Airy fairy ‘facts’
Your report (The Scotsman, 4 August) that wind power alone produced enough electricity to supply 72 per cent of Scottish homes in July was typical of the use of “average” monthly data by the supporters of wind energy. Even in July, not one house in Scotland would have received a consistent flow of 72 per cent of its electricity from wind power. In any other business requiring peer group scrutiny, the energy industry would have to supply actual figures on a daily basis over the longer term. The reason they do not highlight these figures in this way is that it would confirm the inconvenient truth that wind energy is inherently unstable and very expensive. Despite the vast increase in capacity, on many days over the last twelve months only minimal electricity has been produced from wind farms. These vast swathes of wind turbines are destroying our environment for minimal benefit and continue to require expensive back-up to remain in place to take up the slack when the wind does not blow. The electricity industry and the landowners are dancing for joy, grabbing every subsidy that comes along while the rest of us have to pay up to keep this gravy train on the road.