Costs blow

I am not against use of wind power but am against the silly and oft-repeated claim from those such as K Huggett (Letters, 5 January) that Scotland is a world leader in this technology, and against the precipitate and financially ruinous rush to cover the country with turbines and grids in an effort to reduce world emissions by no more than about 0.04 per cent.

It is perhaps a pity that, at Copenhagen, Alex Salmond's approach was spurned by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. California, although now not even the leading US state in wind power technology, has been engaged in this practice for about 15 times as long and has about 15 times the current generating capacity of Scotland's imported machines. In particular, California has more obsolete turbine capacity than the total of Scotland's recent installations. A major problem is getting rid of them. Some time ago the cost of this in California was estimated to be in excess of $100 million and is probably much increased since. Most, if not all, of Scotland's generators are on private land (at huge rents). Has the Scottish Government taken steps to ensure that those who make huge profits from these will bear the cost of their disposal?

DR A McCORMICK

Kirklands Road

Terregles, Dumfries