Wind is no panacea for our energy needs

WIND energy is a good thing, and its advantages have been receiving much media attention.

However, the obvious disadvantages (noise, visual intrusion and interference with broadcast media) have led to increasing concern in line with the growing number of wind farms. Yet too many commentators seem still to regard wind as a panacea for our energy problems.

There is a public misconception that most of our electricity needs can be met from wind. Not so. By far the biggest limitation with wind energy is its intermittence. Experience has shown that at times of greatest electricity demand, the output of the wind farms can be negligible. The only ways to deal with this are to maintain conventional power stations on standby (expensive, polluting and inefficient) or to import supplies via interconnectors from the UK. This is also very expensive but it would facilitate the wind power industry by allowing surplus power to be exported.