole and our national electricity grid
The same method can be applied equally well anywhere in the world
1.
The 2009 Renewable Energy Directive set a target for the UK
to achieve 15% of its energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020.
However...
The UK Government assured the EU in its Renewable Energy Strategy last year (2010)
that it envisaged 30 per cent of electricity to come from 'renewable sources' by 2020
the vast majority being on- and offshore wind
This compares to 3% in 2009.
Source for these figures
The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change
2.
Currently about 3% of our power averaged across the year comes from Wind power generation
3.
The Plans for the shift to 'renewables' involves shutting down many of our conventional plants
4.
Wind ( as at 1 above) is the major player in the 'renewables' world.
Others such as solar, biomass, wave power are so insignificant that they don't register on the National Grid statistics currently. There is a category called 'Other' with so small a register that it records a figure of zero any time you care to look!
Preamble
These calculations relate to the UK as a whole and our national electricity grid
The same method can be applied equally well anywhere in the world
1.
The 2009 Renewable Energy Directive set a target for the UK
to achieve 15% of its energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020.
However...
The UK Government assured the EU in its Renewable Energy Strategy last year (2010)
that it envisaged 30 per cent of electricity to come from 'renewable sources' by 2020
the vast majority being on- and offshore wind
This compares to 3% in 2009.
Source for these figures
The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change
2.
Currently about 3% of our power averaged across the year comes from Wind power generation
3.
The Plans for the shift to 'renewables' involves shutting down many of our conventional plants
4.
Wind ( as at 1 above) is the major player in the 'renewables' world.
Others such as solar, biomass, wave power are so insignificant that they don't register on the National Grid statistics currently. There is a category called 'Other' with so small a register that it records a figure of zero any time you care to look!
Let's look at the current situation
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Analysis
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The above figures are with a UK current average over the year of 3% from wind
They show a 24 hour period where wind produces 2.1%
Let's see what happens when we try to scale the 'renewables' average up to the target of 30%
Let's assume that 20% will come from wind power and 10% from 'other renewables'
(That's a generous assumption)
They show a 24 hour period where wind produces 2.1%
Let's see what happens when we try to scale the 'renewables' average up to the target of 30%
Let's assume that 20% will come from wind power and 10% from 'other renewables'
(That's a generous assumption)
THE POTENTIAL SCENARIO-CONTRAST AND COMPARE
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THE PRESENT
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 COMPARE THE ABOVE WITH THIS
THE FUTURE ?
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 Derek Birkett is the former Grid Control Engineer of Northern Scotland. He has a lifetime of experience in electricity supply throughout Britain and has been involved in the installation and commissioning of several power stations, whether coal-fired, hydro or nuclear, including Dounreay. Available HERE from Amazon |
Notes about Maths and Measurement
We read on windpower sites about how many 'kettles' and 'households' are being powered by wind.
Kettles and Households are NOT units of measurement
Let's take Households
Households are individual units of living space with no 2 exactly the same
In order to accurately measure this you would need to describe what a household means in terms of
And a whole raft of other factors- an impossible thing to measure accurately
Kettles and Households are NOT units of measurement
Let's take Households
Households are individual units of living space with no 2 exactly the same
In order to accurately measure this you would need to describe what a household means in terms of
- Cubic Capacity of Space in the said household
- The amount of electricity dependent items in the house
- How many TVs, washing machines, fridges, computers, heating systems, cookers etc
- The power usage of each of those on an annual basis
- Account for Heat Loss in terms of installed insulation
- Account for the outside temperature
And a whole raft of other factors- an impossible thing to measure accurately
