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Wind scam

John Etherington’s The Wind Farm Scam – an ecologist’s evaluation (Stacey International, London, 2009) is evidently seen as a definitive text by anti-wind groups. You don’t have to read much of it to see why. Here are a few quotes. He says that the wind power industry is determined “…to drive roadway after roadway through lonely places, to dump concrete in enormous quantity, to bulldoze acres of hillside into wind farms studded with gigantic, identically mass-produced steel and plastic monsters. This is akin to demolishing the great cathedrals for road stone or shredding the contents of the National Gallery to make wall insulation”.

He says that “…as the developers have grabbed the remote lands of Britain, so their flailing blades perforce creep closer to habitations”. He describes windfarm turbines as “wind monsters” spreading “environmental harm” and sees anti-wind campaigners as “the heroic defenders of the land”. And, rather than “twitching crucifixions of landscape”, he recommends, as an alternative, nuclear power, which he claims “could give secure supply of very large amounts of electricity”. For good measure he’s also a bit of a contrarian on climate change: he feels that: “It is not credible that the virtual-world output of the models can reliably be used to make policy decision.”

So can this book be ignored as just a silly opinionated diatribe? Unfortunately no, since John Etherington is an ecologist and academic of some standing, having been reader in ecology at the University of Wales, Cardiff, and a former editor of The Ecologist. And the bulk of the book consist of a well written and detailed account of wind power – how it works and what problems there might be – with much of this being respectably done, even if there are occasional lapses and errors. Some of the errors are technical – he is not an engineer and occasionally slips up on details, some of which are important.

Fortunately Prof. John Twidell has provided a detailed critique, pointing out the errors and misunderstandings, in a review in Wind Engineering, Vol. 34, Issue 3, pp 335-350’ , 2010. For example, Twidell notes that, in his account of the impact of variable inputs from wind turbines on the grid, Etherington fails to mention that demand is constantly changing, and that supply has to be altered to match the demand. This omission is serious, since the impression is given that variations as from wind power are distinct and previously unknown, whereas the variations due to changes in load have always been similar and predominantly more extreme. Thus a grid that copes with load/demand variation, copes easily with the arrival of wind power. A similar unforgivable error is not to mention that all forms of generation fail and hence need back-up strategies. Maintaining short-term operating reserve capacity with a range of mechanisms to balance supply and demand have always been the central tasks for grid operators.’

There are many more such examples of omissions or errors, which are catalogued in detail in Twidell’s 8,000 word assessment, along with some statements which can only be described as disingenous: Etherington describes the various ways in which wind projects have been financed, with most (like the Renewable Obligation and Feed In Tariffs) passing the costs on to consumers. Nothing new there – it’s all well known. So how can he then complain about “huge and concealed benefits to the wind power developers and covert arrangements which prevent this from being common knowledge”?

Twidell’s review deserves to be widely read – it’s a carefully measured analysis, which strives to keep irritation at the anti-wind rhetoric in check. He even rather kindly offers a let-out at the end: “Visual impact and its psychological implications is probably the key to understanding the divisions exposed by this book; every other criticism from Etherington and his colleagues probably flows from this problem.” Other readers may not be so kind.

Even so, despite its often hectoring tone, this book deserves to be read: some wind-power enthusiasts do overstate their case, there certainly can be problems with managing wind systems, and it is always useful to have beliefs and certainties challenged, especially since, on most plans, many countries around the world now expect to rely on wind for large parts of their energy input in the years ahead. In addition, this book may also serve as a timely reminder to us all, whatever our beliefs, that “purple prose” and rhetoric do not sit well with, and can undermine, more careful analysis. And that is something that can apply to “greens” as well as to contrarians.

You can access Twidell’s review at www.embracemyplanet.com/critique-wind-farm-scam.

For more on renewable-energy policy and issues, visit www.natta-renew.org.

Posted by Dave Elliott on July 23, 2010 10:50 PM | Permalink