Chapter 9Myth: Wind Power Reduces CO2

EmissionsEliza Gores

-There is not a single study based on actual data from existing fleets of wind turbines that can prove that wind power reduces CO2 emissions

-All wind-power installations require large amounts of dispatchable electric generation capacity for backup

-Because of intermittent production patterns for wind, the power needs to be augmented with dispatchable generators to match power demands, making wind power more expensive

--Texas is a leader in wind power development, installing 2700 megawatts of new power in 2008 alone

- The Electric Reliability Coucil of Texas determined that only 8.7% of the installed wind capability can be counted on as dependable capacity during the peak demand for the next year

-China wants to build new “Green Cities” powered by wind farms, but to accomplish this, dozens of new coal-fired power plants need to be installed as well

--”Cost and Quantity of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Avoided by Wind Generation”

- Lang: Wind cannot be called up on demand, especially at the time of peak demand… wind cannot contribute to reducing the capital investment in generating plants. Wind is simply an additional capital investment

-The wind industry has no interest in producing proof that wind turbines reduce CO2 emissions because the industry already has political & media support

- Global Wind Energy Council claims that by 2030 global wind-power capacity will have a five-fold increase over 2007, generating 500,000 MW, which the group expects would cut CO2 emissions by 731M tons