assessment of reasons for local community's reaction in renewable energy sources _emphasis on wind...

7/29/2019 Assessment of Reasons for Local Community's Reaction in Renewable Energy Sources _emphasis on Wind Farms

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Assessment of reasons for local community's reaction in Renewable

Energy Sources (emphasis on wind farms)

Dimitris Siachos*, Nikitas-Spiros Koutsoukis **

*sc Mechanical Engineer, PhD student, Department of Political Science and International

Relations, University of Peloponnese.

**Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and International Relations, University ofPeloponnese

ABSTRACT

The use of renewable energy sources, which ensures efficient, secure and sustainable energy supply

is one of the main priorities of the European Union, is the primary means to reduce energy

dependence at national level. The role of energy is particularly critical regarding the verycompetitiveness of the European economy.

Although our country is a promising area for investment due to the excellent wind resources, the

lack of organized development plan for renewable energy projects and the complex legal

framework for years, discouraged investors.

The institutional and legal framework for renewable energy in our country was based exclusively on

the need for harmonization of national with Community law, without a minimum prediction

planning.

The state was forced to respond to the issue of siting of wind facilities, following the Court of

Council of State (pursuant to Decision 2569/2004, the Council of State annulled the environmental

permits for the installation of wind farms, because of the absence of prior predictive planning for

RES). At 2008 adopted the Special Framework for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development

for Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and strategic environmental assessment

(2464/03.12.2008), but this Law still has problems and in practice treats a variety ofreactions.

The objective of this study is to document the reasons for the reaction of local communities,scientific and cultural operators in the development of RES projects, focusing on wind farms.

Opponents of RES divide disadvantages of RES into four categories:

A) RES require environmental interventions and cause other natural disasters.

B) They have high costs (passed on to the consumer).

C) Are unreliable (they depends entirely on the weather) and they can not replace base units(thermal, gas, nuclear, etc.).


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D) Finally, they deny the advantage of using RES and questioning even global warming fromhuman activity and therefore the feasibility of the EU Directive 20-20-20.

This study will present the arguments for each of these categories, examining the texts presented in

protests and arguments developed through appeals to the Council of State, and the conclusionsdrawn from the relevant scientific research that has preceded.

Keywords:

Renewable Energy, Wind Power, Disadvantages of the RES, Spatial Planning, local community's reaction,Nimby syndrome, Environmental Interventions.

1. Introduction -Overview the Reaction in Renewable Energy Sources

As renewable energy projects have gradually been introduced in various forms and in many places

around the world, public skepticism on these developments has emerged and sitting decisions have,

in several cases, been determined by intense conflicts and debate.

In recent years there have been many studies and analyzes of the public attitudes towards renewable

energy and especially against the wind energy systems. Also, many studies and publications have

been until now, in which is recorded the public opinion and the way the Society is placed towardsthe RES [1-18].

The present study will present the arguments of those who opposed to the development of

renewable energy and in particular the wind, examining relevant publications, texts presented on

protest actions, arguments develop through documents Appeal to Council of State and conclusions

resulting from the relevant scientific research that has been preceded. We will not enter into the

process of submission the reply or counterarguments for each of the arguments presented. This will

be the subject of further study.

We present some of the most characteristic scientific approaches which question the usefulness of

wind energy:

Scientific positions Year Main disadvantages of wind energy

marked in each case

Reference

100 German

professors and

intellectuals

(manifesto)

1998, Germany They have an insignificant contribution

to energy production. They occupy

large tracts of land at the expense of

more efficient uses.

[21]


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Study of the

independent British

Institute Civitas,

2012, U.K.

(presents a

comprehensive

quantitative

analysis of CO2emissions and

wind-power by

Dutch physicist C.

le Pair).

They increase fuel (gas) consumption,

rather than saving it, when compared to

electricity generation with modern

high-efficiency gas turbines.

[22]

Study of

engineering,

scholar and writerA. Halkema

2008, U.K.

Their efficiency is much lower of

expectations.

