Intermittency needn't present a big stumbling block to the development of replaceable sources.

The report finds that:

*Clean energy, eg wind energy, leads to a direct decrease in CO2 emissions
*The output of traditional fuel plant must be altered more frequently to deal with variations in wind output, but any losses this is the cause of are small in comparison to overall savings in emissions
* 100 % 'back up' for individual replaceable sources is needless; additional capacity will be wanted to keep supplies secure, but will be modest and a part of the overall cost of renewable. It's actually possible to work out what's required and plan accordingly
*Not one of the 200+ studies UKERC reviewed recommended the advent of important levels of sporadic green power would lead to reduced trustworthiness
*If wind energy were to deliver twenty percent of Britain's electricity, intermittency costs would be 0.5 - 0.8p per KW an hour (p / kWh) of wind output. This would be added to wind creating costs of three - 5p p / kWh. In comparison, costs of gas fired power stations are around 3p p / kWh
*The effect on electricity clients would be around 0.1p p / kWh. Domestic electricity price
*Lists are usually ten - 16p p / kWh. Intermittency so would account for around 1 percent of electricity costs
* Costs of intermittency at current levels are far smaller, but will rise if use of renewable expands
*Wide geographical dispersion and a variety of replenish-able sources will keep costs down

Commenting on the report, Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks claimed: "Our target is to have ten percent of the UK's electricity produced from replaceable sources by 2010 and a big proportion of which will come from wind energy. Recommendations it's intolerably pricey, or that standard power stations are wanted to back-up the energy produced by all our wind farms, are just a couple of the fables which have been peddled by their opponents.

The United Kingdom Energy Research Centre's study demonstrates that these claims have been exaggerated. I welcome the report's contribution to the debate." According to the report's chief writer, Robert Gross, head of UKERC's Technology and Policy Assessment function, the output of wind, wave and other renewable fluctuates and can't be absolutely controlled. The level to which this is probably going to create issues, costs or perhaps lead to black outs is the topic of a long running debate.

Its discoveries are based on a methodical search of the world literature which disclosed more than 200 reports and studies. The report has been produced by the Technology and Policy Assessment function (TPA) of the United Kingdom Energy Research Centre (UKERC). The function was set up to tell decision making processes and address key controversies in the energy field.