Whistle Down The Wind

The figures reported yesterday for the production of electricity from wind farms show more or less exactly what we already know - these things are pretty useless.   20% of the sites produce less than 20% of their maximum capacity, and some produce less than 10%.

The problem is the grants for green energy, which encourage developers to build wind turbines on unsuitable sites.   Without these subsidies, it is doubtful whether many of the turbines which so mar our landscapes would have been built.   And the Government is still planning to increase research and development funding - though probably for offshore sites, which are not so objectionable.

Obviously renewable energy is important, but the impact on the landscape, and the importance of beauty and tranquillity are also extremely important and should be taken into account, as should the fact that they kill so many birds.   In view of the inefficiency of these monsters in relation to their cost, and the destruction they cause, not to mention their unreliability, my view is that we should regard them as a failed experiment and concentrate on something silent, invisible, efficient and reliable.   Nuclear energy perhaps?