In Canberra 80.000 homes to be powered by wind energy
Wind energy to power 80,000 Canberra homes Kirsten Lawson Chief Assembly reporter for The Canberra Times, 12 Mar 14, Wind energy is set to power 80,000 Canberra households within six years as the ACT government announces details on Thursday of an auction for huge wind farms in the region.
The government will sign 20-year deals with successful bidders, who will get a guaranteed price for the energy they supply.
The news will energise wind farms at different stages of approval and construction that have been waiting for a guaranteed buyer for the energy. But it is also set to galvanise anger in country areas that will host forests of wind turbines powering the capital…..http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/wind-energy-to-power-80000-canberra-homes-20140311-34kox.html
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Leave a reply to Dennis Matthews Cancel reply
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I generally support wind farms, but like anything else you can have too much of a good thing. My view is that it is a question of the most desirable option for providing a given energy service, and in some cases it may be a question of the least undesirable option.
I find that by concentrating on the service, rather than on a specific way of providing that service, you open up previously un-thought-of options.
For example. If we want hot water, then we don’t necessarily have to use electricity. It could be gas. Better still, it could be solar heat with gas or electricity boosting. The economics are favourable.
Similarly with air conditioning, which is the major cause for increased demand for electricity, especially during periods of peak electricity demand. What air conditioning is about is comfort. We can get that particular service by making our buildings energy-efficient (wall and roof insulation, double glazing, design, orientation).
Such approaches should be the first option to providing the required service. Only after such options and other energy conservation options have been exhausted should we be looking at more active forms of supplying the service. Then, if we decide that the best option is electricity, distributed solar on existing spaces such as building roofs should be the next option. Large scale renewable energy such as solar and wind farms would then be a fall-back position, the least undesirable of all other options.
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