MR Haskell [Western Telegraph letters] is very keen to exhibit his qualifications and experience in the field of power generation.
I assume that the National Grid have similarly or even better qualified engineers.
They have clearly stated that the recent power blackout was not because part of the supply came from renewable energy.
They have in the past also stated that the intermittent nature of wind power does not cause them a problem; even other power generators sometimes have unplanned outages.
A very fair and reasonable description of the various forms of sustainable power generation is very well set out in David JC MacKay’s book ‘Sustainable Energy – Without The Hot Air’.
He is a Professor in the Department of Physics at Cambridge University and a Fellow of the Royal Society. Another advantage of his book is that it can be downloaded free of charge from the internet.
Regarding Mr Haskel’s point that wind turbines do kill birds, Professor Mackay agrees (estimated that in Denmark 30,000 birds per year are killed by wind turbines).
However, he goes on to point out that studies have shown that 30 times more birds are killed by traffic.
Should we ban all cars?
He further explains that in Britain 55 million birds per year are killed by cats.
Regarding endorsement by David Bellamy of Mr Haskell’s book, my only personal experience of this gentleman was when, some years ago, he gave a ringing endorsement to the Woodside Village housing development project in Usk (Gwent).
This proposed development which fortunately did not happen, would have covered a substantial portion of the local flood plain of the river Usk which had been the subject of severe flooding. Also a sewage outlet would have emptied into the river.
I did not realise that Mr Bellamy was now an expert on power generation though I do note that he once described man made climate change as ‘poppycock’.
With friends like these…
VIAN ROBERTS
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