Wind farms are sustainable
I have deep respect for Mr Martin Scicluna, his courageous stands and his achievements for the environment. Malta would be much better off if we had more people like him. I beg to differ, however, on his assessment of wind turbines (29 April). Mr Scicluna states that “all the studies on wind farms have shown that these are not sustainable, either on land and in the sea around the island.”
Simply stated, the electricity produced by wind turbines is directed to the national grid, enabling fossil fuel power stations to reduce their output, and thus use up less fuel and produce less pollution and greenhouse gases. When considering the full generation costs (including environmental, health, etc) wind power is currently more competitive than fossil fuel, and its cost is falling, whilst that of fossil fuel is rising.  This assessment applies to land-based and near offshore wind farms.   
However, our leaders have opted for placing wind turbines in deep-sea locations.  This technology does not yet exist, and, if brought to fruition in the near future, would be prohibitively expensive. I wonder, is this a “clever” way of procrastinating while seeming to take positive action?      
Wind power currently accounts for over 20 per cent of electricity generation in Denmark, six per cent in Germany, eight per cent in Spain and three per cent in India, and is continuously being increased as a matter of policy.  I believe that, if handled correctly, wind power can also provide a positive contribution to Malta’s energy requirement and help to reduce harmful emissions and greenhouse gases.  

Romano Cassar
Naxxar