Bladeofglory?

Looking at the spectacular, front-page picture of Danny Macaskill stunt-cycling along a wind turbine blade in Saturday’s Scotsman, I wonder who is actually more terrified? Danny, or the wind industry terrified at losing the subsidies now the intelligent among us have seen through the scam?

The desperation of the wind industry in pulling stunts like this to keep the vast subsidies rolling in proves precisely why wind turbines are just not up to the job of “saving the planet”. The enormous blade is stock still. It must have been windless, and flat calm to allow a stunt like this to take place.

In recent weeks, the European continent has suffered blackouts, near-blackouts, and skyrocketing electricity prices triggered by a massive lull in wind. Grid operators rushed to buy fuel and fire up old gas and coal-fired plants. Europe petitioned Russia for more natural gas, and German coal plants ran out of fuel; even long-forgotten oil-fired power plants were pressed into emergency service on grids from Sweden to Asia.

Which all goes to prove why an analysis using data from ten EU countries, published in May 2018, affirmed that wind power “amplifies the growth of fossil fuels”, and “preserves fossil fuel dependency” because for every 1 per cent increase in the installed capacity of wind power, a quarter as much again is permanently required as back-up. Far from conning the public, the stunt and the picture has spectacularly backfired!

Yours, facing ever more terrifying electricity bills.

GEORGE HERRAGHTY

Elgin, Moray