It never ceases to amaze me how supporters of wind farms overstate their case.

In his letter on February 26, Pete West states that ‘last year the USA generated 16 per cent of electricity from renewables’, whereas figures from the US Energy Information Adminis-tration shows that it was only 12.9 per cent.

Furthermore, the US EIA information shows nuclear plants, which Mr West alleges supplied only 9 per cent last year, actually produced 19.4 per cent – far more than renewables.

The US renewable total includes slightly more than 50 per cent from hydroelectric sources which disguises the contribution of wind power. Extrapolating from the previous year’s data, wind supplied a little over three per cent of the total.

What is much more significant than wind is the rise of 71 per cent in electricity from gas generation over the last 10 years in USA, reflecting fracking.

The German Federal Statistical Office states that 23.4 per cent of electricity came from renewable sources last year rather than than 25 per cent, with a third of that coming from wind rather than Mr West’s figure of a half.

Actually, German wind generation has been virtually static over the last three years, whereas their use of both generation from lignite and hard coal have shown significant increases.

This information only reinforces my view that wind farms are no solution.

ROY MARTINDALE Address supplied