THE letters of Neil Craig and G I Crawford (January 15) contain a number of inaccuracies which I hope you will allow me to correct.
If, as Mr Craig claims, it is very difficult to get wind generation above 10% of supply, then we will shortly find this out. As reported in the Sunday Herald on January 14, onshore wind currently accounts for just under 10% of Scottish electricity. If Mr Craig is right, then the the lights will start flickering in Scotland this year, as increased wind capacity is commissioned. I have put a note in my diary for January 2008 to check whether Mr Craig is right or not. If he is right I will apologise to him in this newspaper. Will he give a similar undertaking if I am right and the lights don't start flickering?
Over a year, the average UK wind farm does, indeed, produce around 27% of its theoretical output were it to run at 100% of rated output all year. That is as expected and is not a reason to stop building them. No form of generation runs at 100% of rated output all year; the comparable figures for gas power stations are 60%, nuclear 71%, hydro 37%, pumped storage 10% and coal 62%. The overall average figure for the UK electricity network is around 55%, but that does not mean that no electricity is generated for 45% of the year. None of these figures is a measure of reliability, as Mr Craig claims; they are a measure of how plant is utilised.
Nuclear is certainly not the cheapest form of generation. The large station size and inherent inflexibility of nuclear generation mean that large amounts of back-up are necessary to keep the lights on when such plants suddenly fail, which they do in the UK with some regularity. Neither does nuclear generation emit zero carbon dioxide, as both letter-writers claim.
It is time that the politicians started acting in the public interest, instead of mouthing platitudes and doing the wrong thing. That would involve a massively enhanced programme of energy conservation, continuing with onshore wind and boosting other renewables. Nuclear generation can be allowed to wither without causing massive blackouts. The politicians also need to get serious about the majority of energy consumption, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, which is not related to electricity. For example, expanding airports and roads, which the Labour/LibDem government is doing with the support of most of the other political parties, will increase greenhouse gas emissions.
David Hansen, 9a Duke Street, Leith
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article