In less than a year, 'energy' cost is paid back

heraldscotland staff

Published on 14 Mar 2007

THE Duke of Buccleuch claims that we should be investing in energy-efficiency measures rather than in wind generation (March 14). I totally agree that energy efficiency should be our top priority, but I think we will also need renewable energy if we are to meet our CO2 reduction targets.

At present, wind is the only large-scale renewable which is on the market and it is Scotland's main answer to global climate change. I live near a large wind farm and find it beautiful and inspiring. In addition, our community has enjoyed benefits for our school and drama group.

As for the questioned energy needed for investment in wind, this has been extensively researched. Most researchers estimate that the initial energy needed to build a wind farm is paid back within a year of operation. Since the life of a wind turbine is well over 20 years, that gives an excellent energy pay-back.

Kerr MacGregor (formerly Senior Lecturer in Energy Engineering, Napier University), 31 Temple Village, Midlothian

THE proposed wind farms on the Island of Lewis are too far from anywhere to be of any real use to anyone. Furthermore, the transmission line intended to link them to civilisation is going to the wrong place. It ought to be going via an undersea connector from Inverness to Peterhead, where the electricity it carries can substitute for that produced by the fossil-fuel gas/oil station at Peterhead and so effect a saving in carbon emissions. So why is it being taken by an unsightly line of pylons crossing the Cairngorms and all the way down to the Forth estuary? If the intention is that it then be substituted for the electricity produced by the heavily polluting coal-fired power stations at Longannet and Cockenzie, why is it the shortsighted and self-interested policy of the Scottish parliament to close both these stations within the 20-year lifetime of the Lewis wind farm?

William Oxenham, 5 Easter Currie Place, Currie

THE two mainstream parties have failed the twin challenge of tackling climate change and health. Curbing the car is the big issue, but when a 1p rise in fuel price triggers national outrage, road transport is not something to be meddled with. Better to follow the head-in-the-sand strategy of tackling light bulbs and TV standby buttons, a policy that will only challenge couch potatoes.

Dr Stuart Nisbet, 15 Victoria Crescent, Clarkston