A word about wind, solar and batteries, cobalt, lithium, recycling and dead birds

Fossil fuel companies are actually the ones using the vast majority of rare minerals such as cobalt and lithium. In contrast batteries for renewables are now being made out of readily available things like sodium. The energy requirement in the future will also be much less as will have much greater energy efficiency; so much energy is lost to heat when burning hydrocarbons.

And what about the recycling? After 30 years the life of window turbines and solar panels is over. The glass and metal from solar panels are reused. 85-100% of glass, silicon and metal are recycled. Wind turbines recycling is much more difficult but steel can be sold the foundation can be reused. The blades are composite but may be shredded and mixed to make cement.

What about bird deaths from wind turbines? The measurements so far have been based on only a few turbines and technology is fast making the same energy with much fewer turbines. Death rates can be greatly reduced by placing turbines well away from migratory routes or stopping turbines during migratory months and remain considered low by the RSPB.

In one study the number of birds killed per gigawatt of energy was. 0.27 for wind and 5.2 for fossil fuels.

Avian wildlife can perish by striking wind turbines, nuclear power plant cooling structures, transmission and distribution lines, and smokestacks at fossil fuel-fired power stations. According to the LSE the effects of climate change, which threatens 2 out of 3 bird species, will kill more birds than wind energy, not to mention loss of habitat from deforestation, habitat degradation and illegal shooting. Pesticides to grow crops to feed animals may kill 72 million birds a year and oils spills 2 million. This graph shows the comparison of birds in Denmark killed from wind vs cars and the number killed by cats in the UK.

For 2009 for the US

Finally because solar and wind are far more efficient than burning fossil fuels, where nearly half is lost to heat, they provide more energy in comparison. It may look they are a small percentage, however, they are providing more energy than it appears. Only 0.1% of farmland is used for solar. It's a lie to say that de-industrialisation in the UK is due to net-zero and also ridiculous to say that stooge Milliband has banned new drilling in the North Sea.

However the fact remains we must start using a lot less energy whatever the source. The future will be low energy, whether by choice or physics.