Malachy

Come on, sombody give the guy £50 to come up to Shetland. We could all share the price of his fare. It could be a Shetlink sponsored tour of the isles.

The same argument re cost can be made against the Viking Energy project: why not build it somewhere in the North of Scotland? Also, if VE goes ahead, the cable will already be there... But the Viking Energy project was instigated, at least in part, by people within Shetland, because Shetland has more wind than anywhere else in Europe. I don't think a nuclear power station ever would be instigated from here. Plus, as mentioned above, the VE cable will be able to carry the power from the windfarm and no more.

I suspect Westminster would have serious trouble trying to hold on to Shetland if the islands demanded independence. I really cannot see them sending in the tanks over it. These days they would be hard pressed to find an excuse for saying no.

It wouldn't happen. I'm sure. For two reasons. One is expense - putting a nuclear power station in Shetland would cost far more than doing it south, simply in terms of getting materials, labour here, and putting in the neccessary cable. The other reason is that Shetland still wields a very important bargaining tool, which it has forgotten about in recent years, namely independence. Although the public support for Shetland independence or autonomy has never really been there before, if people were faced with the question: independence or a nuclear power station on your back door? I think minds would quickly change.

Not wishing to go back here - I'd like to hear greenheatman's answers too, but just to clarify this point ^^^ Power produced by windmills is worth more than power from elsewhere because you get ROCS payments for renewable energy. So if greenheatman is correct it is conceivable that they could take energy from the grid then sell it back and claim ROCS payments for it. The purpose of these payments is obviously to make renewable energy more attractive as a business, because without them it is not very cost effective. So, does that mean the VE scheme is not viable without the subsidy? I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that, but I presume their financial projections must be taking them into account.

Sorry I got this wrong its also now 18 for the Scottish Parliament! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/6511111.stm The person pictured in this story doesn't look 18, nor does he look much like a Charlotte. I may be unfashionable here, but I'm not sure I would suggest standing as bigdancingman. It might work with Shetlinkers, but other folk might just think you're a bit daft.

Not wishing to go back here - I'd like to hear greenheatman's answers too, but just to clarify this point ^^^ Power produced by windmills is worth more than power from elsewhere because you get ROCS payments for renewable energy. So if greenheatman is correct it is conceivable that they could take energy from the grid then sell it back and claim ROCS payments for it. The purpose of these payments is obviously to make renewable energy more attractive as a business, because without them it is not very cost effective.

Nothing could happen. As long as you conduct a sensible campaign rather than personal attacks then you have nothing to fear.

^^^^^ Read that sentence again. It simply doesn't make sense. Even if these mills do require some power to work, greenheatman is claiming that that is the "only" reason the interconnector is required. That is so outrageous a claim that I just can't accept that greenheatman is the only person in the world to have realised it.

Now this is something that I want to read about! Not being savvy about the internal workings of these huge proposed behemoths - that is something that just hasn't been covered. The connector cable as I've been fed is there to "export" electricity to the mainland. Is there a laymans guide anywhere on the Net about such things? I may not be a windmill expert, but I'd say with some confidence that this is simply not true. The mills don't need the connector cable to power them at all. Here in Fair Isle our power is provided by two windmills (one 60kw, one 100kw) and, when there isn't enough wind, by a diesel generator. When it is windy, and the windmills are producing power, the generator is off. There is no power being supplied to mills at all. Obviously the mills we're speaking about are much bigger, but I fail to see why the technology now would be so much less efficient than it was 25 years ago when our first mill was erected.

I think you would need to provide some evidence for that statement. If it is true it is pretty shocking, but you can't expect just to be taken at your word with something as controversial as that. I don't think it would necessarily be "pretty shocking" - if electricity consumption is rising in Shetland, then it could simply be the case that the wind turbines have slowed the increase of oil burnt at Gremista. True, yes. Although if Shetland, with a decreasing population, is continuing to use more energy, that would also be shocking.

I think you would need to provide some evidence for that statement. If it is true it is pretty shocking, but you can't expect just to be taken at your word with something as controversial as that. (By the way, I sent a message to you, are you going to answer?)

