Just to be fair, the efficiency of wind turbines can apparently be substantially increased by using vertical rather than horizontal blades:

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/07/16/location-location-location-wind-turbine-power-output-increased-10x/

Still doesn't help when the wind's not blowing, though.

Mark Lawson here

Geoff Davies. How can it be naysaying to point to the readily available evidence and draw the obvious conclusions? If you have some contrary information about wind reliability let's hear it. As it stands voters are not aware of just how unreliable wind systems can be.

kman - you make useful points in the first post. I didn't touch on any of that in the story as it makes it all too long, but its useful.

Anamele - I am intrigued by your experiences. Can I ask where you're living to be off the power grid completely?

Taswegian - tnks for the your comments. Indeed, it does seem unlikely that we would get more than 20 per cent from renewables, but I would suggest that's the extreme upper end of achievement, if we counted wind's contribution realistically.

No, wind power is not always there when we need it. Nor is solar. We need a range of diverse renewable energy sources to supply the requirements we have become dependent upon due to the ease and availability of fossil fuels.

For this reason, I find devoting criticism to a single form of alternative energy misleading.

We have to stop pollution, we need alternatives to coal, oil, nuclear.

This means looking at every alternative that is feasible and workable. Wind power is both, so is solar, thermal, hydro (both tidal and from reservoirs). We are developing better forms of storage of energy (liquid salt storage as one example). We are doing our own ingenuity an insult by the continued negativity applied by either vested interests (the fossil fuel industry) and people who fear change and want business-as-usual.

We had similar attitudes to the combustion engine replacing horse drawn vehicles 100 years ago. We managed, we will manage changes to our energy needs, either sooner when the political and business will is finally reached or later when we have little choice.

Hoping for the former.

Anamele, anyone who disagrees with government or environmental activist group think, is by their definition, negative and thus can be ignored .. whether they are right or wrong is irrelevant.

The ALP has focus group tested extensively this meme that the coalition is negative and it works for their focus groups, so must be true.

I wonder at their own thought processes and do they reflect that for 11 years in opposition, they were "negative", opposed all economic policy without exception.

Clearly no one in the tame media or their lobby groups considers any of that.

The overwhelming belief on the government side is that people are stupid and if they would only listen to the endless explanations, all would be well.

They cannot see it is their policy that is wrong .. not to say the coalition has the answers, but why is that always the response to questioning the government or their minions?

Thanks for your comments on solar, exactly what I'd expect, pity the battery technology is not available .. but hey, the ALP will wave the magic wand and all the problems will be solved

Geoff, so where do you stand on Nuclear? It's renewable, has problems, but none as big as wind or geothermal, which simply won't work for us since we're not on fault lines.

I'm very positive and big supporter of Nuclear, and for all the nay sayers and "negative" people, I'd be happy to have a nuc power plant in my backyard .. no problem.

Fukushima plant survived a 9 earthquake, unbelievable, a 9! That's good enough for me, if an old plant could survive that, then a new plant would be better, bring it on.

What the government won't release. Infinity lens, Australian inventor, for cinimatography, BURIED.[ One pair of glasses for all ] Zinc-air battery, used in planes WW2, uses air, byproduct H2O, BURIED [ Magic stationary battery ]. and the list goes on to make a novel.

The Author has touched on, indirectly, what is already becoming a major weakness with Electricity being produced by both Wind and Solar Sources.

This power is not constant or consistent. Then we try to feed it into major power sources (Power Stations).

Because of Alternative Energies inconsistencies, it affects the Hertz rates of all Power being produced. As the % of this power increases, so with the problems with the Hertz Rate.. 50 cycles per second in Australia.

Not a problem, with screech the Greenies, we don't have Electric Clocks, Turntables , Computers or other Electrical Items which are locked to a Hertz Cycle.

Unfortunately , Industry, Medical and many other Places have a heavy reliance on a locked Hertz Cycle.

This is now starting , already , to become a problem in the USA where the Hertz rate can drop , on occasions from 60 to 58.

Italy, being Italy , is already in a mess, supposedly with clocks in Sicily losing 20 minutes a week, for example.

Alternative Power still has major problems to overcome.