This one from Eco-Worldly (not one of my usual stops, but I get around) discusses the end of cheap energy in Europe, and what the continent is seemingly unprepared to do:
Many governments have been caught short as the decommissioning of old power stations, increasing demand for electricity and new EU targets for renewable energy have all coincided, causing many analysts to predict a demand / supply deficit of up to 20% over the coming years.
For obvious reasons, cheap oil, coal and gas power plants are out of favour. Nuclear power is expensive and is still viewed with deep suspicion, meaning that additional capacity is unlikely to be available for some time. Many believe, therefore, that the time for renewable energy has finally arrived.
But naturally there are problems, and the post details some of the specific challenges of wind farms, which is one of the reasons I thought it would have some legs in Delaware. Here is the bit that most stood out in my mind:
To put the issue in to perspective, the world is currently building a wind turbine every four hours. To provide enough wind energy to provide 20% of the EU’s current demand we would need to build a new turbine every 15 minutes for the next 20 years.
There's a stat just for Tommywonk.
Comments