[23]

William

Korchinskis

simulation study,

on behalf of the

Reason Foundation

(http://reason.org/),

2012, US They are very expensive. Wind power

is on the high end of cost, with coal and

nuclear being on the low end

[24]

Study on behalf of

The Global

Warming Policy

Foundation

(GWPF)

(www.thegwpf.org)

entitled "Why

Wind Power is so

Expensive

2012, UK Wind power is too expensive, while not

reducing emissions of CO2

[25]

Study published by

the Global Wind

Energy Council

(www.gwec.net)

2008, Brussels The installation of wind parks must be

treated with great caution. The large

installation of wind farms induces

problems to the the electricity grid.

[26]

Study published by

the German power

company E.ON

2005, Germany They are unreliable. The wind is

variable and random, so that the wind

energy to be completely unreliable.

[27]


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Energie AG Saving power is not practical or

economically feasible in useful range.

Study published by

the IR (Institute for

Energy Research-US), Wind

Integration: Does It

Reduce Pollution

and Greenhouse

Gas Emissions?

2010, US The effect of wind integration on both

fuel consumption and emission

reductions can in fact be negative.

[28]

More and more articles are written in British and German newspapers and magazines about the

ineffectiveness of wind energy.

Newspaper Publication date Heading Reference

British Dailymail

(www.dailymail.co.uk)

19 March 2012 Broken down and rusting, is this the

future of Britains wind rush?

[29]

British Wall Street

Journal

(online.wsj.com)

23 August 2010 Wind Power Wont Cool Down the

Planet. Often enough it leads to

higher carbon emissions.

[30]

British The Telegraph

(www.telegraph.co.uk)

14 April 2013 Wind farm developers are facing a

dramatic escalation of opposition

from dozens of MPs who say they

will fight every application in their

constituencies

[31]

British The Telegraph

(www.telegraph.co.uk)

19 November

2012

The Duke of Edinburgh has made a

fierce attack on wind farms,

describing them as absolutely

useless.

[32]

German Die Welt

(www.welt.de)

20 October 2012 Die krassen Fehlprognosen beim

kostrom ie: Lies, damn lies and

green statistics.

[33]

German The Local

(www.thelocal.de)12 October 2012 Minister 'puts brakes' on German

energy switch.

[34]


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We also note that several representatives of environmental organizations or associations have been

very critical toward the wind farms.

1. In 2008 the Greek Ornithological Society (www.ornithologiki.gr) published a study [35]entitled: "Very serious impacts of wind farms on birds."

2. In January 5, 2012, Dr. Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace, speaking at the 19thannual Southwest Agricultural Conference at Ridgetown campus of the University of Guelph, told

about wind energy industry [36]: The industry is a destroyer of wealth and negative to the

economy, the solar bubble has burst and thinks the wind bubble is about to burst. They are

ridiculously expensive and don't work half the time. And no matter how many are built, they

won't replace coal, gas or hydro or nuclear plants, because they are continuous and wind is not

always reliable.

3.

In April 2013 the Manis Environmental and Cultural Association (PERIPOLO MANIS)issued a brochure entitled "Industrial Renewable Energy Systems (I.RES) ...with a critical eye"

[45]. The data published in this brochure are largely shaped today public opinion of citizens in local

communities and many of them were used for the completion of this study.

4. Finally, a series of environmental associations reacted dynamically against the installation ofrenewables in their area [37-44] and several have applied to the Council of State against the

installation of RES projects in their areas.

For a better understanding the problems that cause the reactions to the RES, we recorded a

indicative number of actions by residents and operators in various areas have been submitted to the

State Council or other courts to annul environmental permits, authorizations and other approvals by

installation and licensing of RES projects implemented by PPC Renewables S.A.:

Applicant Number of

litigation

Number of State

decision

Investment

Agricultural

cooperative of

Vatsounia and other

residents

Council of State

(300/2009)

General Secretary

of the Region of

Thessaly

6497/80692/10.11.2

008

Installation of 30 MW Wind

Farm in the Municipality

Mouzaki, (Karditsa)

Embellishing

Association

Hersonissos of Sifnos

and other residents

Council of State

(E1983/2009)

General Secretary

of the Region of

south Aegean

Installation of 1,2 MW Wind


Sifnos

Residents Council of State General Secretary Installation of 10 MW Wind


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(3250/2011) of the Region of

Ionian Islands

(18677/13.12.2010)


Apollonion (Kalon Oros

Lefkada)

Municipality Lefkada Council of State

(3244/2011)

General Secretary

of the Region ofIonian Islands

(18677/13.12.2010)


