Hi Jennifer.
Following is a request for help!
Tonyfromoz kindly did an excellent article titled Wind Power Australia – The Musselroe Wind Farm Travesty in Tasmania
It is a very good summary of the situation from both the viability and value claims for the energy and the obvious hypocrisy of The Greens, other environmentalists and groups.
I am trying to raise world awareness of the devastation that is about to be unleashed at Musselroe Bay, already a designated Conservation area and one of the most environmentally fragile environments in Tasmania. Together with the nearby Mt.William National Park, home to many species of native wildlife, plants, endangered birdlife including wedgetail eagles, and in the path of at least three migratory bird species including the legendary mutton bird, the whole area encompasses some of the most naturally beautiful places on Earth.
A documented template of what is about to happen was recorded by those locals who unsuccessfully opposed the Cefn Croes wind development, the largest onshore windfarm in Wales. They made a photographic record of the whole environmentally disastrous venture there.
Google “Cefn Croes campaign website” and check the photo gallery.
Tasmania is the current home of both Bob Brown, who led the successful “Save the Franklin” campaign and Christine Milne, the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens. In a further twist, the Tasmanian Greens supported Labor after a “hung” election and Greens Leader Nick McKim and his partner Cassie O’Oconnor were rewarded with Cabinet posts. Cassie, who is Minister for Climate Change gained much of her public profile in the successful “Save Ralphs Bay” campaign.
What an incredible irony that these four prominent Greens are cheerleaders in a push that will destroy the Musselroe Bay Conservation area. Whilst celebrities and various leading environmental protestors flocked to Tasmania from all over the world to “Save the Franklin”, they are now conspicuously absent and silent while this travesty proceeds. Nothing could demonstrate more clearly the political and ideological selectiveness they use to decide whether they support or oppose desecration of pristine areas!
You may feel it worthwhile doing an article or commenting in some way but any help would be appreciated. As usual, our MSM are silent on any downsides of the development.
Best wishes to all,
Keith H.
Hi Debbie. After penning a reply which even I realised may have fallen into what one young man once told me after I pointed him to another post of mine elsewhere to explain my position, TLDNR (too long did not read). When looking again at the questions you asked in your thoughtful and sensible post, I thought it better to first direct you to a resource site recommended to me by TonyfromOz.
I believe it will help provide informed answers far better than anything I could write on matters of wind energy versus any alternatives. If Spangled Drongo is still about, I'd also recommend him to go through it before he attends the BZE presentation in his area on Australia Day.
Scroll down to 'Articles of General Interest" and the first text block in green. Click 'online'(Electrical Energy-sound Scientific Solutions).
Do make the presentation full screen and go through it on your keyboard arrow keys as recommended. It is strongly pro-nuclear (as is James Hansen, the "father" of the AGW hypothesis) but that does not alter the facts on wind energy. The presentation is by a physicist, Dr.John Droz.
http://windpowerfacts.info/
Thank you for your continued interest and enquiring mind.
KeithH
There's a wonderful new piece at a U.S. based wind site, National Wind Watch.
This is a commentary from Maurice Newman, the former chairman of the ABC.
He expresses some hard truths.
Will a commentary like this appear at the ABC site.
Huh! Don't bet on it.
http://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/01/20/against-the-wind-the-pursuit-of-clean-energy-has-relegated-ordinary-people-to-the-status-of-collateral-damage/
Tony.
A few bon mots on the subject from Maurice Newman, late boss of the ABC:
http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/newman_blasts_windfarms_like_his_former_staff_wont/
Keith,
Still here and very interested if you have some answers for that comparison question. If the answers are too much to post here, Jen has my email address.
I suspect Tony would also have some input?
Cost benefit in tune with social and environmental responsibilty would seem to me to be a more sensible approach?
If these very expensive and heavily subsidised projects cannot deliver reliable base load power (which we all rely so heavily on) what on earth are we doing?
The notion that we can't do anything progressive because we might impact the environment is crazy. Of course we impact the environment. That's actually perfectly natural human and mamalian behaviour. Very often, those impacts actually deliver long term social and environmental benefits and enhancements.
Moving hell bent into technology that is clearly not ready to perform adequately is a good idea because??????
via Benny Peiser
A NEW cross-party campaign group is to be set up in Westminster to demand the Government drops its support for thousands more wind farms. Backbench MPs from all parties will brand heavily subsidised onshore wind farms inefficient, expensive and a major blight on the landscape. They will urge Ministers to re-think a policy which will add £280 to the annual energy bill of hard-pressed homeowners by 2020. --Kirsty Buchanan, Sunday Express, 22 January 2012
CONSUMER champion Ann Robinson is calling for a rethink on energy policy so that the Government does not invest in costly forms of generation at the expense of cheaper ones. --Tracey Boles, Utility News, 23 January 2012
Unlike the trillions of the national debt, of which no one knows how they will ever be repaid, the idiots have already been determined who will have to pay [100 billion Euros] for the "sun world": Us electricity customers. It is one of the secrets of the conservative parties, which now and again still use the word "market economy", why they are so silent about the subsidies for solar power. And it is one of the secrets of the Left, why they don’t rally against this exploitation of vulnerable people in favour of house and land owners. --Gunter Ederer, Fuldaer Zeitung, 21 January 2012
Environmentalism's main appeal is that it promises to slow the progress of industrial progress. People who are already comfortable with the present state of affairs are happy to go along with this. --William Tucker, The American Spectator, 20 January 2012
In another example of blatant hypocrisy, The Greens have made dams a dirty word in Australia, yet they and the Government are quite happy to enable the buying of carbon credits from scams such as these.
"Environmental lobby group International Rivers has condemned the emergence of trade in fake carbon credits and says the biggest source is hydroelectric power projects on the mainland."
http://www.internationalrivers.org/node/5265
http://www.internationalrivers.org/blog/lori-pottinger/2011-12-22/will-holland-fuel-carbon-credit-dam-scam
There are many other examples.
Hi Debbie, If you're still with us I'll provide a detailed response to your question soon. I had it done yesterday but regrettably had a computer (operator!) malfunction and lost the lot.
Meanwhile, for anyone who hasn't done so, check the WUWT link provided by: Comment from: spangled drongo January 21st, 2012 at 11:18 am.
Enter the world of CGR, Computer Generated Reality, which certain modern day scientists create and live in to provide us with "settled science" and "overwhelming consensus".
Geezzz Spangled it looks like the Germans are slowly starting to begin a lesson in simple kindy maths. Fancy Aussies going down this clueless road , wasting countless billions just to make our energy supply less efficient and hopelessly unreliable.
What a pity we can't get our barking mad govt to an election pronto. The Germans have wasted 70 billion on this rubbish for a tiny percentage of solar power to the grid and definitely zero change to the temp and climate.