Article taken from Telegraph 14 September 2008 

As we report today, an investigation by the Renewable Energy Foundation casts doubt on the idea that wind turbines are the solution to the problem of how to generate Britain's electricity in a reliable but "clean" way.

That a substantial portion of Britain's energy needs can be generated by wind turbines is now the received wisdom. So much so, indeed, that in order to ensure that wind turbines are built, the Government - which is to say, every taxpayer - subsidises the cost of the electricity that wind turbines produce to the tune of almost 100 per cent.

There is, however, one major problem with wind power: wind. Because the wind does not blow reliably or constantly, there are inevitably long periods when it is not strong enough to generate electricity. It means that wind turbines cannot solve Britain's energy needs, for there is no way to store the electricity produced when high winds are blowing so that it can be used when they are not.

Christopher Booker has been pointing this out in his column in The Sunday Telegraph for years.

His refusal to believe in the fads and fashions of environmentalism has often turned out to be correct. His conviction that "biofuels" would fail to provide an alternative to traditional transport fuels has been vindicated: the only significant effect of the cultivation of biofuels has been increased hunger in the developing world.

Mr Booker now predicts that the decision to subsidise wind power "will one day be looked back on as having been one of the most incomprehensible blunders of our age". Whether or not that prediction is fulfilled, he is surely right to point out that we face an enormous energy shortfall, which wind power cannot fill.

At the moment, nuclear energy is the most realistic option for meeting our long-term energy needs. The sooner new nuclear power stations are built, the better.

Telegraph 14 September 2008