Farm in the MunicipalityApollonion (Kalon Oros

Lefkada)

Embellishing

Association Kamares

(Paros) and other

residents

Council of State

(8708/2010)

General Secretary

of the Region of

south Aegean

(10050/04.08.2006)


Farm in the Municipality Paros

(Anefades Paros)

1. HuntingFederation

Peloponnese

Hellenic 2. Hellenic

Hunters

Confederation

Council of State(6654/2008)

General Secretaryof the Region of

Peloponnese

(44.14.08/2008)

Installation of 39,42 MW PVSystem in the Municipality

Megalopolis

Residents Council of State

(5079/2008)

General Secretary

of the Region of

Peloponnese

(44.14.08/2008)

Installation of 39,42 MW PV

System in the Municipality

Megalopolis

Summarizing the reasons for reactions against the wind turbines, we can separate them into four

categories:

A) RES require environmental interventions and cause other natural disasters.

B) They have high costs (passed on to the consumer).

C) Are unreliable (they depends entirely on the weather) and they can not replace base units

(thermal, gas, nuclear, etc.).

D) Finally, they deny the advantage of using RES and questioning even global warming from

human activity.

2. RES require environmental interventions and cause other natural disasters.

2.1. introduction

The wind turbines can cause a series of problems at the place of installation as they require road

construction, large-scale rock works, leveling and dropping large quantities of cement on the bases


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of W/T installation pillars and networks with power electricity cables.

We note that the total weight of each wind turbine is proportional to its size and starts at 223 tons

and reaches 380 tons [1]. Each wind turbine needs a base of 100 square meters of cement with a

minimum depth of 3 meters and each pillar needs about 500 cubic meters of concrete [1, 46-52].

A review of the wind parks environmental and human impacts, based on extended research on themost recent relevant bibliography, is carried out in the present paper. The results of former studies

are presented on [3, 4, 5]:

the impact of natural disasters on the natural environment the impact of changing the microclimate the impact on the aesthetic of the landscape the noise emissions the impact on birds and wildlife the shadow flicker from wind turbines the occupation of land the wind turbines electromagnetic interference.

2.2. the impact of natural disasters on the natural environment

This implies:

impacts on flora, (the vegetation's destroy has impact on microclimate). greater is the impact on the most ecologically sensitive areas (rocky, sparsely populatedislands, mountain peaks, peninsulas)

the character of Special Protected Areas (PA) is repealed by installing large units, impact of the technical works and loggings to pass the transmission networks of electricity, soil erosion with potential impacts on groundwater from earthworks shall.

2.3.

he impact of changing the microclimateThe air velocity is significantly reduced when it passes from the impeller the wind turbine, as a part

of it is absorbed and converted to energy.

Furthermore, because of the interaction the wind with the wind turbine blades, the pillar and the

tower installation increases both the vorticity of the flow and the level of turbulence. [49,51,52]

The creation of barriers to the flow of air causes significant in height disorders, of up to ten times

the height of the barrier [51,52].


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For this reason, the installation of a large number of wind turbines in a region would affect the local

rainfall characteristics, the thickness of the snow, the rate of evaporation of surface water etc. thus

contributing to the change the "microclimate" of the region.

On the form "Industrial RES" [45] of the Environmental Cultural Association Mani supported -

without scientific documentation- that wind turbines may be responsible for creating anhydrouswinter, as the turbines at high wind speeds do not allow the creation of snow on the mountaintops.

They also argue -without scientific documentation- that at the Panachaiko mountain occurs most

often tornadoes because of wind turbines.

2.4. Visual impact

The visual impact [54] of wind farms caused by the change of the landscape from the installation of

large engineering constructions on mountaintops, especially in areas where there is no humanactivity.

The required network for the produced electricity transportation affects the landscape as well. The

wind turbines size, in combination with their installation positions (usually at the top of hills or

mountains) make them visible even from great distances.

The effect of wind farms on the landscape is undeniable. The debate involves the issue of whether

the effect can be accepted or not. The answer is subjective, since it depends on the view with which

one can face this issue [11]. Sometimes the wind turbines are considered as huge and ugly

structures that transform landscapes into industrial areas, sometimes are considered as useful and

smart machines that generate clean and cheap energy and other times are considered as one of the

most promising solutions for limiting the operation of thermal and nuclear power plants, which

makes them valuable and irreplaceable.

