Nocton Fen - cost of wind energy

Nocton Wind Farm: Vattenfall releases artist's impressions

'The images show what the 20 turbine Nocton Fen Wind Farm could look like from a variety of viewpoints across the area.'

http://www.sleafordtarget.co.uk/Nocton-Wind-Farm-Vattenfall-releases-artist-s/story-26619821-detail/story.html

Artist’s impressions of Swedish wind farm at Nocton Fen

'Consultation events include Nocton Village Hall - June 12 2pm-8pm; Potterhanworth Memorial Hall - June 13 10am-4pm; Metheringham Village Hall - June 18 2pm-8pm; Dunston Village Hall - June 19 2pm-8pm.'

http://www.sleafordstandard.co.uk/news/environment/artist-s-impressions-of-swedish-wind-farm-at-nocton-fen-1-6783057

Cost of energy

£40 - 80 per MWh [fossil fuels]
£120 per MWh [renewables]

"Ultimately for the whole of the energy system in the UK, the costs are paid by the consumer... let me make this clear, we don't want subsidies, we want subsidies to come to an end."

Keith Anderson [Boss of ScottishPower]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33018029

Cost of electricity by source

'In electrical power generation, the distinct ways of generating electricity incur significantly different costs. Calculations of these costs at the point of connection to a load or to the electricity grid can be made. The cost is typically given per kilowatt-hour or megawatt-hour. It includes the initial capital, discount rate, as well as the costs of continuous operation, fuel, and maintenance. This type of calculation assists policy makers, researchers and others to guide discussions and decision making.'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_electricity_by_source

A More Realistic Cost of Wind Energy

'In Europe, several countries, such as Denmark, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, etc., produced 10 to 20 percent of their energy with wind turbines at least 10 years ago. As their build-outs took place, more became known regarding grid level costs. It appears these grid level costs are significantly greater than claimed by various wind energy promoters.'

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/310631/more-realistic-cost-wind-energy

Electricity Generation Costs

'DECC regularly updates estimates of the costs and technical specifications for different generation technologies used in its analysis. Cost data is broken down into detailed expenditure per MW or MWh for the lifetime of a plant, from planning costs right through construction and operating costs to eventual decommissioning costs.'

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/65713/6883-electricity-generation-costs.pdf

The greater cost of renewables

Green energy... yeah right.

'This is the deadly and sinister side of the massively profitable rare-earths industry that the ‘green’ companies profiting from the demand for wind turbines would prefer you knew nothing about.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1350811/In-China-true-cost-Britains-clean-green-wind-power-experiment-Pollution-disastrous-scale.html

 Welcome to Baoding, China's most polluted city. This 'industrial area is home to a number of manufacturers of blades for wind turbines, including Zhong Hang Huiteng Wind Power, one of the largest blade makers in the world.'

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/22/baoding-china-most-polluted-city-air-pollution-beijing-hebei

Even wind energy has its toxic footprint

Wind energy has its environmental issues as well. The turbines used to produce electricity from wind increasingly are built with the 'rare earth' element neodymium, which requires a highly toxic process to produce. Turbine magnets using neodymium are more expensive than those using ceramic, but are also more efficient.

The US Geological Survey estimates that an additional 380 metric tons of neodymium would be necessary if the United States is to generate 20% of its electricity from wind by 2030. That's just one country.

Most rare earths are mined in China because the mines are so environmentally destructive they had been shut down elsewhere. Production has been re-started in other countries, lessening demand on Chinese exports, but increasing rare earth mining means more pollution and toxic waste.
Renee Cho, a blogger for Columbia University's Earth Institute, provides a sobering picture of this:

"All rare earth metals contain radioactive elements such as uranium and thorium, which can contaminate air, water, soil and groundwater. Metals such as arsenic, barium, copper, aluminum, lead and beryllium may be released during mining into the air or water, and can be toxic to human health.

"Moreover, the refinement process for rare earth metals uses toxic acids and results in polluted wastewater that must be properly disposed of. The Chinese Society of Rare Earths estimated that the refinement of one ton of rare earth metals results in 75 cubic meters of acidic wastewater and one ton of radioactive residue."

http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2861727/renewable_energy_alone_cannot_reverse_global_warming_or_make_a_sustainable_world.html