Wind Blog

Some of the anti wind materials try to describe wind turbines as “inefficient”, or claim that wind turbines only produce power 1/3 of the time. Let’s examine the merits of these claims, by understanding what efficiency means with respect to energy, and also what capacity factor is.
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Recent ads in the Peninsula Press by the anti wind crowd repeatedly state that wind energy does not reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Does this statement make any sense at all? After all, when wind turbines are producing power, then there is no need to produce that power from other sources. Do we keep on burning the coal and natural gas anyway, even when wind is supplying power?
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Sometimes presenting half the story confuses and agitates readers. The latest ad in the Peninsula Press is designed to do just that. It is like telling the story of the Ugly Duckling, without the tranformation into a swan.
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A flyer handed out at the recent meeting in Lion’s Head had the statement: “The McGuinty government has limited the tax payment to less than $500 per year on each $3 million wind turbine.” Really? Then how come my tax bill is over $3000 per turbine in Northern Bruce Peninsula? Where did they come up with the $500 number?
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At the recent meeting in Lion’s Head that had presentations from anti wind speakers, a question came from the audience about nuclear waste. The point was made that wind turbines can be taken down at the end of their lives, unlike nuclear plants, whose waste has to be stored. It was a good question. After all, it is not a decision between wind, and no wind. It is a decision between wind and something else. In Ontario, that something else has been nuclear, as it supplies about half of our power.
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My last blog entry here was on December 10th 2008. My older brother, Mark, died of non-smokers lung cancer on December 16. I haven’t blogged since. Losing a brother in a close family knocked us all very hard. It takes away your energy. It makes you reluctant to engage in unpleasant discussions and arguments. It takes time to get over. But I think I am there. My other two brothers have been back on the blog wagon, and have encouraged me to say things, because they think I have something to say. And so here I am. And I am not going to let the misinformation, half truths, and outright falsehoods spread by Wind Concerns Ontario at a recent meeting in Lion’s Head go unchallenged.

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