The American Spectator

Still, as long as those windmills are turning, they must be producing some electricity, right? Unfortunately, even this may not be true. Because wind power is so unpredictable, fossil fuel plants must be kept running all the time anyway for backup.

p>A study commissioned by Norway in 1998 found that wind power in Denmark had “serious environmental effects, insufficient production, and high production costs.” Reporting on the Danish experience to a British audience in 2005, Dr. V.C. Mason concluded : br> /p> blockquote> br> Although one fifth of the electrical power produced annually in West Denmark is generated by its enormous capacity of wind turbines, only about 4% of the region’s total power consumption is provided from this source. Most of the output of wind power is surplus to demand at the moment of generation and has to be exported at reduced prices to preserve the integrity of the domestic grid. Savings in carbon emissions are minimal. br> /blockquote> br> Perhaps the best that can be hoped for, then, is that wind can provide the spinning reserve required for all grids. It is not surprising to find countries like Denmark and Germany topping out at 20 percent. That is the point where spinning reserve ends and base-load responsibilities begin.

Beyond that 20 percent wind will not be able to penetrate. It would be impossible — i-m-p-o-s-s-i-b-l-e — to run a contemporary electric grid on wind power alone. Its role will remain marginal and supplementary. At bottom, wind is still a medieval technology.