By
Daniel Martin
12:02 EST, 3 June 2012
|
16:19 EST, 3 June 2012
George Osborne is demanding huge cuts in government aid for wind farms – a step which could kill plans for the construction of hundreds of turbines across the country.
Axed: The Chancellor is leading plans to cut subsidies for onshore windfarms
The Chancellor has told the Treasury to draw up plans for a reduction of 25 per cent in subsidies for onshore wind farms.
The intervention will provoke widespread anger among his Lib Dem coalition partners, who strongly support plans to put up hundreds of turbines in the countryside.
Environmental groups say the cut in subsidy would put an end to the development of further wind power sites – an outcome that would be welcomed by thousands of campaigners who are opposing plans for turbines near their homes.
Only last week the campaigners scored a major victory when a High Court judge ruled that the right of villagers in Norfolk to preserve their landscape was more important than the Government’s energy targets.
Last night Tory backbenchers supported Mr Osborne’s determination to slash the amount spent on renewable energy by the Government at a time of austerity.
Douglas Carswell said: ‘Why has it taken so long? A centre-right government should be bringing an end to this. One of the reasons that the economy is not growing is because energy costs are so ridiculously high because of this wind farm scam which is adding hidden surcharges to our bills.’
In February more than 100 Conservative MPs wrote to the Prime Minister to demand cuts to the £400million a year public support for wind farms, which they say is evidence of too much Lib Dem influence over policy.
Mr Osborne’s position puts him at odds with Lib Dem energy secretary Ed Davey – a key supporter of renewable energy.
Support: Thousands of residents are backing Osborne’s plans to prevent further windfarms from being built
It could also cause friction with his boss David Cameron, who promised to lead the ‘greenest government ever’ after the election.
But his intervention could restore his popularity among Tory MPs such as Chris Heaton-Harris, who has led the charge against the subsidies. Many are angry at a series of U-turns on Budget measures in recent weeks.
Juliet Davenport, of renewable electricity supplier Good Energy, said the Chancellor was giving in to Tory backbenchers who do not want turbines built in their constituencies.
She said: ‘This is a reckless act of political opportunism by a Chancellor keen to boost his popularity among his backbench MPs.’
In October, the energy department suggested a 10 per cent cut in support for onshore wind, but the Treasury apparently wants 25 per cent. A spokesman for the Department for Energy and Climate Change said: ‘The Government will publish the new support levels shortly.’
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So Cameron wants the greenest government ever. If the price of gas, electricity and fuel go up much more, he will get his wish as only the rich will be able to afford it the rest of Britain will be back in the dark ages and factories closed as they wont be able to afford to make anything.
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I wouldnt mind so much if the dammed things actually worked at anything near their supposed capacity….the simple ( but often over looked ) fact is they don’t ! Never did…..and never will ! The IDEA was great….but a bit of research into the strength of the prevailing winds and how OFTEN they would blow would have told them it was never going to work.
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I haven’t seen any evidence that wind turbines produce the amount of electricity that we were told when these things were originally proposed. I think that they use more electricity trying to run them than they make. We have some in the countryside near where I live and I’ve never seen them going round in the wind yet. The noise from them is very loud and I know I wouldn’t want to live in a village that had them near by. I wonder how many lib dem MPs who support having thousands and thousands of wind turbines on land would be happy to have them right near where they lived. If they don’t mind then they should go and live in a village surrounded by them and leave the rest of us in peace.
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OH COME ON ! You’ve only just con vinced me to allow these monstrosities onto my land, you’ve paid me a few hundred thou in subsidies and now you’re going to make it NOT worth my while ! So the value of my land will now become worthless, as no one wants to own a house anywhere near the great hulking wastes of space ! And how can I sue ? As my land was agricultural grazing land , so it is now even worth less with these hulks on it, must be worth at least 700 an acre less than its original 1,500 per acre !
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– Rhys, Yorkshire, 03/6/2012 22:52
You couldn’t be more wrong. Peak oil just hasn’t occurred, and we keep finding more and more deposits. We have a lot fo shale gas and oil opportunities too. Fission hasn’t been safer, the only problem is we are still using very old first generation Magnox reactors. The current tech for nuclear fission reactors have in safety features that function using basic physical laws, such as boron pebble reactors.
Wind turbines on average will produced between 1/4 to 1/3 of their quoted output, and that isn’t a steady out put either. Their manufactor produces a lot of toxic waste in producing the super strong concrete the towers are made from and the dynamos for the turbines. Yes, conventional power plants also use dynamos but a fraction of what would be needed if it were purely wind. This is probably one of the better thing Osbourne has done. We can funnel this extra money into research to make other renewables better.
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A large fan just above Parliament, my brave uncle would say, God rest his soul, might rotate enough to generate electricity from Brighton north to the highlands and ample enough remaining to any shores east and west. He must be correct because he was not only an excellent physicist but an astute scientist of political hot air 🙂
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Cuts to windfarm subsidies should be resisted . The UK must invest in long term clean energy and not be held in thrall to volatile fossil fuel imports and their vested interest supporters. How do think coal and nuclear power stations were initially built – without state support? Wind energy is a proven technology despite what the naysayers say that will support UK jobs and supply clean energy for the Uk’s longterm energy needs. A properly designed transmission system will ensure continuity of power. This is already happenning with interconnector links being built to Ireland and the continent.
China , the US and especailly Germany amongst have realised the benefits of wind and are investing heavily. The UK has some of the best conditions for wind generation in the world. Dont let the nimby mindset derail the UK’s clean energy plans!
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As the man said “You can fool some of the people all of the t ime, You can fool all of the people some of the time, But you can’t fool all of the people all the time”!
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What’s this, George talking sense, surely not ! Tidal power George, it happens twice a day, regular as clockwork. by the way does Dave’s father – in – law know? Could wreck his plans for even more subsidised windmills on his land. LibDems who cares. – John B, Bury St Edmunds, 3/6/2012 18:49 NO! Tidal power is really expensive – even more expensive than wind power!
– UKIP supporter, London, 3/6/2012 20:07 ———- however, tidal is fairly constant – unlike wind !
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Using taxpayer subsidies to support energy are essentially wrong. The country needs to pay its way with energy. We need to consider reducing or even eliminating the subsidies on solar panels too. Hard to terminate those that are already in place but we could have the subsidies terminate when a house with such panels is sold.
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