Wind power is great, but not a panacea

Yes, wind power is great and I fully support its vigorous growth, but we should not set our hopes too high. Environmental groups are doing a dangerous disservice by claiming wind (along with solar and conservation) will provide limitless clean energy and will power the hydrogen economy of the future. It is the answer to global warming and the world’s energy problems, so they state. This is totally wrong, instils false optimism and diverts us from tackling the real problems: the ever-growing population and economy.

Wind, sadly, can deliver only a small fraction of the gargantuan amounts of energy that we humans crave. Here’s why.
First, it is not generally recognized that the capacity of wind farms is, in practice, much smaller than quoted. Because winds don’t blow all the time, a 200-MW wind farm, for example, only generates about one-third of the electricity as a 200-MW hydro or fossil-fuel plant, which runs virtually full-time.

Another serious complication: Electricity must still be supplied to consumers when the wind stops. Thus, wind farms require a backup energy source in the form of a hydro or fossil-fuel plant, or its energy must be stored in batteries or by making hydrogen. Either way, big bucks are needed for capital investment.

Because wind is diffuse, wind farms are large. For example, to replace a 1,000-MW coal station would require about 1,500 turbines of the latest design (two MW each). Not surprisingly, the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) syndrome is proving to be a major obstacle to such enormous facilities.

Vancouver Sun