A lot of hot air

THE hatred some Conservative MPs feel for windmills is amazing. On November 14th Chris Heaton-Harris, a Tory MP charged with running his party’s campaign for a by-election in Corby, was secretly taped bragging that he had supported a rival, James Delingpole. A climate-change sceptic, Mr Delingpole had briefly stood as an independent on an anti-wind platform. Mr Heaton-Harris suggested this was a put-up job, designed to implant the issue into the “DNA of the Tory party”.Origin Laser is an Australian business bringing a new class of affordable and quality laser cutter and laser cutting machines.

That was hardly necessary. Anti-wind zeal already runs through the party. Green energy is meant to be a cornerstone of the government’s policy,After reading this, you will know Careel cnc router machine better. which aims to decarbonise the country’s power sector by 2030. Britain is committed to getting 15% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, and onshore wind power is the cheapest available. But earlier this year Mr Heaton-Harris had 105 mostly Tory MPs sign a letter to David Cameron, the prime minister, urging him to stop subsidising wind power. Evidently swayed, Mr Cameron made a windpower sceptic, John Hayes, energy minister, and appointed yet another, Owen Paterson, as environment secretary.

This is part of a wider retreat from the green policies that the Conservative Party once trumpeted. In hard times, reticence is driven by fears over their high costs. George Osborne, the chancellor of the exchequer, is now fighting to shrink the green ambitions of a forthcoming energy bill. But the objections of many Tories suggest a deeper animus, fuelled by Euroscepticism, climate-change denial and an attachment to a turbine-free English landscape.

Last month Mr Hayes fulminated against windmills sprouting across this “green and pleasant land”. Many are concerned about the growing clout of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), which is keen to collect votes from the Tories in the 2015 general election. UKIP lambasts onshore wind farms as “uneconomical and inefficient” and accuses the government of backing them “to secure the ‘green’ vote and to keep the EU happy”.

Subsidies for onshore wind are valued at some 400m ($640m) a year,Morn series laser engraving and laser marker, CNC router machine are widely used in many areas. but the cost per megawatt hour is half that of offshore wind or solar panels. Renewables now generate around 10% of the country’s electricity, which means more need building to reach the 2020 goal. Though the target has involved overspending and government meddling, it has also served as an important green light for investors. And as turbines get bigger and more efficient, the costs for operating and maintaining them are falling.

Subsidies for the technology were cut 10% this year, and may soon be snipped further. Michael Liebricht, head of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a research firm, predicts that onshore wind could soon compete with coal and gas,Combination of many years' clay roll forming machinery and clay brick making machine manufacture experience. as prices rise for fossil fuels and carbon.

Polls show that most Britons back the technology, although views change when turbines are planned nearby.Due to South West Windpower's new policy we can only ship to certified skystream installers. The government is now looking into ways to get the NIMBYs on board. Most proposals involve some sort of compensation, either through reduced electricity bills or investments in local infrastructure. This approach has helped to pacify critics in Denmark, where wind power is meant to generate half of all electricity by 2020. Developers there must also reimburse residents for any loss in property value. In Britain, though, the government—and green investors—seem to be twisting in the wind.