The assessment of the visual impact of a wind farm in a landscape is a difficult multi-parametric

work (13,14,54-56). The evaluation is subjective but there are some objective parameters that affect

the visual acceptance of a wind farm [57].

These parameters are:

The wind parks normal operation. An important parameter for the acceptance of a wind park is

its normal operation, when the wind turbines operate normally, they are considered to serve a

purpose, so they are useful. In this case, they may be visually acceptable. On the contrary, when the

majority of the wind turbines in a wind park are standing still while the wind blows, the observers

anticipation for the wind turbines necessity and usefulness is broken.

The wind parks installation site. The visual impact of a wind park on the landscape may be

considered more intensive in narrow and closed landscapes (a valley in central Europe) rather than


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in open areas (a hill on a Greek island). A typical case of poor site selection placement of wind

turbines, is Zarakes at Evia. The wind turbines have circled the village from all sides [1].

The natural aesthetics of the installation area. The installation of a wind park in a rocky area

may not provoke the public opinion [56]. But this can not be a rule, as the rocky is perfectly

connected to the environment in the region of Mani [45]. Peculiarities of the installation areas surroundings. The existence of tourist destinations or

archaeological areas in the neighbourhood of a wind parks site may raise significant barriers. Very

negative is the image in Zarakes (Evia), as the turbines go up the beach. The area has been a decline

in tourism [1].

The installed wind turbines model and colour. It is accepted that the use of tubular towers

rather than lattice ones improves the visual impression of a wind park. Another significant

parameter is the wind turbines visual uniformity. The visual uniformity of a wind turbine is basedon the uniformity of the rotor, the nacelle and the tower main dimensions. he colour of both the

turbines blades and the tower makes an important contribution to the visual integration of a wind

park into the environment [13,14,54-56].

The wind turbines size. The visual impact of a wind turbine reduces with the distance [57]. The

visual impact of a wind turbine may be considered significant in distances lower than ten times its

tower height. However, at distances greater than 5 km, the wind turbine is gradually absorbed by

the landscape, without affecting its aesthetic

fter the end of their life. here is fear that the future of wind farms after 20-25 years will be

dump scrap [29].

2.5. Noise emissions

The noise produced from a wind turbine is divided into the aerodynamic and mechanical noise

[4,5,58]. The wind turbines operational noise is not intensive just a few hundred meters away and it

is usually masked by the noises produced by the wind itself.

The aerodynamic noise emissions depend on the blades aerodynamic design and the wind velocity

[58]. The rotation noise includes noises with frequencies harmonics of the rotors rotation

frequency. During the last two decades extensive research has been carried

out in the field of aerodynamic design of the wind turbines blades, with main targets the increase of

the produced powerand the reduction of the aerodynamic noise emissions. Several methods have

been developed for the wind parks noise diffusion calculation [59-61]. An noise emission

calculation may require special calculations for night time [62].

The upper limit for the wind turbines noise emissions level in residential areas varies in different

countries in the European Union. This limit is set in 40 in Greece and Sweden, in 45 dB in


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Denmark, in Great Britain this limit is allowed to be 5 dB higher than the average noise level in an

area. A major factor that may affect the noise annoyance of people living close to a wind park is the

visual contact with the source of noise [63].

2.6. Impacts on birds and wildlife

Wind turbines affect birds in one of the following ways [15,16,64,65]:

fatalities due to collision with the turbines spinning blades fatalities due to electrical shock the installation of wind parks in important areas for birds, such as prey or procreation areas loss or disturbance of habitats in proximity to turbines the installation of wind parks in migration corridors.

The installation of wind turbines in such areas creates a risk with birds [66]. Wind turbines installedin the vicinity of endangered species biotopes can also constitute a serious threat [17,67,68].

However, several studies conclude that wind turbines do not constitute a serious threat for birds,

mainly because birds, in general, have the ability to detect wind turbines in time and change their

flying path early enough to avoid them ([9-73]. Also the studies conclude that wind parks affect

birds significantly less than several other human activities [74].

All studies conclude that, in order to eliminate the probability of harming the natural environment

significantly, and especially birds, a wind park should be designed properly and all the possibleimpacts on birds should be examined with scrutiny beforehand [66,75].

