We Would Need 7 Trillion Euros to Wind-power Europe
Wind Generators
Many people seem to be happy about this week’s news regarding a wind farm project in the Thames estuary. Let me disillusion you with some pragmatic calculations; but first I will re-cap on the news for those who (for whatever reason) haven’t subscribed to the E.on newsletter.
So, the story is that several major European energy conglomerates have signed an agreement worth 2 billion Euros to build a huge wind-farm in the Thames estuary. The first phase will start in 2011 and 175 gigantic wind generators will be built 13 miles off the coast of Kent and Essex. After the 2nd phase, which is not strictly scheduled yet, the number of wind generators would increase to 270 and the total annual output of the wind-farm would reach 1,000 MWh.
E.on’s official press release claims that the farm has the potential to provide 750,000 households with energy. Well, in that case we need some very sustainable households because it comes down to 1,333 KWh per year each – unlikely you could live on that amount of electricity even if you’re very green (one can strive). A more realistic estimate would be that the wind farm could provide energy for 240,000 households. Not bad.
When built, it will be the largest wind energy field in Europe, which is great! What is not so great – the tiny impact it has on the overall energy consumption in the UK. Here comes the sad (and pragmatic) bit – the calculation. Don’t think I’m trying to belittle the effort that is being made to introduce renewable energy sources. The purpose of this article is to show the extent of our over-consumption.
Let us do the maths…
So, the UK consumes 400,000,000 MWh of electricity per year. The output of the new wind farm will be 1,000 MWh, which is 0.6% of all electricity consumed in Britain. The target is to generate 15% of energy from sustainable sources by 2020. Considering that 0.6% costs 2 billion, the whole big target would set us back more than 50 billion Euros! Besides, it would “decorate” our beautiful coast line with thousands of wind generators.
And, for example, if we wanted to fully replace carbon-intensive energy sources with renewable ones, it would take approximately 0.333 trillion Euros to do so. Meanwhile, the government is ready to invest up to 100 billion pounds sterling in renewable energy development. It would be interesting to know where that money comes from and if, considering the current economic climate, they are committed to splashing the cash!
And another thing. If the real goal behind building wind farms is cutting CO2 emissions, can I ask: how much CO2 does it take to produce 270 wind generators with 120m rotors, set them up and lay a 13-mile long cable? It is almost impossible to calculate.
All of this is truly hypothetical – of course nobody would be able to build so many wind generators along the coast of Britain (never say never, somebody built the pyramids, though… and then there is Stonehenge) and it would be not an easy task to raise 333 billion Euros.
Somebody has estimated that in order to wind-power the whole of Europe, it would take 7 trillion Euros. What next, you might ask? Back to the drawing board, I’d say. We need to support the science and develop new ways (or improve the familiar ones) of generating clean energy. But first, let’s start with our own homes. Did you switch off the light?
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