Wind turbines: the whole truth

This totally unpredictable behaviour of Wind turbines and groups of Wind turbines has a particularly unpleasant consequence, namely that from the total of the installed windmill power no more than 10%, or even less, can be counted on as a truly reliable substitute for conventionally produced electricity!

This is the percentage counted on by the E.ON technicians in Germany. When examining in detail the second graphic, it becomes clear that the conclusion drawn by these technicians is not at all illogical.

Europe’s Fitness for a Low-Carbon Future - Green Inc. Blog - NYTimes.com

For the past couple of weeks, the European Union has been putting the finishing touches on vast swath of eco-laws that cap greenhouse gases, mandate new efficiency standards, and require more renewable energy.

While there have been moves to significantly tighten rules and improve standards, I would wager that three of the most ferocious arguments over how to make European economies fit for a low-carbon future are set to continue.

Lomborg: Focus On Trade, Not Climate Change - Forbes.com

Our overall goal is not simply to reduce carbon emissions, but to achieve the best outcome we can for the planet--especially its most vulnerable people. To that end, the $180 billion annual budget of the Kyoto Protocol could achieve a lot more good elsewhere--a point underscored by the Nobel economists who gathered in 2008 for the Copenhagen Consensus.

The expert panel was convened to prioritize solutions to the world's biggest problems. It found that interventions like improving malnutrition and child health in the Third World deserve a much higher priority than carbon cuts to battle climate change.

The experts based their decisions on the presentations of specialist researchers from each field. The panel was told that $1 billion (0.5% of the annual cost of the Kyoto Protocol) spent on tuberculosis identification and treatment would save 1 million lives in the Third World, while $200 million (0.1% of Kyoto) could prevent 300,000 heart attacks by exporting low-cost drugs to the world's poorest countries' health systems.

The panel concluded that the single best investment, one that could help the planet today, is spending on cheap, simple policies to combat malnutrition and hunger. Getting basic micronutrients to 80% of the 140 million or so undernourished children in the world would require just $60 million annually--and produce economic gains that would surpass $1 billion a year.