Wind farms are cheaper than you think, and could have prevented Fukushima nuclear disaster, says global review

Offshore wind may have prevented the Fukushima catastrophe, in keeping with a evaluation of wind vitality led by the College of Surrey.

The paper is published within the journal Nationwide Institute Financial Assessment.

The researchers discovered that offshore generators may have averted the 2011 nuclear disaster in Japan by retaining the cooling methods operating and avoiding meltdown. The group additionally discovered that wind farms usually are not as susceptible to earthquakes.

Suby Bhattacharya, Professor of Geomechanics on the College of Surrey’s Division of Civil and Environmental Engineering, mentioned, “Wind power gives us plentiful clean energy—now we know that it could also make other facilities safer and more reliable. The global review finds that greener really is cheaper—thanks to falling construction costs and new ways to reduce wind turbines’ ecological impact.”

One of many report’s starkest findings was that new wind farms can produce vitality over twice as cheaply as new nuclear energy stations.

The lifetime price of producing wind energy within the UK has fallen dramatically, from £160/MWh to £44/MWh. This consists of all the prices of planning, constructing, working and decommissioning the wind farm over its total life.

By comparability, the UK Authorities has agreed to pay £92.50/MWh for vitality produced at Hinkley Level C nuclear energy station.

Professor Bhattacharya mentioned, “What makes wind so attractive is that the fuel is free—and the cost of building turbines is falling. There is enough of it blowing around the world to power the planet 18 times over. Our report shows the industry is ironing out practical challenges and making this green power sustainable, too.”

Though much less energy is generated in calmer circumstances, the electrical energy generated might be saved in batteries—as deliberate for the Ishikari mission off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan. Or it might be used to provide hydrogen from seawater—giving us the gas of the longer term.