RENEWABLE ENERGY
Sadly, every time green energy is mentioned, people immediately jump to wind. We have conducted significant research on numerous energy types. We state unequivocally that wind energy is utterly unsustainable and will not provide a solution for western energy needs. We are confident that in the fullness of time this assertion will prove to be correct. Regrettably there are many within the environmental sector who blindly promote wind out of some form of misplaced loyalty or political correctness without having bothered to properly investigate it. We have laid out hereunder a very CONDENCED rational for our position. By far the most promising is deep-bore geothermal. As we shall see, there are significant downsides to wind in that they are extremely resource hungry.
WIND ENERGY
The current wind energy strategy is driven by Irelands National Renewable Energy Action Plan [NREAP], which was submitted to the EU in July 2010 and details the renewable energy plant up to 2020. This is revised every 2 years based on whether Ireland is meeting its targets. As I understand it, currently renewable electricity ambitions are 40% of which 90% is to come from wind, which is ludicrous in the knowledge that there is a much more sustainable and less intrusive solution in the form of Deep-Geothermal.
ISSUES with WIND
-
Extremely resource hungry.
-
Wrecking the landscape visually and in consequence the touristic potential of Ireland. Note that tourist’s numbers in Scotland (where there has been much development of wind) have already taken a significant dive.
-
Property devaluation (peoples homes).
-
Certain health issues re people with certain conditions (asperger’s, etc), probable Health issues re infrasound re other people and so on.
-
Enormous Public disquiet.
-
Doubling capacity to provide for lack of wind.
-
Significant payments to operators to turn off supply to harmonise grid.
-
Significant grants to promote wind turbines (derived from levy on electricity bills).
Notwithstanding the above and approaching it from a clinical sustainability perspective, please note the follow: -
STEEL: To create 1,000 Kg of pig iron, you start with 1,800 Kg of iron ore, 900 Kg of coking coal 450 Kg of limestone. The blast furnace consumes 4,500 Kg of air. The temperature at the core of the blast furnace reaches nearly 1,600 degrees C.The pig iron is then transferred to the basic oxygen furnace to make steel. 1,350 Kg of CO2 is emitted per 1,000 Kg pig iron produced. A further 1,460 Kg CO2 is emitted per 1,000 Kg of Steel produced so all up 2,810 Kg CO2 is emitted. 45 tons of rebar (steel) are required so that equals 126.45 tons of CO2 are emitted. [See enclosure]
CONCRETE: To create a 1,000 Kg of Portland cement, calcium carbonate (60%), silicon (20%), aluminum (10%), iron (10%) and very small amounts of other ingredients are heated in a large kiln to over 1,500 degrees C to convert the raw materials into clinker. The clinker is then interground with other ingredients to produce the final cement product. When cement is mixed with water, sand and gravel forms the rock-like mass know as concrete. For the turbines currently being proposed, upwards of 200 lorry loads of readymix calculate are required to anchor each turbine (in addition to lots of reinforcing steel). [See enclosure]
ROADS: Infill for access roads: sourced from crushed rock derived from quarrying are also required.
RARE METALS: Each and every wind turbine has a magnet made of a metal called neodymium. The mining and refining of neodymium extraordinarily dirty and toxic – involving repeated boiling in acid, with radioactive thorium as a waste product – 90% of it comes from – Baotou, China. Neodymium is a rare earth metal, which is generally sourced in China and which is causing. There are c. 4 tons of neodymium magnets in each turbine for example. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology estimated that the cleanup bill for southern Jiangxi Province could amount to 38 billion yuan, or around $5.5 billion. Only a fraction of that amount has so far been spent.
We invite you to read the following re
Rare-earth mining in China comes at a heavy cost for local villages
Pollution is poisoning the farms and villages of the region that processes the precious minerals
Cécile Bontron
Tue 7 Aug 2012 13.59 BST
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/aug/07/china-rare-earth-village-pollution
Rare earth mining in China: the bleak social and environmental costs
China produces 85% of global supply of the 17 chemically similar elements crucial to smartphone, camera lens and magnet manufacture – and half that output is from the city of Baotou
Jonathan Kaiman in Baotou
Thu 20 Mar 2014 14.30 GMT
https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/rare-earth-mining-china-social-environmental-costs
China Wrestles with the Toxic Aftermath of Rare Earth Mining
China has been a major source of rare earth metals used in high-tech products, from smartphones to wind turbines. As cleanup of these mining sites begins, experts argue that global companies that have benefited from access to these metals should help foot the bill.
BY MICHAEL STANDAERT
JULY 2, 2019
https://e360.yale.edu/features/china-wrestles-with-the-toxic-aftermath-of-rare-earth-mining
The dystopian lake filled by the world’s tech lust
By Tim Maughan
2nd April 2015
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20150402-the-worst-place-on-earth
Fluctuating wind supply: necessity for spinning reserve (a readily available back up source of power).
