MoD Indecision and Renewable Energy: The Final Cost?
The military games must stop. The ambiguities come to an end. Explanations need to be provided.
I reported in the Guardian last month that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) were objecting to wind farms in the UK because they felt the turbines interfered with military radar. The turbines were, in their words “in the line of sight.”
(Of course, were we not a bellicose little island nation, always eager to attack and interfere with foreign disputes, we wouldn’t need to concern ourselves with defense quite so much.)
I demanded answers. Demanded, if their objections were true, that there be immediate improvements in radar technology so that the UK could proceed with meeting renewable energy targets.
75 miles was the round figure given. Were a turbine any closer than that, then interference would be unacceptable, the UK’s defense at risk.
Yet, last week there was a U-turn by the MoD. A complete turnaround that must have caused wind farm planners along the east coast of England millions of pounds: financial waste caused by military indecision.
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MoD have deigned it “manageable” (their words) to give the go-ahead to a wind farm just 32 miles from one of their radar bases.
If 32 miles is now manageable, yet 75 miles was previously the minimum distance they would allow, then someone, somewhere, is hiding behind their desk, handlebar mustache all of a quiver, and not being honest.
Andrew Boswell, a Norwich-based green councilor sums it up nicely:
“Just a few weeks ago, the MoD claimed that they could not even guarantee that replacing the RAF Trimingham radar with the latest technology in 2009 would solve the problem, now they have withdrawn all objections. This fiasco has cost time and money, and slowed down our national response to climate change.”
“We deserve an explanation from the government for the sudden change of mind, the industry needs a guarantee that this won’t happen again. We are calling on the ministers responsible for Energy and Defence to launch an enquiry and to ensure that these problems won’t happen again. We would also like to see a clear statement of the status of all the wind applications that the MoD have previously blocked in the region.”
I spoke to Rupert Read last night, also a green councilor from Norwich and asked him why he felt there had even been a re-appraisal by the MoD?
“I think the MoD were beginning to realize how ridiculous they looked and hopefully, they are now coming to their senses.”
I’ve stated already that this indecision will surely have caused Ecotricity, the company responsible for the wind farm in question, millions.
But what of the cost to public confidence? A public seemingly still wavering in their belief in the power of the wind. These recent events won’t have helped.
Currently, and this figure should cause my government shame on an international scale, we source just 2% of our electricity from renewables. The government recently agreed to source 15% of their electricity from renewables by 2020.
Not only do we have to defend ourselves from dark forces by peering endlessly at radar screens, but we are forever fighting against strong winds and tidal currents. Are these renewable energies exploited? No.
So, is the 2020 target realistic? Not if the public’s lack of confidence and military ambiguity can help it.
Sources:
Picture courtesy of Flickr (A fine moustache, sir.)
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