Is wind the future energy source for the UK?

[Devil]

By chance, on the day that Boris Johnson has stated that all British homes will have sufficient energy from the wind, by 2030; yet a long technical article has been published at:
https://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/publications/d ... source.pdf

This casts serious doubts as to how well a wind-only system, à la Prime Minister, could work, as the article analyses the wind patterns of the UK, often for days without significant winds, even offshore. It is inconceivable to have sufficient storage capacity in 10 years, so that the backup would have to be supplied by either conventional or, preferably, nuclear power stations.

[Kili01]

Would photo voltaic farms be any more effective to produce electricity for the UK?

Dee

[Devil]

Would photo voltaic farms be any more effective to produce electricity for the UK?

Dee

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12847073/ ... nger-live/

Run the weekly chart from today's "Sun" and you have your answer!

Actually if you run down the whole "Sun" weather site, there is some interesting stuff to digest.

[El tel]

If all the “ wind “ that has been generated in discussing the corona virus has been converted to power there would be no need for any other form of energy .

Terry

[Dominic]

If all the “ wind “ that has been generated in discussing the corona virus has been converted to power there would be no need for any other form of energy .

Terry

Coupled with Brexit debate they would be unstoppable.

[Jimgward]

Scotland is self-sufficient in wind-power and hydro power, for a few days a year - what does that tell you? Even in a windy climate, wind isn’t the viable only option. Also, you need generating stations in your area, so you couldn’t power the UK from 1 or 2 nuclear plants, as power loss in transmission is too high. A problem with wind power as well.
Localised turbine are better, but the entire technology is problematic. We have turbines see from a hill nearby, 360 degrees. At any time, some are out, being repaired. The technology solutions are not sufficient to run them 24x7x365xX years without maintenance and rebuild.

There will be a technology that uses radiation from the sun, where panels could even be put into your basement and work. Bit it is many years away...

[Diocletian]

Nuclear is the answer.

[Devil]

My apologies. When I first saw this article, I believed that it was newly published, without having checked the dates. In fact, it is a few years old. Notwithstanding, it is still very valid with the exception that there is less emphasis on offshore wind generation. There is little doubt that offshore wind generation is more efficient than onshore, so that the article is still valid on condition that we take this difference into account.

I am actually rereading the article (note that it is not a technical paper because it would need more authors and peer reviewing before it could become part of the technical literature). When I have digested the technicalities, I will publish more information on this thread.

In the meanwhile, I think there is a lot of gold and silver buried in this long article: to be followed up!