I too like industrial landscapes and the pic of the coal fired station is good in its own right. It can make power reliably and on demand, not like wind farms.
Yes, renewable energy is here to stay, but, at a cost both visually and financially.
My observations on wind farms are:
1. The actual load factor is significantly less than was suggested when development started, now typically less than 30% (
http://www.ref.org.uk/publications/217-low-wind-power-output-2010)
(Load factor is the relationship between maximum capacity and actual production over a period of time. E.G. if an installed wind turbine has a maximum of 5Mw, but actually produces 2Mw continually over a day, the load factor for that day is (5x24)/(2x24) = 25%)
2. The subsidies paid to renewables, whilst morally correct, in the case of wind farms is not the best way to spend the money. Tidal power should be receiving far greater support - its predictable and reliable.
3. The wind envelope that most wind farms can operate in is between 6 and 25 m/s. Off the Cumbria coast there is a big development of wind farms. The indicated average wind speed at 75m above sea level is in the region of 9m/s, (these wind mills have a hub height of 75m and are 120m from sea level to top of the rotor disc.) The East Irish Sea wind farms have a maximum efficiency wind speed of 14m/s. The power produced by wind has a cubic ratio to wind speed. This means that if the wind speed halves, the power output drops by a factor of 8.
4. Wind farm output cannot be reliably predicted. What this means in reality is that other forms of power generation has to be kept ready to react at very short notice. Often plant is running at low output, ready to load up as required. This plant is then running at very low efficiency levels and thus costing more to run, adding to the overall cost of electricity to the consumer.
Typically, for every 10Mw of installed wind capacity, there needs to be about 5Mw of reserve generation ready to react to changes in wind generation.
Further, at these output levels the emissions to atmosphere are notably higher (but still within consent limits) than would be the case at full load.
5. They are ugly. The view from the coast at Walney Island has been ruined by the wind farm developments. There are more to come as well. There is a very large area of the East Irish Sea and Mersey Bay that has been allocated for potential wind farms.
Ian (getting off his soapbox)