Readers’ Letters: Where will power come from?

There is no doubt that renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and biomass have a genuine and useful role in the portfolio to produce our essential energy, but what I would like to see is an end to lazy jounalism, and the start of honesty in the claims and promises made by politicians, landowners and the energy providers.

Those who champion renewables are very quick to trumpet the occasional times when wind is giving a good return, but on Wednesday, January 22, our 12,000 wind turbines could only provide one percent of our electricity. Not unusually, there was no wind.

As almost all our major providers promise 100% renewable energy, where are they getting it from? How it that possible?

Our beautiful local countryside is about to be swamped with solar panels on a massive scale as the Great North Road Solar and Biodiveristy Park is to provide the potential to "meet the power needs" of 400,000 homes.

In fact the unlikely potential 800,000kw output will give each of those homes 2kw. Not even enough for a kettle each, and far from a home's power needs.

To the north of our village are six fields which, instead of providing food for us or animals, are growing miscanthus (elephant grass) to generate electricity.

I have often wondered how long it would take to burn in doing so. Then I discovered a short film made by a farmer. He is planning to grow this crop and explains that it will provide 54000khw/yr per hectare.

On the 34 hectares of land area being used at Coddington, that is a continuous output over the year of 205kw, or just enough to boil only 68 kettles.Electric cars? Heat pumps?

Where will the electricity come from? — COLIN SOUTHGATE, Coddington.