While Dr George Debono (TMID, 23 November) was inclined to disbelieve David Lindsay’s figure of a possible five per cent of our electricity generation coming from land-based wind turbines, he was quite ready to say that “five wind farms of 10-12 turbines… would reduce our fossil fuel consumption by 25 per cent.”

On what basis did he conclude that “it is not beyond the realms of possibility that a large part of our electricity could be generated from wind”? Dr Debono gives no hint of how he arrived at this 25 per cent reduction in our fossil fuel consumption.

Even if we had the space to accommodate his five wind farms – and, again, Dr Debono does not indicate what the space requirements are – the farm output would depend on the rotor size (MW) and wind speeds on the chosen sites. Or was the only basis for this figure his view that 5.4 per cent was an insignificant proportion, whereas 25 per cent was not?

Dr Debono should realise that there is no one solution to our energy supply and use problems. We must try to exploit as many technologies as possible in our situation. Mr Lindsay’s 5.4 per cent for land-based wind turbines came from a research paper produced by members of the University of Malta which was based on a specific scenario as to available space, sites, wind speeds and turbine sizes and spacing.

If Dr Debono would like to devise his own set of para-meters – slightly more

precise than just “not beyond the realms of possibility” – I am sure he can reach 25 per cent or even 50 per cent. As matters now stand, offsetting five per cent of generated electricity would turn into a saving of Lm2 million in fuel at 2003 prices – not to be sniffed at by any means.

E. A. Mallia

University of Malta