- 120% increase in electricity from wind compared to a year ago
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50% rise overall in electricity from renewables
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Nearly half of all renewable electricity comes from wind alone
By Michael Smith (Veshengro)
RenewableUK, the country’s largest renewable energy trade association, has welcomed recent Government statistics which show that from April to June 2011, renewable energy sources, including wind, supplied 9.6% of the UK’s electricity – up from 6.3% in the same quarter in 2010.
The report attributes the 50% rise to higher wind speeds and the industry’s increased capacity to generate clean electricity. Nearly half the renewable electricity produced in this period came from wind (46.4%).
The quarterly Energy Statistics, published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, show that the amount of electricity generated from wind in the second quarter of this year was 120.3% higher than the same quarter (Q2) last year.
Dr Gordon Edge, RenewableUK’s Director of Policy, said “We’ve reached a historic high, with renewable energy now providing almost 10% of the UK’s electricity. These statistics show that the wind industry making a tremendous contribution to the nation’s energy supply. Wind is now providing enough power to supply nearly three and a quarter million homes in the UK. The amount of wind can of course vary from month to month, but year on year, we can expect the role of wind energy to continue to grow, providing us with a secure alternative to expensive fossil fuel imports. This will stabilise energy prices, as well as generating tens of thousands of jobs, and helping us to build a new low carbon economy”.
If we consider then that several wind farms in Scotland had to be turned off, which means to have the blades feather and stop the turbines running, because they were producing more than what the grid could cope with, then we see how much, in reality renewables can contribute.
The operators of those wind farms that had to feather their turbines were being paid not to produce power at a rate far higher than what they would have gotten on the wholesale market and this, in my opinion, is utter madness.
We must create an infrastructure for wind, solar, wave, etc., that makes it possible to store the energy produced – and if the Germans can do it we can – and then to be released when demand increases or whatever. Turning turbines off because the grid cannot absorb the energy seems daft.
Also and especially we must get away from the huge three-bladed turbines and get down to “every roof a power station” using fast multi-bladed fans, vertical axis turbines similar to chimney weather cowling, and others, producing 12V DC to be used directly in the homes, with battery storage for use when wind does not blow and when it is dark.
Off grid homes in the USA and elsewhere work on that principle and this principle could be applied and employed in each and every home in the UK and elsewhere. The great majority of appliances, bar the large white goods, can and will run on electricity of 12V DC and below, which includes your computers, your radio receivers, and even your LCD screen TVs, etc. So even inversion to a higher voltage and AC is only necessary for some appliances.
It can be done but it will require political will and it is that which is missing. The vested interests still lobby hard against renewables.
© 2011
