[doganjo]

I agree with a few on here that we need a more balanced view on producing energy.  We need solar energy, wind, and water too, in order to be able to stop using nuclear plants and their possible ensuing disasters, and also to stop taking fossils fuels out of the ground again with possible impendign disasters - I often wonder if that is why we now have so many floods and earthquakes.  Something has to fill those dirty great holes, hasn't it?

[deepinthewoods]

''so we are being lumbered with these huge monstrosities blotting our landscape purely in the name of profit.''
nimbyism...
the point is that wind turbines are part of a TEMPORARY solution whilst other tech is developed like the hydrogen fuel cell, salt water osmosis plants etc etc

nuclear waste is a PERMANENT legacy
fossil fuels are PERMANENTLY depleted

pass the prozac will u FFS!!!!!

[AengusOg]

I can never quite see why, just because wind cannot meet all of the energy needs, some people think that means we shouldn't use wind power at all.

Surely if wind can supply a percentage of our energy needs then that means that we need less fossil fuel or nuclear 

That's it in a nutshell for me.

[Coley]

''so we are being lumbered with these huge monstrosities blotting our landscape purely in the name of profit.''
nimbyism...
Rubbish, if wind farms were the solution (and at an earlier stage in my life I thought they were) then the drive would be to build them offshore where they have a much greater production to capacity ratio, but a little thought reveals they are being hoyed up as quickly as possible to catch the subsidy and not to provide energy security.

whilst other tech is developed like the hydrogen fuel cell, salt water osmosis plants etc etc

You missed nuclear

[deepinthewoods]

so youd happly have a nuclear power station n your back yard?
or maybe you could take advantage of the subsdy to store nuclear waste assuming you could gaurantee its security for the next 100000 years.

im not sayng wind power is THE solution just part of one.
ive got turbines all around me and they just remind me how lucky i am not to be lookng at a nuclear power plant.
there is no long term future for nuclear power we cant even work out what to do with the waste and the risks are blatantly obvious, arent welsh sheep still checked for radiation years after the fall out from chernobyl?

here in cornwall we have the first solar farm being built, and the wave hub off hayle to allow development of these power sources, in the mean time build wind farms, everywhere.

[robert waddell]

deepinthewoods         the welsh sheep the cumbrian sheep the scottish sheep(2 sites) and i am sure others as well   were not only checked for radiation but were not allowed into the food chain

[Fleecewife]

Sheep in Upper Clydesdale have just (this year) been cleared to enter the food chain, 25 years on.

[Coley]

so youd happly have a nuclear power station n your back yard?

Given the possible alternatives? yes, I would have no problems having a modern NPS built locally

in the mean time build wind farms, everywhere.
Aye, but you (and nobody else) has answered the problem of where do we go for power when the wind drops, per GW generated, Nuclear is the safest form of power we have.

[morri2]

I apologies if someone has already mentioned this, there are so many responses here that I've not the time to read through them all, but for what its worth, my view is that we all need to use much less energy.  That way perhaps our needs could be met via renewables.  This is an age of conspicuous consumption, too many energy guzzling gadgets and machines.  We need to stop relying on them and get back to basics. The only electrical items I have in my kitchen are a kettle (used when range not lit) a toaster and a washing machine.  I have no microwave, no tumble dryer, no dishwasher etc.  Perhaps we should all cut back on our gadgets, and think twice before we go and buy an item we 'need' because were 'too busy'.  We all have that excuse!  As for Windfarms, I don't have a problem with them on the whole, there are plenty here in windy north Wales, but I do object to the fact that most of them are there not because the Government and the energy companies (if there's any real distinction between two !!!) care about the environment but because there is serious money to be made out of them - the landowners included. It might be an idea to all have our own small wind turbines on our roofs  and a couple of solar panels to heat the water - and make do with what we can get from them.  Cheers all

[doganjo]

Oh for God's sake - Nuclear SAFE? Are you off you're damned head? Of course it may be (relatively) safe for you personally if you don't live near one, but goodness knows how many folk are suffering from cancer because of the bloody things - and look what is happening in Japan - didin't you see the messages sent by those select few who stayed behind to try to make the plant safe - saying goodbye to their families?  They knew that they were putting their lives at risk, but stayed behind to try to protect the rest of their countrymen and the world - but this is only temporary because if the spent fuel storage repositories are compromised in anyway we are ALL doomed!  Blooming things are going to be the undoing of the World regardless of what else we do in the way of power generation1  Wake up, man! 

