Sad really that clean energy like this gets shut down alot and the other plant just keep cranking out CO2,(reply>), The power system needs some gas, oil, coal, nuclear steam plant to be running.  They all have considerable mass and thus stored energy to ride over brief peaks on the system. Doesn’t get mentioned as often as it should but, without this element, the system would not be stable if a sudden fault occurs!,(reply>), I am and have been since a child a huge proponent of nuclear fission and hopefully in the near future fusion.,(reply>), I didn't say that windmills are bad for the environment. Just not as good as the best case scenario you quoted and not suitable to replace the power grid because of the cost/ impact of that much power storage.,(reply>), Simon Harris CO2 break-even for windmills happens within about 9 months. That's for turbines designed to wear out in 20 years. They're not going to wear out before repaying their energy cost ten times over.<br><br>"Windmills are bad for the environment" is a blatant, brazen lie started by those who stand to profit from older, polluting technology. Don't fall for it.,(reply>), That's just the reality of the cost and inefficiency of power storage. It's the reason why we shouldn't adopt electric vehicles on mass yet. Furthermore the actual materials that need to be mined, processed, formed and transported to make a single wind turbine of this size is substantial (and so is the energy used to achieve that). If they aren't in use enough before they wear out beyond repair then they can be worse for the environment than fossil fuel power plants.