{"id":49376,"date":"2020-06-25T08:02:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-25T06:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/energy\/energy-from-above-wind-power-instead-of-nuclear-power.html"},"modified":"2020-07-05T13:29:35","modified_gmt":"2020-07-05T11:29:35","slug":"energy-from-above-wind-power-instead-of-nuclear-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/en\/franz-alt-en\/comments-interviews\/energy-from-above-wind-power-instead-of-nuclear-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy from above – Wind power instead of nuclear power"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the wake of the Fukushima disas\u00adter wind power has increased in importance in energy transition. The problem, of course, was never a lack of wind but the dependence of most societies on the old energy economy, and some have only too happily continued to operate their old nuclear plants.<\/p>\n

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I recently gave a talk at the World Wind Conference in Bonn, Germany. I have in recent decades rarely experi\u00adenced greater optimism at events. The industry believes in its future. \u2018The future belongs to renewable energy, as it delivers not only ecological but also economic benefits. And it can be ethically justified \u2013 unlike coal, gas, oil and nuclear energy\u2019, a keynote speaker said at the Bonn conference.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Solar energy is in general the most popular source of renewable energy. However, wind power in generating electricity has been the most dynamic source in recent years and the efficiency of windmills has increased enormously. At the Bonn conference, completely new technologies were introduced, which can increase the efficiency of classical wind turbines many times over \u2013 such as the concentrator wind technology WINGA, which was developed in Canada. The generator wind turbine concentrates the wind in a funnel, and works on the principle of a tornado. Worldwide, more and more small wind turbines are being installed on rooftops – almost completely silent and already producing electricity from two meters per second wind speed. <\/p>\n

In China the production of electric\u00adity from wind tunnels has increased in the last five years by about 1,000 per cent. By 2020 the \u2018Middle Kingdom\u2019 wants to increase its wind power by tenfold again. \u2018The model is the devel\u00adopment in Germany\u2019, said my Chinese conversation partners in Beijing. After Fu kushima the Chinese government is also rethinking its current nuclear plans. The future belongs also in China to renewable energy\u2019, the former Chinese environment minister told me in 2006. Today China produces six times more solar panels than all 27 countries of the European Union combined \u2013 the United States, India and Spain have also grown in the expansion of wind power. <\/p>\n

Every wind turbine <\/strong>is a sign of peace<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wind power is, like the sun, a free gift from the heavens that is available for all time \u2013 leaving no diesel soot and no nuclear waste. It saves the environ\u00adment, in country after country, from tens of millions of metric tons of greenhouse gases. Wars are fought over oil, but the wind will never be a reason for war. Every wind turbine is a sign of peace. War over oil or peace from sun and wind? This is one of the key policy issues of the 21st century. <\/p>\n

Also terrorists will never launch an attack on a windmill, since nothing happens there. However, they can relatively easily, by an airplane or using nuclear weapons, organise a dreadful attack on a nuclear power plant. Thus getting away more and more each year from nuclear power means a bit more security. It means less atomic waste, which nobody knows how to dispose of safely. One thing we do know is that nuclear waste radiates for up to a million years. <\/p>\n

On the Baltic island of Fehmarn, 150 wind turbines are in operation and bring four times more electricity than all the 12,000 inhabitants of the island and the three million yearly visitors consume together. A mayor on the island told me of initial opposi\u00adtion to the windmills, which died down, however, when the residents became convinced of the real benefits of a climate and environmentally friendly power production on the site.<\/p>\n

A few years ago in the community of Dardesheim in Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, I was allowed to dedicate a wind farm with 16 wind turbines \u2013 in the meantime 15 more have been added, and only recently the largest wind turbine in the world was installed there, a six-megawatt plant. The small community of about 1,000 residents is now producing clean electricity for 40,000 people. One in three residents has a financial interest in the wind farm. Every year this wind farm saves the environment 160,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases. And the mayor is happy about the good business-tax revenue. <\/p>\n

Today in Germany, wind energy provides about nine per cent of the electricity. About 250,000 people have invested their money in wind turbines. Recent surveys show that 77 per cent of Germans want to make a personal contribution to the energy transition, even if it costs money. <\/p>\n

If the United States would tap into the full potential of wind power to generate energy, three times as much electricity as the country uses today could be produced per year. And the US consumes a lot of electricity! <\/p>\n

With production costs of between five to seven cents per kilowatt hour, wind power is already the least expensive of all renewable energies. One thing is clear: Anyone who rejects wind farms is with this attitude accepting the construction of coal\u00adfired or nuclear power plants. Those looking for an energy policy without fossil fuel and nuclear energy sources cannot do without wind power. <\/p>\n

Wind power instead of <\/strong>nuclear power<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is high time for building a renew\u00adable energy economy. Climate change is happening so dramatically fast that we must overcome the think\u00ading in old energy structures quickly. It means: <\/p>\n