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 The people wins at last over the government in danish wind energy deployment. DONG, Dansk Olie og Naturgas A/S, or rather DONG Energy A/S has decided to give up the establishment of 500 giant wind turbines on land due to massive protests from local population around the country.
This is not to the governments likening, who now protest back and is angry with DONG. The chairman of the environmental department in the government, Anne Grete Holmsgaard, says it is unfair that our own state owned DONG stop setting up windmills on land, especially after we have promised a test center where they can do their research.
Climate and energy minister Lykke Friis, cannot believe the population's protests are real, she is in particular scared over the protests regarding the test center in the north western part of Denmark, where the government indents to clear a huge area of forest and instead plant seven 250 meter tall bird killing windmills, with the appropriate many thousand tons of concrete.
DONG has decided they will plant the windmills out in the see instead. They have already dent in the plans for the worlds largest wind forest at sea, Horns Rev II and has a yet another one planned adjacent to the small island Anholt in the middle of Kattegat.
Now we just need good solid protests against the plain stupidity of planting windmills anywhere. The little they help is difficult to define; but the cost, the distortion of nature and disgrace to beauty, is very real and measurable. This has very little to do with climate; but there must be something they are good for?
Reference:
epn.dk
tv2.dk
Amendment
We are famous for our wind turbines in Denmark and granted, we produce high quality and high quantities; but apart from that our 30 year experiment has failed on virtually any account. Denmark produces about 20% of it's electrical energy from wind turbines - this is true and sounds good. However, diving below the surface, nothing is good.
First of all, the whole life cycle of wind turbines produces more CO2 than other sources of electricity generation. This could be partly why Denmark has has such a significant increase in CO2. Alone during 2006 the increase was 30%.
Secondly, only about 5% of the electricity to Danish consumers comes from wind energy, the remaining 15% has to be exported to Norway and Germany at a very low prise and sometimes even a negative sales price.
Thirdly, the cost from utilizing wind energy at this large scale, has given us the highest price per KWh in the EU, despite the wind is "free".
As Dr. Klaus L.E. Kaiser in Canada Free Press summarizes:
The term “Generating Capacity” as used by the wind power proponents is grossly misleading as it would require steady, uninterrupted storm to hurricane force winds to be achieved on a sustained basis.
The variability of wind creates technical problems which make wind power generated electricity both unreliable and costly.
Electricity generation from wind requires full backup by conventional power generating facilities. That creates additional costs attributable to wind power.
Wind power generated electricity is neither free, nor economical, nor a reliable energy source.
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