Sunday, 1st November 2009 - 18:40CET
Wind turbines would help Malta reach EU targets
Resources Minister George Pullicino said this morning that the 18-20 wind turbines at Sikka l-Bajda (together with those at Hal Far and Bahrija) would generate close to 40 percent of the clean energy Malta needed to reach the 2020 EU-imposed targets.
The EU stipulates that by that deadline 20 percent of the energy Malta generated had to come from clean renewable sources.
The minister was speaking at the launch of a wind monitoring mast at L-Ahrax which would create a wind profile of the area around Sikka l-Bajda, by measuring wind speed and direction, to see whether the offshore wind farm was feasible.
Mr Pullicino pointed out that wind monitoring would also take place in Bahrija and Hal Far, the other two smaller proposed sites for onshore farms.
In Hal Far, a mast similar to the one in Mellieha would be installed, whereas in Bahrija use would be made of the telecommunication poles already there.
The government was also working on a number of other renewable energy projects including solar panelling on public buildings, domestic and industrial schemes to incentivise wind and solar energy as well as energy from waste.
Mr Pullicino added that together with the two-year wind monitoring campaign, the ministry also had to study the reef to ensure that the ecosystem was not too sensitive for the development.
The monitoring mast, which received the planning authority’s seal of approval last week, stands on its own weight and did not require any drilling for it to be installed.
It is supported by strong ropes which are decorated with red markers to reduce bird collisions - following Birdlife Malta’s warning that the area is populated by Shearwaters.
However, Mr Pullicino said he was sceptical about whether birds would actually hit the mast.
The mast has lights, CCTV cameras and data recording equipment, all powered by two small solar panels.
The mast cost €150,000, a figure which prompted Mr Pullicino to point out that although renewable energy came at a cost, fossil fuels came at an even greater cost because of the pollution they generated.
He said that the €300 million investment for the wind farm would be private and not paid for by the taxpayer.
The mast is equipped with some 17 small wind vanes which will record the wind’s power and velocity from different directions and at different altitudes.
The monitoring mast is also a precursor of the actual wind turbines that would hopefully be installed.
The area is to be fenced off in the coming days.
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CO2 gas contribution to the greenhouse effect is primarily caused by the first 50ppm in the atmosphere.
90% of the greenhouse effect is caused by water vapour
Anthropogenic CO2 resident time (RT) is 15 years.
Warmings and coolings depend only on solar activity since the only source of energy reaching the planet is from the sun.
Past warmings and coolings correlate exactly with solar minima and maxima.
CO2 level of 230ppm is considered as a CO2-starved atmosphere, causing global vegetation to die. 100 years ago, this level was 250 ppm, very close to the starvation level.
Currently, CO2 stands at 380ppm.
The current warming is not the warmest in the recent history. The medieval warming was longer and warmer than this one. The Roman warming was also longer. During warm periods civilisation got a boost due to more food. Coolings caused hunger, wards and pestilences.
Contrary to what recent claims say, warming do not follow CO2 gas increase, it's the other way round. CO2 gas increases due to global warming due to the rise in ocean temperature.
The oceans contain 50 times more CO2 than the atmosphere.
The above are scientific facts
"A sustainable energy initiative that will start with a huge solar project in the Sahara desert has been announced by a consortium of 12 European businesses.
The Desertec Industrial Initiative aims to supply Europe with 15% of its energy needs by 2050."
More info can be found at:
http://www.desertec.org/downloads/summary_en.pdf
Ing Marco Cremona is wrong in assuming that ‘it is possible for Malta to invest in a wind farm in Scotland - produce three times more energy for the same installation as in Malta - and meet our obligations without affecting our environment.’ In stating this, Marco should concede that in such instances it is not only the investment which Government has to fork out but also the procurement of certificates from the member state generating the energy. The renewables directive is clear. Clean energy is attributable to the member state generating the green energy and not the member state consuming it. Thus, Ing Cremona should state that irrespective how strong the wind in Scotland blows, Malta will have to pay extra for green certificates; the price of which is as volatile as the oil we buy today.
What a shame for so called environmental technologists to push a project of this type down the waste basket before even allowing the data to be recovered. What a shame to kill an opportunity for green jobs in this way by encouraging investment to be done in another member state.
Government is committed to try harder!
Minister George Pullicino, in launching the wind resource measuring campaign at l-Ahrax tal-Mellieha, said that Government will be seeking to tap private financing for the investment cost of the estimated €300M Sikka l-Bajda project. However, it is widely acknowledged that this and similar investments in clean energy will be recovered by the investor through a feed-in tariff that Government and the consumer will have to pay. It is precisely for this reason that Minister Pullicino himself remarked that the wind monitoring campaign will aid Government determine whether the project is feasible or not. If the wind resource is low than it is likely that any potential investor will request a high fee-in tariff to make the project viable. At that stage, Government will decide whether to pursue the project or not.
