Sir, Your leader article on Saturday Countryside under pressure carries entirely false assertions and assumptions about wind turbines reducing the country’s carbon footprint and meeting all of Scotland’s energy needs from “green” sources.
A recent report from Edinburgh University, by Hughes et al., reveals that wind-sourced electricity’s ability to reduce CO2 output is negligible and, based on unchallenged data from the NETA website, which monitors electricity generation from the various sources, the power output from the c.2000 windmills in Scotland is, likewise, trivial, at usually well under 3% of the total.
Moreover, in relatively windless cold weather, their output falls to zero.
Thus, Scotland’s land and finances are being despoiled by an ineffective power-generation policy that, intothe bargain, transfers vast sums of our money to the already rich, landowners, developers and foreign manufacturers.
We need, in the UK and Scotland, a complete overhaul of power policies, based on expert electrical engineering advice, not politicians’ failed schemes.
Dr Charles Wardrop. 111 Viewlands Road West, Perth.
‘Self-interest’ in fair city is a burning issue
Sir, The most remarkable thing about Grundon’s appeal to the Scottish Government against refusal of planning permission for a waste incinerator in Perth was the decision by Scottish Ministers to “recall” the appeal so that they could make the final ruling.
Over the past few years there have been at least five similar appeals involving waste incinerators. However, in each case Scottish ministers have left the final decision to an official in the department of planning and environmental appeals known as theplanning reporter.
The difference this time is that Perth is the power base of three of the SNP’s biggest hitters: John Swinney, Pete Wishart and RoseannaCunningham. As such, the SNP Government cannot afford to allow Grundon’s appeal to succeed.
The move by the SNP Government was made even more necessary by the choice of planning reporter: Dannie Onn, who gave his approval for an incinerator in Invergordon in 2010. In that decision, Mr Onn acknowledged that incinerators undoubtedly cause pollution and could not be regarded as a long-term solution on the road to zero waste. However, he added that incinerators would be needed until people could be relied on to recycle their waste properly.
By deciding to make the final ruling over the Perth incinerator, the SNPGovernment has already laid itself open to a charge of inconsistency and self-interest and of abandoning other communities fighting against incinerator proposals.
This will only be amplified if the planning reporter recommends approval of the incinerator but ministerssubsequently reject it.
Michael Gallagher. Green Alternatives toIncineration in Scotland, 33 Precinct Street, Coupar Angus.
Why we speak in tongues
Sir, I refer to “English and maths more needed” (Friday’s Letters). The claim that learning other languages is a “waste of time” because English is the “almost universal language” really takes the biscuit.
I very strongly disagree that we should drop foreign language teaching; even Latin and ancient Greek are not a waste of time because these languages, along with French, have contributed the most to English.
Besides, learning another language helps to keep alzheimer’s disease at bay and makes us think more about grammar, something which is, regrettably, disappearing from English. Is this what makes English so attractive to speakers of other languages? They must think we can say things any way we like without bothering about grammar.
Our spelling system, which causes problems even for native speakers and is the reason for weekly spelling and dictation tests at school, completely undoes the benefit of simplifying our grammar by removing the variety of verb conjugations, subjunctive moods, noun and adjective declensions, grammatical gender, agreement between nouns and adjectives and other features which are found in many other languages.
I have heard Spanish is likely to replace English as the universal language in the near future. Spanish may have more grammar than English but, although not completely phonetic, its spelling system poses far fewer problems than ours, so would it not be a better idea to adopt Spanish as the world language instead?
John Devlin. 57 Blackwood Court, Glamis Road, Dundee.
Council tax and culture
Sir, May I ask why the SNP-led Dundee City Council have put in a bid to be UK City of Culture in 2017 when, by that time, they hope to be in a separate Scotland? I can at least understand Aberdeen City Council bidding, as their administration is a coalition of Unionist parties.
The organisers will have every right to reject Dundee’s bid out of hand. What a waste of council tax-payers’ money.
Joan Chalmers. 13 Bayfield Gardens, Broughty Ferry, Dundee.