Germany’s Obsession With Intermittent Wind and Solar Energy Has Failed

I read Michael Bassey’s letter, Wind Farms Are What Matter (News Views, February 20) with interest but I am confused as to why he is advocating the resumption of subsidies for the construction of onshore wind farms.

Has he not heard that Germany’s obsession with intermittent wind and solar has failed and has only resulted in power prices that are now among the highest in Europe?

Mr Bassey reports that the Committee on Climate Change has suggested that onshore wind capacity should increase threefold to meet climate goals and that this would be at low cost but still needs subsidies.

Although it is true that China has spent more on clean energy than any other country and is pushing to burn more natural gas instead of coal, it is still pumping money at home and abroad into coal-fired generation.

China and India will not accept that the threat of global warming should stop or even deter their growth because economies have billions of people who are all energy hungry.

It is very difficult for me to understand why Mr Bassey thinks that what matters to us is reinstating subsidies for an expensive source of energy when it is clear that the drive for economic growth in large economies is based on fossil fuels. ­— ROBERT SHEPPARD, Hillside, Beckingham.

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