Yes and people like you choose to ignore the huge amount of pollution produced and energy required to extract rare earth elements like neodymium and dysprosium, mined almost exclusively in China, which controls 95 percent of the world’s supply of rare earth minerals. The only US supplier of rare earths Molycorp, for which I used to have shares in, has gone bankrupt basically because the price has gone so low. Why you ask? Well because the Chinese turn a blind eye to the dirty manufacturing processes which wouldn't be allowed in the US. Your wonderful shiny wind turbines are incredibly polluting but you don't see it because it's not on your doorstep.
That's very arrogant of you Mott, the Germans are number one in the wind and solar game, so a little less hubris and a lot more humility is called for here. Instead of bragging you'd do well to investigate why the Energiewende has been such an unmitigated disaster for Germany.So you're going to condemn an entire developing technologies cause Euros couldn't lead a duck to water? That's rational.
I wasn't disputing that. I'm merely pointing out that this developing technology is probably a transitional one that is a better compromise solution, currently, to coal, petroleum and nuclear for energy production.
Can you point to anywhere in Western Europe that uses oil to generate electrical power?
Who is claiming they are? That's why they are called developmental and if the U.K. and Germany are eliminating subsidies maybe it's because they view the technology as mature.
Should wind turbine operators shoulder the costs to wildlife particularly birds of prey killed by turbine blades? Or indeed the solar power operators that have made some highly efficient bird toasters?
Is it? There are a lot of wind turbines in the US but there are a fuckton of them in Germany. You should go there sometime and see for yourself. If you think you've nothing to learn from the Energiewende then you are destined to repeat those mistakes. Obama wanted to make wind turbine subsidies permanent, ask yourself why?
Certainly no thanks to wind turbines anyway. By the way, you do realise don't you that all wind turbines need to be backed up by fossil fuels like CCGT, don't you?
Take the Obama subsidies away and the industry would nosedive overnight!
Should fracking be condemned all over the US because of a few quakes in Oklahoma? The Dutch have a similar problem with the Groningen gasfield in the North Sea. They have now had to cap production to avoid triggering new quakes.