Special is the case of MANI which is Special Protection Area NATURA EU and has been

declared "migratory flyways" birds (NATURA 2000, IBA2000) [45].

Also, residents at Lake Distos (Evia), say that there is a great reduce migratory birds after the

installation of wind turbines around the lake [1].

There are other negative impacts on wildlife -except the impacts on the birds-, that may be caused

by the installation of wind farms with the liquidation of vegetation and soil disturbance. To prevent

the destruction of fauna should be careful planning of wind farm [73].

2.7. Impact from Shadow flicker from wind turbines

The blades of wind turbines in their rotation can cast a shadow on the neighboring region,

depending on the position of the sun. As the blades pass in front of the sun creates a shadow flicker

which causes an annoying feeling [76-78]. The effects of shade from the rotation of the blades are

larger when the wind farms are located near residential areas.

Except the distance, another important parameter is the flicker frequency. Flicker frequency is very

critical factor for serious human disorders such as worsening the health of people who suffer from


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headaches. [78] Note that blades must not be reflective. Since the positions of sunrise and sunset

change during the year, the daily route of a wind turbines shadow is not the same for different time

periods during a year.

Taking into account that the sunrise and sunset positions at a certain region on earth are known

during a year, the moment and the period during which a specific point on earth will suffer from awind turbines shadow flicker may be predicted [77].

2.8. Use of land

According to former studies [79, 80], approximately 2005000 m2 of land per MW of installed

wind power are required. Practically, the land occupied by a 3 MW wind turbine is a square around

the turbine of 40 m40 m.

Wind farms require more land than conventional power plants (thermal and nuclear) to produceelectricity (have lower power density). But this view is not entirely correct.

Thermal power plants require large tracts of land for all the stages required for electricity

production (extraction and pumping fuel, transportation and storage of fuel, waste disposal, etc).

Only inside this area no activities may be fulfilled. Except for this specific area, the remaining land

of a wind park may be used for other activities too.

2.9. Electromagnetic interference

Wind turbines may cause electromagnetic interference [18-20]:

the location of wind turbines in relation to existing radio or television stations that can influence

the signal transmission,

electromagnetic emissions produced by the wind turbines themselves.

According to the Hellenic legislation [53], a license for a wind park will only be granted if some

minimum distances are kept from telecommunications or radio and television stations. Problems

related to wind turbines electromagnetic interference can be prevented by proper design and

location of wind parks [44-48].

The e lec t romagnet ic f ie ld o f a wind tu rb ine i s ex t remely weak and is

co n f in ed to a v e ry sh o r t d i s t an ce f ro m th e tu rb in e ' s ex te r io r h o u s ing wh ich

is a t leas t 4050 m above the g round [18 , 81] .

2.10. Safety in the Wind Farms

The issues of safety in a wind farm related personnel safety during installation and normal operation

of the park and the safety of residents living near the plant.


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From the data collected has never recorded serious injury neighbors from the operation of a wind

farm. But should not be overlooked that the risk could arise from the jet broken blades and ejection

of pieces of ice (sticking to the blades) at the start of the impeller at low temperatures. In some

cases record toss flap portions weighing up to 500kg and over 400m from the accident (eg

Cemmaes- Wales - 1993, Tarifa - Spain - 1995) [82].

3. Wind Turbines are unreliable (they depends entirely on the weather) and they can not

replace base units (thermal, gas, nuclear, etc.)

As already mentioned the development of wind energy has to face insurmountable limitations:

The air is variable and random, thus sometimes be very windy and sometimes not at all,

The electrical grids must cover demand, which not proportionally in line with the weather, The storage air or electricity is not practical or economically feasible to a usable level,

often, when more wind turbines are placed, the problem becomes stronger.

"If the wind suddenly increase from 8 Beaufort at 10, the generators can suddenly be put off stopping

production. This is almost unmanageable, because the generators have an automatic system and suddenly go

all out. The "percussion" due to the reaction of the protective system of the turbines, that can support a

network, is limited. "Percussion" is the change of the situation. And this percussion is around 5% controllable.

Above this rate, it is not certain that it can be controlled. This implies local oscillations and then the controller

of the grid can, if given the time- pull off loads. The controller can pull off a wide area grid for a while, so is

offset the loss of wind generators and after the grid is slowly taking loads from the conventional factories. The

alert limit is 3 -5%. The grid requires a lot of attention and need modern controllers.

