I find myself in a bit of a quandary...

[saturn5]

According to DUKES 2009 Report, I'd estimate at least 1600 wind turbines working at max output to equal the generating capacity of Heysham 1 and 2 (Sellafield doesn't generate power any more). That means it would have to be windy continually (bit like someone I know... ) so you should probably multiply that by a factor of 2 to account for non-windy spots. 112000 turbines across the country working at 50% total efficiency should be enough for all our needs Wind currently accounts for 1.7% of the total generating capacity in the UK, nuclear is a surprisingly low 13%.

You can also in a factor for over windy spots because they get shut down when the wind gets over 60kph or something like that which means on the windswept hills of the Highlands the damned things spend more time stationary than they do rotating.

[Mikea]

Good point saturn5 - Scotland seems to have more than a fair share of them.

[narrowbandpaul]

i dont think wind/wave/geothermal power is the way forward.

if the oil and gas goes and we still only have turbines, we are screwed.

what we need is fusion. cold fusion at that

britain and the rest of the world should ramp up the investment and try create energy efficient nuclear fusion.

its the only way.

[narrowbandpaul]

i have around 36 10 miles north or so. around halfway between crieff and auchterarder (gleneagles)

they are OK. dont mind them. but I see them from every hole on the golf course.

[Doc]

IMO if they only block your 10° then I would accept them as they are better then a housing estate or a power station as others have said.

Also how often do we view or image under 10°. I personally never as it's always murky.

[Matthew.Blake]

i dont think wind/wave/geothermal power is the way forward.

if the oil and gas goes and we still only have turbines, we are screwed.

what we need is fusion. cold fusion at that

britain and the rest of the world should ramp up the investment and try create energy efficient nuclear fusion.

its the only way.

Cold fusion is a pipe dream. Real fusion is being developed but we are a way off being able to sustain a reaction that generates more energy than we put into it to sustain it.

[Astro_Baby]

There was a documentary on the telly a few months ago where an energy analyst put out the numbers.

I cant recall exactly what they were but it was something like if we could peg energy useage at where it is now and we aimed to get rid of all carbon producing (oil, gas and coal) energy generation and we aimed to do that by 2050 we would be needing to build a Nucklear power station every 2 weeks and turning out a wind turbine every 2 hours between now and then. I cant remember the exact numbers but it was HUGE. Kind of made you realise the enormity of the task.