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Energy from offshore wind in the UK will be cheaper than electricity from new nuclear power for the first time.
The cost of subsidies for new offshore wind farms has halved since the last 2015 auction for clean energy projects
Two firms said they were willing to build offshore wind farms for a subsidy of £57.50 per megawatt hour for 2022-23.
This compares with the new Hinkley Point C nuclear plant securing subsidies of £92.50 per megawatt hour.
Nuclear firms said the UK still needed a mix of low-carbon energy, especially for when wind power was not available.
Both nuclear and wind receive subsidies, but for the first time wind is coming to market with less, so providing the same electricity with less cost to the public than nuclear.
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Offshore Wind Power Cheaper Than New Nuclear
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Wow! Look!! A stray meatball!! Let's interview it!
(Score: 2) by Entropy on Tuesday September 12 2017, @09:20PM (10 children)
We all talk about wind/wave power as free. There is free power, of course: Solar radiation that would normally be reflected out into space. But wind power? Our planet is a delicate ecosystem that circulates heat and energy around the globe in what are very much like giant rivers.
We tap into these currents by tapping into wind power. Of course, this only starts to matter when we do it at a large scale, but what starts happening when we disrupt these giant currents? What happens when we dam a river of wind, and it diverts to a new path changing the global climate?
The reason for Irma intensification was the El Nino cycle was disrupted by a climate that was not sufficiently hot to support it.(not too hot!) What unexpected things will happen as we construct huge wind power farms?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 12 2017, @09:27PM (2 children)
Entropy will increase duh!
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday September 12 2017, @09:56PM (1 child)
Earth isn't and never has been a closed system, so it does not necessarily work that way.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 13 2017, @12:25PM
I think you missed a joke there. Look at who was the original poster.
(Score: 2) by NewNic on Tuesday September 12 2017, @10:03PM (6 children)
Are you serious?
Weather is affected by wind, yes. But wind in the upper atmosphere. Turbines tap into a tiny amount of the energy in the planet's wind and at very low altitude. It's never going to affect climate.
How about tidal power? Shouldn't you be worrying about the effect of harnessing the tides on the moon's orbit?
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday September 13 2017, @12:52AM (2 children)
Let's make it simpler for simple people: Any single one of the mountain peaks I can see from my window, pick any one, has more impact on the global wind patterns than all the windmills built by all humans since the dawn of time.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 13 2017, @12:27PM (1 child)
On the other hand, nobody is currently planning to build new mountains.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday September 13 2017, @04:22PM
Hopefully not. Gone past planning for a while, and my Lair is now in the final stages.
(Score: 2) by Entropy on Wednesday September 13 2017, @12:03PM (1 child)
Well, here's a source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/earthnews/9234715/Wind-farms-can-cause-climate-change-finds-new-study.html [telegraph.co.uk]
(Score: 1, Troll) by NewNic on Wednesday September 13 2017, @06:30PM
Firstly, the Telegraph routinely features editorials that deny man-made climate change. It's not a credible source for anything relating to climate.
Secondly, the measured effects described in the article are purely local. Any suggestion of a wider change is speculation, not based on measurement.
But the killer point in that article is:
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday September 13 2017, @02:03PM
OMG is the moon falling?
Washington DC delenda est.