BRIAN O GALLACHOIR,
A chara, - Kevin Myers has done it again (August 22nd) - launched a full-scale attack, ignored the facts and used misinformation to back up spurious claims.
This time the focus of his tirade is wind energy, which he describes as the "soft and morally lazy alternative to the the real alternative to carbon fuel, uranium".
Let's embrace nuclear energy, ignore the risks and hazards, invite future Chernobyl's, and hide the costs of nuclear waste management and retired plant decomissioning.
Kevin should bring his glorious insights to Denmark and persuade them of the folly of their ways. The wind energy industry now generates more revenue in Denmark than the fishing industry. They weren't aware that "wind energy doesn't work", as Kevin points out. They carried on uninformed and now 16 per cent of their electricity comes from wind energy.
Kevin tells us that 90 per cent of France's energy is non-carbon based, despite the fact that the actual figure is 61 per cent. He neglects to inform us that France has recently embarked on a massive wind-power programme.
Kevin should quickly tell the major car manufacturers that "electricity can't be stored" before it's too late. They have already invested heavily in fuel cell technology which will run on hydrogen gas, eventually to be produced by passing electricity through water.
In this way they want to store electricity as hydrogen and then use it as a transport fuel. They obviously don't know what Kevin knows.
Kevin opens his diatribe by commending Clare County Council for its record in dealing with wind farms, refusing yet again to grant planning permission. Is a trend emerging within Clare County Council, namely the rejection of national policy?
Only last week its abysmal record in providing accommodation for Travellers (Irish Times, August 15th) was also highlighted. No prizes for guessing whether or not Kevin commends them for this achievement also. - Is mise,
BRIAN Ó GALLACHÓIR, Sustainable Energy Research Group,
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University College, Cork