I cannot believe that apparently sensible, logical, thinking people would EVER say they are SAFE!

[Coley]

Oh for God's sake - Nuclear SAFE? Are you off you're damned head?


No, tell me how many were killed or injured in the 3 mile island incident or how many have been killed by the Japanese meltdown? instead of lashing out with hysterical outbursts just have a look at the actual number of people killed or injured by nuclear generation and compare that number with, for instance, those killed in coal mining in the same period.

I cannot believe that apparently sensible, logical, thinking people would EVER say they are SAFE!

Comparatively safe, and a helluva safer than the consequences of running out of power, ever thought of those consequences?

[bazzais]

I used to be well against nuclear power due to our inability to look after spent fuel and the fact we were using dodgy designs - but gone are the days of the zx-81 - we have progressed in terms of being able to safely control a nuclear reactor under normal conditions.  Yes the spent fuel is a problem - but reactions like this go-on throughout the universe and harnessing that power safely will be the future.

Yes I am a nimby - I wouldnt like a nuclear power station in my back yard - nor a wind farm - but then I also wouldn't want a gravel pit, builders merchant or even a shop to come in my back yard.  Come to think of it I wouldnt even want a hippy in a van, whos whole life was aimed at being the greenest thing on earth. So lets hope that puts it into perspective.

I hate the fact that companies can jump on the green bandwagon, I hate the fact that the parks are miles behind in giving permission to small scale stuff - I wish that energy consumption and production could be linked and localised.

Energy consumption and production needs to be localised - I dont see any reason why I cant have a small scale wind mill on my farm.

Instead of the welsh assembly committing to new houses having fire water thingies in - they should have committed to having every new house having solar panels.

Everybody knows the laws of resistance so why commit to having energy produced so far from where its consumed?

Baz

[SallyintNorth]

I used to be well against nuclear power due to our inability to look after spent fuel and the fact we were using dodgy designs - but gone are the days of the zx-81 - we have progressed in terms of being able to safely control a nuclear reactor under normal conditions.

I wish I shared your faith in the technologists who put these things together.  Before I was a farmer I was a professional in technology and I can tell you that most computerised systems are nothing like safe these days.  In fact I am dubious that anyone is left in the industry who really knows how to build a really safe system.  And even if anyone is left, their bosses won't let them spend enough money to make the system properly safe.

I would love to be proved wrong but I very much doubt that I will be, sadly.

[Coley]

Everybody knows the laws of resistance so why commit to having energy produced so far from where its consumed?

A good point, why should the Welsh have to put up with a truly massive windfarm in order to A, generate electricity for the English, B, provide even vaster profits for energy companies

[bazzais]

I feel like I am certainly right next to you on that - but I prefer to look to the future rather than look behind in retrospect.

Everything has a risk - yes nuclear does have greater risks- well great great great risks - but it certainly shouldnt be dismissed.

For the near future I think that power consumption should be localised - these green grants should be spent on 'experimenting' with people who want to experiment.  I'd gladdy have the government put a wind turbine up here or fit my solar panels - they have already volunteered to pay for it over 15 year and then give me profit after - how about cut out the middleman and come fit my panels and do their own experiments.  I am pretty sure that as technology develops they will find a way of harnessing the power of our air, light and heat to accommodate on a micro scale - each house being able to produce the energy needed - we are a relatively scarcely populated country in comparison - the UK should be a pinoneer of this - we are supposed to be one of the most advanced countries in the world and energy is going to be the next world war along with water. We should lead and 'let' others follow because it works.

Of course wih the tories in charge we are never going to have rael 'free thinking', 'free trade' and the top down effect social structure. It may look like long term thinking giving grants to people who have a solar panel - but in reality its passing the buck on.

Localise energy production - yes have a national grid as a backup - but local energy is always oingto be more productive, less intrusive and well a better deal.

Baz