The problem of oscillations in the grid is not presented only in Greece, but generally applies to all the grid, like

that of the Germany, encountered this problem recently [83].

We present few examples where with graphics we are showing the wide variation in the production of

electricity from wind turbines.

According to the report Wind Report 2005 of E.ON Netz (German Electricity Company)[27]:


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FIGURE 3: The level of wind power feed-in fluctuation depends on the prevailing wind

strength. In 2004, wind power production in the E.ON area varied in real terms between

zero and a third of the daily peak grid load.

FIGURE 4: The maximum monthly wind power feed-in in 2004, which stood at 1,182

million kWh in February, was almost twice as high as the minimum feed-in of 646

million kWh in July.

The extreme fluctuations in wind power feed-in due to the weather are also evident from

a comparison of the individual months against the same periods during the previous

year. This is especially evident for the months of February and September.

FIGURE 5: shows the annual curve of wind power feed-in in the E.ON control area for

2004, from which it is possible to derive the wind power feed-in during the past year:

1. The highest wind power feed-in in the E.ON grid was just above 6,000MW for a brief

period, or put another way the feed-in was around 85% of the installed wind power

capacity at the time.

2. The average feed-in over the year was 1,295MW, around one fifth of the average

installed wind power capacity over the year.

3.Over half of the year, the wind power feed-in was less than 14% of the average

installed wind power capacity over the year.

FIGURE 6: The feed-in capacity can change frequently within a few hours. This figure

reproduces the course of wind power feed-in during the Christmas week from 20 to 26

December 2004.

Whilst wind power feed-in at 9.15am on Christmas Eve reached its maximum for the

year at 6,024MW, it fell to below 2,000MW within only 10 hours, a difference of over

4,000MW. This corresponds to the capacity of 8 x 500MW coal fired power stationblocks. On Boxing Day, wind power feed-in in the E.ON grid fell to below 40MW.


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Handling such significant differences in feed-in levels poses a major challenge to grid

operators.

FIGURE 7: As wind power capacity rises, the lower availability of the wind farms

determines the reliability of the system as a whole to an ever increasing extent.

Consequently the greater reliability of traditional power stations becomes increasingly

eclipsed.

As a result, the relative contribution of wind power to the guaranteed capacity of our

supply system up to the year 2020 will fall continuously to around 4%. In concrete

terms, this means that in 2020, with a forecast wind power capacity of over 48,000MW

(Source: dena grid study), 2,000MW of traditional power production can be replaced by

these wind farms.

Study of William KorchinskiLimits of Wind Power [24]:

FIGURE 10: PJM detailed hourly data for the year 2009, which was used to calculate

the effects of increasing wind penetration and storage on total grid CO2 emissions,

system reserves and wind dumping. This figure shows that the total demand is around

80,000 MW, peaking in summer and winter, and at its lowest in spring and fall.

Conversely, wind power peaks in winter and is at its lowest in summer.

FIGURE 11: Demand Matching is a measure of how well the available wind power

matches the demand pattern over time. In a perfect world, just enough wind power

would be available to meet demand exactly, but as the data in Figure show, this is

unlikely to be the case.


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FIGURE 12: Die Welt

(www.welt.de). The neighboring

networks (Denmark, Austria) saved

Germany from blackout on 8

December 2011, and was offered

fluctuation energy from wind farms

in Germany from 6.000 MW to

20.000 MW within 12 hours [33].

Follows from the above chart shows that there are periods where the problem of

production power cannot be solved by the wind station regardless of how many will be

installed. When there apnea cannot cover demand, while in other cases the wind power

excess.

The only solution is the use of pumped storage. This solution, however, is expensive,

unless there are large hydropower plants.

But even with the use of pumped storage, the wind farms must not exceed 20% of the

total power, and in any case we must have always ready hot reserves (gas plants) [27].

4. Deny the advantage of using RES

4.1. Wind power has failed in both areas

In recent years there has been growing voices argue that wind power has failed in both

areas:

It is expensive and not effective in reducing emissions of CO2.

Based on the costs, nuclear power and natural gas combined cycle is the preferred

technology for the production of reliable also affordable electricital energy. These two

technologies are also the preferred technologies for reducing emissions of CO2.

