Please do not miss this informed commentary by Jani-Petri Martikainen — commenting at BraveNewClimate on what is supposed to be a pro-wind counter-argument by Michael Goggins, a wind lobby advocate (American Wind Energy Association):
Michael’s statements regarding co2 emissions and wind power in Denmark are to a large extent irrelevant. Some of the reasons have already been summarized here, but I find it especially misleading to split the energy sectors into smaller pieces and then claim that one sector emits certain amount without accounting for the changes this sector induces elsewhere. Denmark like other Nordic countries use CHP plants to generate both electricity and heat and since the demand for heating doesn’t correlate with wind speed (in isolation) an ample supply of wind power lowers the efficiencies of the CHP plants with higher Co2 emissions for each kWh produced. Wind powers role in reducing Denmarks (high) CO2 emissions has been marginal. The changes in building codes and district heating have been far more important. In fact it could not be any other way, since wind power produces only few percentage points of their total primary energy supply (since electricity is only one component of PES). The actual importance if wind power as a tool in tackling climate change is in no relation to the huge noise it produces in public discussions.
Advocates of wind power understandably wish to split the energy sector into multiple pieces since then it easier to shift the blame outside their own sector while labeling themselves as “ethical”, but that is just silly. In terms of climate change, it is the overall CO2 emissions from all sources that matter and then one cannot just brush away the fact that wind power is in most places build on top of the fossil fuel based energy infrastructure.
Another observation from the Nordic electricity markets, is that using public subsidies (paid by Danes) Danes have created an engine that transfers wealth from the less wealthy nation of Denmark into a more wealthy nation of Norway. To see this, visit the nordpool web site and check out the electricity flows and spot prices in the region, especially the flow between “Denmark West” and “Norway 2″. As you can see, the Danes export during the night time (and on Sunday) when the spot prices are low and import during the day time when the spot prices are higher. If I were Norwegian, I would be all in favor of more wind power…in Denmark. (http://www.nordpoolspot.com/reports/flow)
Now that you’ve read Hani-Petri’s comments, I will note how remarkable it is that Barry Brooks site attracts a highly qualified working physicist, specializing in ultra-cold quantum gases, to invest his time to inform us about the real-world of Nordic electricity generation and trading. But you didn’t know that when you were nodding your head at the logic of his arguments.
There are many well-informed comments on the Michael Goggins piece. Another example is Kent Hawkins, who demonstrates in-depth understanding of electric utilities. Please read Kent’s complete comment stream on this post. E.g., this throw-away remark:
Denmark would be better off just importing Nordic hydro than force fitting wind into the system.
More on the Danish wind experiment in this earlier post: Wind energy – the case of Denmark.
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