Re: Roger Ford on Electrification

On 6 May 2006 13:04:33 GMT someone who may be "Ian Johnston"
<ian.groups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote this:-

: I have stated it before, and I will state it again. The only way you
: change the mix of fuels used for generation is either to build
: additional power stations or close old ones.

Or use existing stations to various proportions of their capacity.

Indeed.

Having waded through the whole thread here are a few points aimed at
the general thread.

1) the idea that because all that an individual can do is very small
one should not do anything at all is an old one, but still a
discredited one. Who would have thought that one man could inspire
the humbling of the greatest empire the world has ever seen by
starting with a protest about salt.

2) if one buys green electricity that does indeed alter the balance
of generation and push things in that direction. Every little does
help. Obviously the supply is on an annual basis, as suppliers make
clear, rather then a second to second basis. However, that works
both ways.

3) if one is serious about encouraging sustainable electricity then
it is best to avoid the "green" offerings of the large companies,
which often amount to putting some money into things that are of
debatable use. They can also sell a small amount of sustainable
electricity, which they would have to produce anyway, at a premium,
which is indeed a triumph of marketing.

4) There are companies that are actually increasing the supply of
sustainable electricity in various ways, which are better for the
serious to use as supplier. http://www.greenenergy.uk.com/index.aspx
http://www.good-energy.co.uk/ and http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/ are
the three I know of. They do this either by encouraging others
(perhaps in related companies) as the first two, or building
themselves as the last does. The last has attacked the other
approach, but that just made them look foolish as both approaches
are valid. http://www.good-energy.co.uk/business/42_generators.html
is where one of them gets their electricity from.

5) there is no "huge Treasury subsidy" to wind generated
electricity. There various Renewables Obligations. However, these
are levies on electricity bills and there is no government direction
on which forms of renewable electricity they support. Most of the
money has gone to wind as it is the most developed other than hydro.

6) there has been and is a huge Treasury subsidy to the nuclear
"industry", as well as one from electricity bills in the days of the
Non Fossil Fuel Obligations.

7) figures from the anti-wind lobby have to be taken with a very
large pinch of salt. There is a web page that purports to show that
many people have been killed and injured by the wind industry, in
contrast to the claim at http://www.bwea.com/ref/faq.html#safe that,
"No member of the public has ever been injured by wind energy or
wind turbines anywhere in the world, despite the fact that there are
now over 68,000 operational wind turbines." When looked into the
handful of public deaths included someone who drove into a lorry,
which happened to be carrying part of a wind turbine. By the same
logic someone who drives into a lorry which happens to be carrying a
railway locomotive is another rail death. Someone was reported to
have been injured by ice thrown from a turbine, yet the original
newspaper articles don't refer to injuries. There was also a
parachutist who landed many kilometres away from her intended
landing zone and a pilot who flew a microlight or hang glider into
an overhead electricity line that happened to be associated with a
wind farm. The nearest the anti-wind lobby got to showing the claim
is wrong is a member of the public who was killed while visiting a
wind farm, he fell down the tower.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54
.

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