AS a supposed “green” benefit, cars powered by electricity are being pushed
by politicians and motor manufacturers aiming to supplant internal
combustion engines dependent on fossil fuels.
However, far from being non-contaminating, electric cars depend on lithium
for their batteries and cobalt and rare earths for their motive components.
These are mined in dangerous, filthy conditions by low-paid Chinese and
African workers. Adequate electricity supplies are not assured with phasing
out of fossil fuels and ongoing problems with nuclear generation.
Urban delivery vans, invalid carriages, golf buggies and electrobikes
satisfactorily use electric power.
However, a general shift to electric cars imposes very serious drawbacks,
of high costs, battery charging and short relative range.
Just what advantage does a switch to electric cars offer? Archie Shaw
Stewart (Letters, November 18) stipulates “energy and pollution savings”
but the big picture casts very grave doubts on these.
Are electric cars yet another example of the authorities’ misguided advice
on the promotion of “greenery”?
(Dr) Charles Wardrop, Perth.
GROWING evidence about wind turbines concerns their catastrophic impact on
wildlife. Just as we thought it couldn’t get any worse, along comes another
devastating revelation.
Giant industrial wind turbines already represent an existential threat to
birds, raptors, bats and a veritable host of other species. For just about
anything on the wing, their 50-60m blades represent the end of the line.
And the carnage is measured in the thousands of tonnes.
Wind turbines’ power generation should actually produce more electricity
with increasing wind strength. However, this is exactly what they often do
not do, which has confused experts for many years.
German scientists have long been puzzled by onshore wind turbines
efficiency dropping by roughly half during years of use. They subsequently
discovered that the giant blades were plastered by insects. An extensive
body of technical literature currently shows that large swarms of flying
insects seek high, fast air currents.
It works out at around 1,200 tons of insects in total, or 50kg of insects
per wind turbine, per year. Around 24,000 billion airborne insects fly
through the rotors in Germany each year.
It was actually reported by a Dutch-Danish team of scientists as early as
2001 in the issue of the British journal Nature under the heading: “Insects
can halve wind turbine power”.
So, our giant industrial, oh-so- “clean-green”, wind turbines are also
wiping out our bees and other, essential, pollinating insects.
George Herraghty, Elgin.
0 Comments