The paradoxes of wind power
The development of wind power in recent years has been full of paradoxes – and this is in itself something of a paradox, given that the power of the wind is easy enough to understand, indeed to experience directly, on a windy day. Among the most obvious paradoxes are the following: • New but old. W...
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| Format: | Journal article |
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2015
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| _version_ | 1797100525787807744 |
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| author | Keay, M |
| author_facet | Keay, M |
| author_sort | Keay, M |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | The development of wind power in recent years has been full of paradoxes – and this is in itself something of a paradox, given that the power of the wind is easy enough to understand, indeed to experience directly, on a windy day. Among the most obvious paradoxes are the following: • New but old. Wind power is normally classified among the so-called ‘new renewable’ energies along with such sources as wave power and photovoltaics. But of course wind is one of the oldest sources of power, and has been exploited for millennia. What is new, of course, is the use of wind power to generate electricity, a process which first took off in the USA in the early 1980s, driven by the tax credits then on offer. The focus of action then moved to Europe where wind power expanded rapidly in countries such as Denmark, Germany and Spain, encouraged by high support prices. • Environmentally friendly but environmentally objectionable. Wind power is thought by many to be environmentally friendly, given that it is a renewable source with no CO2 emissions from operation. But one of the biggest problems for wind developers in the UK is the considerable opposition to new wind farms on environmental grounds. Many more wind farms are rejected at planning stage than, for instance, gas turbines. • Secure but unreliable. Again, the proponents and opponents of wind power take diametrically opposed views. On the one hand, wind is an indigenous, renewable source, not dependent on imported fossil fuels. On the other, it is intermittent and unpredictable (or perhaps more precisely uncontrollable). • Economic but subsidised. This is another contentious area. Wind is argued by its proponents to be nearly competitive with fossil sources – and fully competitive once environmental externalities like CO2 emissions are taken into account in prices. On the other hand, wind power has always been dependent on government support – and that need seems to be increasing. One part of the answer to this paradox is relatively simple – there is no such thing as the cost of wind power in general; there are only the economics of particular projects at particular places at particular times. Two broad generalisations seem safe however: wind is generally not competitive with conventional (non-renewable) sources of generation, but is generally the cheapest of the ‘new renewables’. Furthermore, the economics of wind power are affected by two trends which tend to move in opposite directions – on the one hand, as the technology improves, costs tend to fall; on the other, since the costs are site specific, the best sites tend to be used first so leading to a rising cost curve over time. Proponents of wind power tend to emphasise the former, though it seems recently to have levelled out (and even went into reverse as the price of inputs soared earlier this decade). It is the trend in site economics that now seems to be predominating, in the UK at any rate, as the focus of development moves offshore. However, this article is concerned with a further anomaly: • UK – well placed but lagging. The UK has probably the best wind resource in Europe, but the development of wind power (and indeed of all renewables) has been slow. Despite decades of government support, the UK remains at the bottom of the European league in relation to the penetration of renewables in its energy system, languishing along with such states as Hungary and the Czech Republic, well below Portugal and Ireland, much less Germany or Denmark. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T05:38:48Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:e4dd2628-30a1-47af-a13f-3bf08397d860 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T05:38:48Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:e4dd2628-30a1-47af-a13f-3bf08397d8602022-03-27T10:19:32ZThe paradoxes of wind powerJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:e4dd2628-30a1-47af-a13f-3bf08397d860ORA Deposit2015Keay, MThe development of wind power in recent years has been full of paradoxes – and this is in itself something of a paradox, given that the power of the wind is easy enough to understand, indeed to experience directly, on a windy day. Among the most obvious paradoxes are the following: • New but old. Wind power is normally classified among the so-called ‘new renewable’ energies along with such sources as wave power and photovoltaics. But of course wind is one of the oldest sources of power, and has been exploited for millennia. What is new, of course, is the use of wind power to generate electricity, a process which first took off in the USA in the early 1980s, driven by the tax credits then on offer. The focus of action then moved to Europe where wind power expanded rapidly in countries such as Denmark, Germany and Spain, encouraged by high support prices. • Environmentally friendly but environmentally objectionable. Wind power is thought by many to be environmentally friendly, given that it is a renewable source with no CO2 emissions from operation. But one of the biggest problems for wind developers in the UK is the considerable opposition to new wind farms on environmental grounds. Many more wind farms are rejected at planning stage than, for instance, gas turbines. • Secure but unreliable. Again, the proponents and opponents of wind power take diametrically opposed views. On the one hand, wind is an indigenous, renewable source, not dependent on imported fossil fuels. On the other, it is intermittent and unpredictable (or perhaps more precisely uncontrollable). • Economic but subsidised. This is another contentious area. Wind is argued by its proponents to be nearly competitive with fossil sources – and fully competitive once environmental externalities like CO2 emissions are taken into account in prices. On the other hand, wind power has always been dependent on government support – and that need seems to be increasing. One part of the answer to this paradox is relatively simple – there is no such thing as the cost of wind power in general; there are only the economics of particular projects at particular places at particular times. Two broad generalisations seem safe however: wind is generally not competitive with conventional (non-renewable) sources of generation, but is generally the cheapest of the ‘new renewables’. Furthermore, the economics of wind power are affected by two trends which tend to move in opposite directions – on the one hand, as the technology improves, costs tend to fall; on the other, since the costs are site specific, the best sites tend to be used first so leading to a rising cost curve over time. Proponents of wind power tend to emphasise the former, though it seems recently to have levelled out (and even went into reverse as the price of inputs soared earlier this decade). It is the trend in site economics that now seems to be predominating, in the UK at any rate, as the focus of development moves offshore. However, this article is concerned with a further anomaly: • UK – well placed but lagging. The UK has probably the best wind resource in Europe, but the development of wind power (and indeed of all renewables) has been slow. Despite decades of government support, the UK remains at the bottom of the European league in relation to the penetration of renewables in its energy system, languishing along with such states as Hungary and the Czech Republic, well below Portugal and Ireland, much less Germany or Denmark. |
| spellingShingle | Keay, M The paradoxes of wind power |
| title | The paradoxes of wind power |
| title_full | The paradoxes of wind power |
| title_fullStr | The paradoxes of wind power |
| title_full_unstemmed | The paradoxes of wind power |
| title_short | The paradoxes of wind power |
| title_sort | paradoxes of wind power |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT keaym theparadoxesofwindpower AT keaym paradoxesofwindpower |