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European Wind Turbines at a Standstill Amid an Ongoing "Wind Drought" [View all]
https://www.greenmatters.com/news/wind-drought"Britain is in the middle of a wind drought — and the timing couldn't have been worse. For several days now, the U.K. and western Europe have been calm, with barely a breeze," Thomas Moore writes for Sky News.
"It is not until Wednesday, or even Thursday, that speeds pick up in Scotland and the North Sea, where most of our wind farms are. That shows in the mix of energy being used in the freezing conditions."
"The risks could increase with global warming," he continues. "Scientists working for the United Nations' intergovernmental panel on climate change have looked at what could happen to wind speeds in future. Even if the world reaches net zero soon after 2050, limiting the rise in temperature, winds will weaken significantly in the northern hemisphere."
"It is not until Wednesday, or even Thursday, that speeds pick up in Scotland and the North Sea, where most of our wind farms are. That shows in the mix of energy being used in the freezing conditions."
"The risks could increase with global warming," he continues. "Scientists working for the United Nations' intergovernmental panel on climate change have looked at what could happen to wind speeds in future. Even if the world reaches net zero soon after 2050, limiting the rise in temperature, winds will weaken significantly in the northern hemisphere."
The irony that one of our primary renewable energy options is being idled by the very climate change it was promoted as addressing.