That would be an interesting thing to know: how long will it take for the windfarm to offset its own carbon emissions? I'm sure Viking Energy must have an idea about that, along with possible variables. The concerning thing would be that if a much better energy source comes along in five, ten, even 15 years, the windmills might become obsolete, at which point we would be left with 200 useless mills, plus we would have contributed to rather than helped to reduce carbon emissions.

So we've been convinced to believe by the government. The fact is that the world's temperature has risen and fallen over history. It has been much colder than it is now, but it has been much warmer also. The Global warming warning shouldn't be bought. I'm sorry, but this global warming denial is not only nonsense, it is selfish, dangerous nonsense. The most impressive achievement of the oil industry lobby has been to convince people that there is still some scientific debate about climate change. This is not true. There is no debate amongst scientists. The only people who disagree with the consensus view are non-scientists, the same people who are advocating "intelligent design" as a credible alternative "theory" to evolution. An interesting fact: There have been a total of 928 peer-reviewed scientific papers about global warming. Guess how many of them disagreed with the consensus position...that's right: none. Zero! Amongst real scientists there is no debate. They know the answer. Similarly, the IPCC have given a 90-95% certainty rating on the human causes of global warming. That may not be 100% but it is good enough for me. There have, as you say, been vast changes in the earth's temperature throughout its history. But these changes have generally been caused by slight adjustments in the orbit of the planet over time (as well as very occasional super-volcanic eruptions etc). This warming is different as it is caused by a buildup of greenhouse gases, which human beings are partly, though certainly not entirely, responsible for. Human civilisation has only existed for a short time in planetary history, and during this time the climate has been very stable. The changes that many scientists are predicting are beyond anything that civilisation has had to cope with before, and to sit back and do nothing about it would be to condemn future generations to a terrible world. If mankind is prepared to do that, despite all the warnings, then perhaps it deserves everything it gets.

If we all held our breath for 30 seconds every few minutes, that would a good reduction in CO2.

Not if the net economic and environmental benefits are zero or, worse, possibly even negative. Alternatively, we could stop squandering the energy we already over-consume... Absolutely agree 100%. I think the government must get harder on people and force them to save energy. The public are proving themselves utterly incapable of saving energy.

Well I suppose the answer is that the world needs green energy right now, urgently. In fact it needs it yesterday. That is the argument for making such a big windfarm and also the argument for going with wind rather than undeveloped wave power.

I'm not sure it is the gamble that is the problem with the Viking Energy project. We know the technology produces electricity, and would make money. It is simply a matter of weighing that against the negatives, such as disruption to the landscape. Perhaps the biggest risk would be spending the money and then finding out that a better technology is available in a few year's time, but there is always that risk, whatever choice you make.

EDIT: too late

All the image shows is that you've taken the graph showing their output and then drawn a more impressive line over the top of it. That's just silly.

Excuse me if I don't keel over with regret and try to beg you to reconsider, but somehow your post here and your previous letters to the Shetland News do not suggest that you are a sensible, reliable person that any council would want to do business with. If your invention is so wonderful then I am sure you will have no trouble finding a company willing to make it for you (I presume GENTEC venturi exists only on paper, yes?) and then you will be a very wealthy man. However, I would suggest that if the invention is as good as you say it is, you would probably be wise to try and sell it to lots of people, rather than just one island. I'm no businessman but I'd say that would be the way to go. Your post here and your various sites and letters all seem designed to impress or baffle, with vast lists of numbers and statistics, for which you offer no evidence. I think perhaps you would have had more chance of being taken seriously if you had gone about your business in a more sensible way. PS I live on an island with a windmill that provides power about 50% of the time. So there!

http://homepage.mac.com/danielmartin/Dylan/images/jpg/cds/1965-Highway61.jpg Ok, last one. Definitely.

http://www.megalithrecords.com/store/images/toasters-dub56-cover-us.jpg I'm getting bored now... Ok I missed the bit about no multiple posts. Sorry. I've given up now anyway.

http://www.coolstufftoys.com/images5/bigdaddydecal55chevy.jpg

http://www.medalofhonor.com/54thMassachusettsCW.jpg