Economic Issues
The links below cover some of the many economic questions concerning wind power. SHOWT takes no responsibility for the views expressed in these documents, but they make interesting reading.
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- 'Tilting at Windmills: The economics of wind Power' by Professor David Simpson, The David Hume Institute (Occasional Papers, 65). (April, 2004) "This paper asks whether the economic analysis of this source of energy really justifies such a major role and whether alternative policy options should be considered."
- E.ON Netz Wind Report 2005 [PDF Download or order] - E.ON Netz GmbH is responsible for the electricity transport grid of the E.ON Group in Germany. It has over 40% of German wind power capacity in its area, with 7,050 MW of installed wind power; it is one of the largest electricity grid operators in Europe. EON UK owns Powergen and is the second largest energy supplier in the UK, the second largest electricity generator in the UK and owns the second largest distribution network in the UK.
- National Audit Office Report on Renewables by the Comptroller and Auditor General. (11 February, 2005) - "... the level of [financial] support provided by consumers is in excess of that needed by many onshore wind schemes."
- The Scottish Wind Assessment Project - "An ongoing programme of research which seeks to collate existing studies and commission new research to promote a thorough investigation of the claims made for and against the use of wind-generated energy."
- Views of Scotland - States that, "the case for wind power is seriously flawed from a scientific, economic and political perspective. Construction of wind power stations is causing unjustifiable and irreversible damage to some of Scotland’s greatest assets."