Wind power targets unrealistic, say critics

Claims in a Government-commissioned report that wind power can supply a third of Britain's electricity have been condemned as wildly optimistic by leading experts.

By Patrick Sawer Last Updated: 10:21AM GMT 07 Dec 2008

Researchers and parliamentarians warned that a heavy reliance on wind energy would place Britain's energy supplies at risk.
A report by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), published last week, maintained that wind farms could play a major role in helping Britain cut its harmful carbon emissions by 34 per cent in 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050.
It stated: "Despite the inherent intermittency of wind power supply, wind generation could make a significant contribution to total global electricity generation and be a major source of electricity in the UK (eg 30 per cent by 2020 and more beyond)."
The CCC, chaired by Lord Turner, the former director general of the Confederation of British Industry, said that new techniques of energy storage would overcome the problem of maintaining a regular supply when the wind is not blowing.
But sceptics say this is far too ambitious because experts have not yet been able to devise effective ways of capturing and storing electricity generated by wind. That means a backup system, in the form of nuclear or coal- or gas-fired power stations, would always be needed.
John Constable, director of policy and research at the Renewable Energy Foundation, a think tank, said: "To generate 30 or 40 per cent of our electrical energy from wind power would present unmanageable and unaffordable difficulties at the present.
"The CCC's assertion to the contrary is simply out of step with the state of theoretical and empirical knowledge in the field. Betting on very heavy commitment to wind for carbon reduction is irrational and will result in the inevitable failure of our climate change policy. Wind has a role, but this role will be modest in scale."
A report by the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, published last month, also cast doubt on the merits of wind turbines.
The committee, headed by Lord Vallance of Tummel, said the Government was relying too heavily on wind to help it meet an EU target for the UK to generate 15 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. The peers' report states: "An over-reliance on intermittent power generation, in pursuit of the target, could prove both costly and risky."
Instead, the report favoured the expansion of nuclear power and the development of carbon capture technology to allow "clean" coal fired power stations.
Lord Vallance said: "The UK is most likely to adopt wind power as its main means of producing more renewable electricity. This has an inherent weakness in that it cannot be relied upon to generate electricity at the time it is needed.
"Current policies would take the UK into uncharted territory, with a dependence on intermittent supply unprecedented elsewhere in Europe. To guard against power shortages, wind turbines would need to be backed up with conventional generation.
"We are concerned that the dash to meet the EU's 2020 targets may draw attention and investment away from cheaper and more reliable low-carbon electricity generation – such as nuclear and potentially fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage."
Ian Fells, emeritus professor of energy conversion at Newcastle University and founding chairman of the New and Renewable Energy Centre, criticised the CCC report as a wish list, lacking a basis in sound engineering principles.
"To say its ambitious is to put it mildly," said Professor Fells. "I just don't see how it can be achieved."
He said that to meet the targets for the reduction in carbon emissions would require an "extraordinary change in lifestyle" for most people.
Professor Fells said using wind power to generate electricity is almost twice as expensive as coal or gas and could never be achieved without huge taxpayers' subsidies. Instead, the professor said, the Government should give the immediate go-ahead for the construction of the proposed Severn Barrage, which could provide 5 per cent of Britain's electricity needs from regular, uninterrupted tidal power.
"To emphasise offshore wind power as the mainstay of renewable energy is to ignore the potential of marine technology and tidal stream systems," he said.
The CCC recommends a major programme of renewable energy production to replace fossil fuels; increased energy efficiency at home and in the workplace; and cutting transport emissions through the use of electric cars, biofuels and more use of public transport.
Lord Turner, who was appointed to his post this year by Hilary Benn, the environment secretary, said: "Climate change poses a grave threat to human welfare, the environment and the economy. We need to act now, in the UK and as part of a global agreement, to significantly reduce our emissions.
"The reductions required can be achieved at a very low cost to our economy. The cost of not achieving the reductions will be far greater."