ESKERS: Most of the sand and gravel requirements in Ireland come from Eskers laid down in the last Ice Age. Sadly in the space of no more that about 2 generations, we have near exhausted all our reserves from these eskers without any thought for future generations. The situation is so bad in the UK and China (to mention but two other countries) that they have now resorted to dredging estuaries in an effort to get sand. Being the principle constituent of concrete, to see so much buried under wind turbines which will without any doubt become white elephants is utterly crazy.
Having regard to the foregoing, it is manifestly obvious that wind energy is not a long-term runner and is currently being artificially driven by significant grants, which serve only to create a rush for grants by investors and corporate’s driven purely by ‘returns’ piggybacking on the ‘Green’ label.
Moreover the sitting of the wind turbines in a county that markets itself on its heritage is utterly crazy and unacceptable. The midlands have significant populations, together with significant heritage sites, which is of enormous touristic potential.
If one were to persist with wind energy (even in some small manner), they should at the very least be prohibited in the populated and predominantly flat landscape of the midland counties.
We can understand why Wind Energy became the front-runner as it was perhaps the most visually obvious. However, when all the facts are viewed objectively, it is utterly crazy to persist with this strategy. As we have seen above, this is badly flawed. Moreover, the emphasis on wind is largely derived from a lack of public consultation early on in this debate, which is contrary to basic democratic principles and more recently to the Aarhus convention and the Public Participation Directive.
DEEP BORE GEOTHERMAL [6.15.3.3]
This is essentially ‘free’ energy contained within the earths crust. Briefly, it entails boring 2 boreholes to depths of between 2 and 3 miles. It is dependant on the existence of a particular type of rock to conduct water from A to B. The water coming back up is superheated to temperatures of between 100°c and 200°c. A very small plant is all that is required on the surface to convert the energy into electricity. There are many examples around Paris, Austria, Germany, Iceland and so on. There is comparatively small investment in this energy when compared with that required to site a wind turbine.
In Ireland a fault line stretching from Limerick to Louth [the Caledonian fault line] exists. This is where two tectonic plates collided many millions of years ago. All along this fault line there are numerous mines, the most notable being ‘Tara Mines’ in County Meath. Indeed the management at Tara have shared there knowledge on temperatures/ rock formations, etc to researchers of Deep-geothermal which was most helpful. The correct rock formation [Kentstown Rock Formation] lies beneath this area. Moreover there are numerous ‘hot springs’ all along this line and there is in fact a townland near Enfield, County Meath known as ‘Hotwell’. At times of significant rainfall events, water comes up boreholes at c.22°c, such is the geothermal activity beneath.
GT Energy (a specialist Geothermal energy company) had raised capital investment and was ready to being work here in Ireland in 2011, but due to a minor legal technicality they were unable to proceed. The legislation was to be changed to facilitate this, but sadly this has not thus far happened.
The ADVANATAGES of Deep Geothermal over Wind are many and may be summarised as follows: -
-
no visually obtrusive issues,
-
no property devaluation,
-
no health issues,
-
no fluctuations in the availability of energy,
-
no spinning reserve (backup) requirement,
-
no wastage of finite natural resources such as sand and gravel, steel and so fourth.
-
There are numerous suitable geological bedrock areas in Ireland.
On the issue of renewable energy options it is therefore considered that by reason of flat topographical nature of the county, that it is totally unsuitable for industrial type wind farms. It is essential that views and prospects from the major hills in and around the county are preserved and in this regard we alluded specifically to: Dún Ailinne (a royal site), the Curragh, The hill of Allen and so on. These are also historic sites with significant touristic, amenity and recreational potential. Therefore, save for domestic wind turbines, there should be a policy prohibition against commercial wind turbines.
Policy on Deep-bore Geothermal need to be strengthened and prioritized over wind and solar. This is because geothermal is constant and dispatchable when compared with wind and solar which are intermittent.
Electricity and Gas Networks [6.15.4.1]
Bord Gais Transmission network: We understand that pressure within such lines is 70 bar. To put that in context, I further understand that the pressure of gas in a town or city is 4 bar. It is submitted that there be a prohibition on any quarrying within a minimum of 250m either side of high-pressure gas pipelines in the interests of public safety.
WATER
A word search for ‘aquifer’ produced a few policies on protection of the groundwater, which is welcomed. Notwithstanding, this rings rather hollow without reference to permitted aOD depths for the quarry sector who in order to work a quarry dry, engage in dewatering which results in water table drawdown. We note the absence of a trained hydrogeologist in the employ of the County Council, which is regrettable.