Many studies [22, 45, 84-87] conclude that if it was not for renewable energy set by the

Renewables Directive, wind energy could not even be entertained as a cost effective way

of generating electricity or cutting emissions. The objectives of renewable energy should

be renegotiated with the EU.


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Opponents of RES, argue that the "unlimited technological renewable energy" is largely

a myth. While the sun and wind are inexhaustible, the materials and infrastructure

necessary to convert these energies into usable electricity, and the distribution of

electricity is not renewable. Renewable energy can not replace fossil fuels [84-87].

Opponents of renewable energy argue that the debate on the "manmade global warming"

has ballooned to public opinion in order to justification for a carbon tax, the fee and

grants for RES [45].

Many scientistsas well the UNs climate change chief, Rajendra Pachauri, argue that the

last 17 years have seen a pause in global warming. This view is confirmed by the

Britains Met Office. Note of course that required 30 to 40 years to ensure that it has

stopped temperature increase globally [84].

The Britains Met Office argues that Britain is committed to draconian cuts in emission

of CO2 [84]. But based on cost , nuclear power and natural gas combined cycle was

preferred technology for the production of reliable and affordable electricity. These two

technologies are also the preferred technologies for reducing emissions of CO2. Wind

power fails on both counts. Is expensive and is not yet effective in reducing emissions of

CO2. Many now argue that the EU targets for renewables must engage in process of

renegotiating.

There are also many other studies [86-87] demonstrating that wind energy does not

reduce CO2 emissions. Also note that the fuel consumption by activating the backup

system when production from the wind stops due to weather conditions, is much greater

than the corresponding consumption if there were no wind turbines. Sample studies

leading to this conclusion is the research of Dutch C. le Pair and K. de Groot and the

study of Canadian Argonne National Laboratory, which was held under the direction of

the Ministry of Energy. The Dutch researchers [86] used data provided by CBS, the

Netherlands Institute of Statistics and concluded that the estimates of the Government

for the amount of reduction of carbon emissions by using wind power are wrong.

Similarly, the Canadian Argonne National Lavoratory released in 2012 a study [87] that

found wind energy does not reduce carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation

as much as expected a study that concludes that wind energy does not reduce carbon

dioxide emissions from electricity generation as expected.


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4.2. Jobs created by RES is a myth

Finally, opponents of renewable characterize as "a myth" the new jobs created by the

RES. The only jobs created is limited to the design and implementation of projects, but

is temporary (consulting offices, skilled personnel, landscaping companies). Thereafter

the positions are few. It is calculated that correspond one job for each investment EUR

2.7 million [88].

We mention for example that "Aioliki Belecheri SA" for a wind power station nominal

19.8 MW, for a total cost of 24.860.500 euros creates 2 jobs [89] and "Aioliki Zaraka

Laconia SA" and "Aioliki Zaraka Spartilas & Kontorachi SA" joined in the

Development Law projects in places Kontorachi and Gaidourovouni Laconia overall

investment of 42.234.000 euros and will create two jobs for each project ie 4 jobs [90].

Epilogue

It is obvious that the serious energy and environmental problems facing modern society

need more studies for energy and for the improve of energy and spatial planning both at

the national and European level.

The arguments against the RES must be carefully studied and answered in detail. Should

also, in contrast to those arguments raised and the opposite view of the scientific

community.

We should also take into consideration the positions stated by the National Academy of

Sciences of the main industrial nations of the world (USA, Canada, UK, FRANCE BY,

Germany, China, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, Brazil) 2010 [91].

The joint findings issued saying that, there are strong indications that the planet's

temperature is rising dramatically in recent decades. It is also obvious that the

temperature rise due to human activities. This warming has already led to changes in

the Earth's climate. The existence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is vital to life

on Earth in their absence average emperatures would be about 30 centigrade degrees

lower than they are today. Carbon dioxide levels have increased from 280 ppm in 1750

to over 375 ppm today higher than any previous levels that can be reliably measured

(i.e. in the last 420,000 years)

Applications of Renewable Energy can provide a reliable basis for a possible agreement

between the citizens, the State, investors, relevants and specific for the realization of animportant part of new electricity production investments under the basic condition that


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the EU will stick to redesign the entire framework, facing the problems of RES and

talking with the local communities.

Global Community must not see renewables simply as investment opportunities specific

economic interests but as an investment in the future and future generations.

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