It is very rare for there to be no wind anywhere around the UK so I doubt if 100% thermal backup is required for wind farms. Times of low wind speed are easy to forecast, usually several days in advance, so there is time to bring standby plant on line for such an event. This reinforces your points about the need for smart grids and diversity in the generator plant mix.

Dave

There’s a useful report on smart grids on the DECC website. It was produced under the last government so should not be treated as current policy, but the information on how smart grids work is relevant. It is available here:

http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/what%20we%20do/uk%20energy%20supply/futureelectricitynetworks/1_20091203163757_e_@@_smartergridsopportunity.pdf

This is an extract from that report, specifically on reducing demand:

“In the future, homes may produce their own electricity (through domestic microgeneration) and have smart appliances, which will communicate with the electricity network through a smart meter. Such a system offers a range of possible new services. For example, new appliances which do not need continuous power, such as fridges, freezers, washing machines or laptop computers with batteries, could be set automatically to stop drawing electricity from the mains (for varying lengths of time – perhaps only a minute or so) according to the demand and supply across the electricity system. Where a home produces its own electricity, for example from solar photovoltaic (PV) panels or a small-scale wind turbine, appliances might be programmed to run and take advantage of this on-site low carbon generation. When excess electricity is being produced it will be possible to export this and sell it to the network; smart meters will facilitate measurement of these exports of power. It could also be possible to integrate the recharging of electric vehicles to synchronise with a home’s own microgeneration, or to ensure it occurs during low tariff (and low carbon) periods. Links between a smart home meter and mobile phones or the internet may potentially also offer even more convenience. For example, consumers may be able to remotely change the time their heating or cooling system comes on, overriding automatic timers if their plans change.”

We’re currently a fair distance away from this scenario and I’m afraid I don’t know what sort of timeframe we’re looking at, but in a carbon-constrained future, measures like this will be essential in maintaining our electricity supplies.

It’s also true that in the UK, domestic cats kill around 55,000,000 (yes – that really is fifty-five million) birds each year*.

Regards,

Jonathan

*http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/withouthotair/c10/page_63.shtml