Saturday 23 November 2019

Greencoat Wind Farms Part 2 - Lisdowney

Lisdowney Wind Farm in Co.Kilkenny was purchased by Greencoat Renewables in 2017. At that time, it was making losses. The latest accounts filed are showing profits of € 345,000 for 10 months or about € 400,000 for the year 2018. Whilst this looks more promising, the wind farm's debts still stands at € 13 million which means it will take another 32 years to pay off. Since the wind farm has been operating for about four years, the likelihood is that it will continue to operate for another 10-15 years, when at that stage it will need further capital investment to extend it's useful life.
 

Monday 4 November 2019

Storm Lorenzo was only a gust compared to Storm Ulysses in 1903

James Joyce's classic novel Ulysses was based in Dublin in the year 1904. In the Aeolus chapter, a severe weather event is mentioned :

Lady Dudley was walking home through the park to see all the trees that were blown down by that cyclone last year.

In Don Gifford's 1974 book, Notes for Joyce, it is explained that this refers to one of the most severe gales in Dublin's history and was compared at the time to that of 1839 (the night of the big wind). The gale caused great damage to property and particularly to trees in Phoenix Park. It is estimated that between 1000-3000 trees were uprooted in the park. In parts of the country it was reported that whole woods were leveled.

A cyclone that could bring down so many trees in Dublin would be seen as a catastrophic event today, and final proof of man made climate change / the end of the world. But we don't get storms that have this much force anymore, they are a thing of the past. Historic climatic events such as in 1839 and 1903 show that the climate, if anything, has actually improved in Ireland.