What you can do
- Tell world leaders Copenhagen wasn't good enough for the climate
- Call for an end to investment in Trident
- Design an activist stronghold to stop the third runway at Heathrow
- Tell your MP to change the politics and save the climate
- Become a member of Airplot and stand in the way of a third runway
- Make a donation - we can't do it without your help
Wind power myths are blown away
Posted by jamie on 9 July 2009.

If you've ever tried to convince people down the pub about wind power and how it can help steer us away from climate catastrophe, you'll be familiar with the arguments used to dismiss it. The technology is too expensive; electricity bills will rocket; and (one that's often tripped me up) what happens when the wind stops blowing and the lights go out?
If that's the case, then for your next pub discussion arm yourself with a new study by energy analyst David Milborrow which successfully trounces all those claims and more. A joint commission by Greenpeace, WWF, RSPB and Friends of the Earth, it's being launched in advance of the government's renewable energy strategy that is expected next week.
Read more »Wind Power: Managing Variability
Prominent energy analyst David Milborrow's review on wind power, Managing Variability, found evidence, and a consensus of expert opinion, that demonstrates:
- Wind power can significantly reduce our climate damaging carbon emissions
- Fluctuations in wind strength can be managed technically and at modest and declining cost.
- High proportions of wind power in our energy mix are feasible, and are already successfully integrated in other countries.
- A range of technological developments already underway could allow for a steadily increasing use of wind power and the phasing out of conventional carbonbased fuels as a backup technology.
The summary also draws out key conclusions and recommendations that would remove barriers, including barriers to investment, that prevent a rapid shift to large amounts of wind power in our energy mix.
Hiding behind carbon dragons and other government myths
Posted by tracy on 28 April 2009.
Our Communications Director Tamara is next up in the blog relay - a whistle-stop tour of Greenpeace staff here in
the UK. Click here to catch up on the other entries.
Having spent the last three years living in China, I and all of my Chinese colleagues became somewhat accustomed to what we referred to as "China bashing" by some of the international media. You know the sort of thing: the over-the-top, almost hysterical cry of "China's eating up all the world's resources!" Since China is now one of the world's largest manufacturing centres, the claim was applied to almost anything - timber, coal, or even the cobalt used to make our cell phone batteries. To a certain degree, therefore, there is a kernel - but not much more - of truth to the claim.
Read more »Government knocks the wind out of renewables
Posted by nathan on 28 April 2009.

Two breaking stories neatly illustrate the flawed logic which still lurks at the heart of UK energy policy. First up is that German energy utility RWE's bid to build a new nuclear plant near Kirksanton in Cumbria will mean dismantling an existing wind farm on the site. While at the other end of the country, 600 workers at the Vestas Blades wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight could be facing redundancy.
Read more »New York Times: Britain facing hard slog to 2020 renewable energy targets
Beset by an outdated grid, escalating costs and delays at massive offshore wind farms, and a domestic biofuels industry priced out by US imports, the UK will struggle toward its 2020 renewable energy targets.
Shell: Screw the environment, let's get rich
Posted by christian on 18 March 2009.
Canadian tar sands - According to Shell, more profitable than wind or solar power. But at what cost to the environment?
We've got so used to big oil companies trying to use tiny investments in renewable energy as fig leafs for their core business of pumping oil, that in a way, an oil company just turning round and issuing a big 'screw you' to such pretensions might almost seen slightly refreshing, if only for the novelty value.
Well, in theory. But it's hard to read yesterday's press statement from Shell without your heart sinking. With regards to wind and solar power, Shell said that they do "not expect material amounts of investment in those areas going forward. [Wind and solar] continue to struggle to compete with the other investment opportunities we have in our portfolio."
Even all the slippery corporate-speak in the world can't obscure that message. In more straightforward language, it might read: "forget the environment; we're in it for the cash."
Read more »