The government is doing a study on the wind behaviour at l-ahrax, why not? This is a step forward. Let us see the results of the studies and then we will see! As engineers we are taught to look at facts not to judge by our hearts!
The possibility to buy green electricity from Europe is there once there is the interlink to Sicily but as you have said Malta has to pay for this investment in Scotland! Why don't we harass this opportunity to create jobs for the local people by create projects in Malta? Or at least why don't we look objectively at this opportunity? If we realise that it is a black financial hole than we choose the route you are suggesting.
As regards the comments about Doppler Radar at our airports, the radars installed for aviation in Malta are 3rd Generation Radars which have Adapting Filters to block permanent and/or niusance returns from any small area within their coverage. So this is not an issue. But there are many otjer issues, and for me apart from the economical feasability the noise pollution is of utmost importance. Maintenance of wind turbines is another issue to be considered.
On Mainland malta and gozo their should be also internal distribution energy centres to suplly all inland localities with energy. I sincerely hope that many or all people of bthese small and lovely Islands agree with me, as it will improve our lives so very much :) Healthy Enviorment Healthy US :) Abundance, Peace, Love and Harmony to all.
At about sea level pressure, CO2 gas turns into a solid when temperatures --such as in Antarctic regions-- fall below −78°C. This has allowed scientists to measure CO2 concentrations at both polar caps and correlate (with statistical significance) these measurements with corresponding global temperatures measured over time.
Teams of scientists worked independently, as long ago as 10 to 15 years, on these projects in Antarctica and in the Arctic, and were able to corroborate their results. It has all been documented in scientific journals, and much of this scientific literature has reached textbooks by now. Those who wish to research the subject can use key words such as "ice cores", "climate change", "volcanic activity", "vegetation", and so on as starting points and find out for themselves how human activity over the past 100 years has had a significant negative impact on CO2 natural balancing.
Whether governments will now proceed with prudence, and not tax consumers unnecessarily, is a totally different issue. I agree that some will seek to make money out of this man-made debacle.
This is not true. Malta can do it offshore instead of the wind turbines. Regarding the global warming scam, I can only say that CO2, helps to keep the planet warm. Therefore, increasing it must also increase the planet's temperature. This is because CO2 has a meta-stable energy level. That same energy level is used to make extremely powerful infra-red lasers.
What is a main cause of Asthma (especially here in malta)? Low Air Quality. Even if The Global Warming is a natural process, wouldn't it be nice to go out from your house and smell some good air and not inhaling god knows what?
Bring on the Turbines, and make Malta a cleaner place. To Power Malta with Solar power would take 3 times the area of Malta already...
Also we are not seeing enough incentives to aid people buy turbines/solar panels as here in Malta (for a change) prices are as 3x much more then those in the EU/US
These days, Al Gore is preaching that the north-pole ice cap will melt in three years time and thus the ocean level will rise by so many meters. THIS IS FALSE SCIENCE. When floating ice melts, the resulting water level remains the same. Any fifth form physics student knows this. But Al Gore does not. He is not only a failed politician but also a failed science student. But fact is that the north pole ice cap has never melted in modern times, although their are reports that it had melted during the warm years 1950-1960, as reported by US submarines. During those years CO2 gas was not a culprit for sure. So what causes warmings and coolings. Solar activity and global temperatures are perfectly in sync. ITS THE SUN , STUPID.
Who is he trying to kid? Whether the initial investment is private or public it's the taxpayer that ultimately forks out the electricity bill.
Malta has a 10% Renewable Energy target by 2020. Ok fine. But whoever said that this renewable target has to be met with installations done in Malta?
It is possible for Malta to invest in a wind farm in Scotland - produce three times more energy for the same installation as in Malta - and meet our obligations without affecting our environment.
Why are we putting all our efforts and money down this black hole when other more viable options are available?
But after all, all this talk about global warming an climate change is turning into a scam. CO2 GAS IS NOT CAUSING GLOBAL WARMING. New scientific discoveries are showing that global warming is, after all, only a natural cycle, like the 4 we had before it during the last 4500 years, and the four global coolings in the same period. One scientific study, peer reviewed, by Prof Richard Lindzen of the Massachusetts Institute of Technolgy, one of the most distinguished climatologists in the world, reveals that the global emperatures are not related to CO2 gas presence in the atmosphere. He also said: “Future generations will wonder in bemused amazement that the early 21st century’s developed world went into hysterical panic over a globally averaged temperature increase of a few tenths of a degree and, on the basis of gross exaggerations of highly exaggerated computer predictions combined into implausible chains of inference, proceeded to contemplate a rollback of the industrial age.”
We need to make our own power by a variety of methods and we need to make it, on shore and now. Comino is ideal as is Maghtab for both wind and solar. We have to live within our means and that equates to a comparatively small sacrifice to retain a certain amount of Independence.
In my opinion a more reliable source of energy is the heat from the sun: it can be used to boil water and make steam turbines turn generators instead.