DURING an interesting wind energy debate on the Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2, a man phoned in from Doncaster to compare the massive “dirty” Drax Coal fired-power station with clean wind turbines, which he supported.

How can they be compared? Drax is the largest power station in the UK; it has an installed capacity of almost 4000MW, so it could provide all the electricity for Wales, twice over, on its own. It would require 8000 wind turbines, each one 400ft in height, working at an average output of 0.5mW each, just to equal the output of Drax.

Yorkshire is 4,597 square miles in total area. Therefore, to equal Drax’s output, it would require almost two monstrous 400ft high wind turbines on every single square mile of Yorkshire.

Of course, under a high pressure area or anticyclone, virtually all 8,000 wind turbines would stop, leaving Yorkshire without any electricity.

Therefore, how could wind turbines replace Drax? Wind energy needs constant back-up from fossil fuel to allow for the vagaries of the wind.

LJ Jenkins, Gwbert, Cardigan, Wales.