January 23, 2010

Wind Power

The Department of Energy reports that Wind could provide 20% of the power needed by the East Coast by 2024

"I think we ought to be trying to make the transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy resources as rapidly as possible. That's particularly important for Delaware, since it's a coastal state that is very vulnerable to climate change and sea level rise."

Ah... dump our Fossil Fuel plants and go with wind powered generators? I wonder if our Department of Energy has noticed that during the recent cold snap in England, their wind farms produced "practically no energy" because there was no wind:

"If we had this 30 gigawatts of wind power, it wouldn't have contributed anything of any significance this winter," he said. "The current cold snap is a warning that our power generation and gas supplies are under strain and it is getting worse."

Coal stations are currently used as back-up generation when there is a surge in demand for gas and the wind does not blow – which both tend to happen during cold weather.

However, increased dependence on wind farms will coincide with a European Union directive shutting down Britain's dirtiest coal and oil fired power stations.

The UK has committed to switching off these stations by 2015, leaving it uniquely vulnerable to gas shortages and the intermittency of wind farms.

Pay attention, people of Delaware... I hear it can get pretty cold in the Northeast.

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