Energy review

When John Milne wrote “wind farm protestors deserve to be heard”, there were resounding cheers from all over Scotland. (Platform, 22 June).

He is correct to ask whether these machines are cost-effective and whether they reduce carbon dioxide. The answer in both cases is no. They would never be commercially viable without the monstrous subsidies that will bleed consumers dry over 25 years.

Professor Gordon Hughes of Edinburgh University has calculated that the CO2 saved by wind turbines is in the range “minuscule to zero”. Nowhere in the United States, Germany, Denmark or the UK have wind turbines replaced a single conventional power plant. John Milne calls for the establishment of an independent energy commission. I support this but “independent” is not a word in the SNP dictionary. This commission needs to include those who are knowledgeably against wind turbines such as the John Muir Trust and the Scientific Alliance.

Clark Cross

Linlithgow, West Lothian