Solar Power vs Wind Power, an ongoing saga!!
We are gradually moving away from our total dependence on fossil fuels by the introduction and research into Solar and Wind Power, these being the 2 most prominent alternative energy sources at the moment.
Because of this and the debate around which is best I thought I would throw some ideas and facts into the arena in order to aid future policy on energy. (Energy production in Yorkshire is key with the largest off-shore wind farm in the world at Hornsea and the biomass units at Drax Power Station).
So let us look at these 2 forms of energy from a ‘whole life’ perspective, looking also at their outputs as well
WIND POWER.
Wind energy is an impressive force of nature harnessed all around the globe providing a clean source of energy when up and running, it is also found to be more reliable and especially so off-shore where the prevailing winds are more or less constant. The problem comes with the construction and disposal. A typical turbine uses 1,200 tonnes of concrete, 335 tonnes of steel and 5 tonnes of copper. Dismantling causes problems as the turbine blade is a composite material and is not easy to recycle (such that in Casper, Wyoming, USA there are thousands buried).
That said one turbine produces some 48,000 times the energy of a solar panel per kWh and places such as Denmark, with little fossil fuel resources have over 50% of their electricity supplied by wind farms now.
One area where it is of limited use is on roof, so the domestic market, which did start with small ones on the ends of buildings, is now basically dead.
SOLAR POWER.
Solar energy is again a remarkably clean source of energy once it is up and running and is more predictable and easier to install than a wind turbines plus, in theory, can give us more capacity due to the sun.
Again there are problems though with the build and disposal. The panels use a great deal of silicon which is abundant but its extraction and purification poses a challenge and they also use rare metals such as silver and indium whose extraction causes further environmental issues.
Solar farms require a lot less maintenance and generate no noise and they will last for 25-30 years. You can also put them on roofs!!
FINAL THOUGHTS.
Going forward there needs to be a lot more thought going into the long term planning of these facilities. They currently also need to be close to our national grid network in order to plug in, which in itself, creates issues of cables stretching for miles usually in open countryside. The other issue is land usage as Solar Farms need much more land to spread across for the same amount of energy provided and consequently also have an impact on wildlife which has to contend with it all!!