CO2 figures were unreliable

THE COMPANY behind an application to site a wind farm in West Devon used unreliable figures on its potential for reducing CO2 emissions, the Advertising Standards Agency ruled last week. A leaflet about plans to erect a wind farm near North Tawton claimed it would reduce CO2 emissions by over 1.3 million tonnes over its lifetime. The ASA have ruled this figure should not have been quoted without qualification to indicate the uncertainties about the fuel generating mix over a period as long as 25 years. Renewable Energy Systems (RES) told the ASA it calculated the figure by comparing the windfarm?s predicted CO2 emissions over its lifespan with a coal-burning power plant. RES said it used an emissions factor of 860g carbon dioxide (CO2/kWh) for the typical emissions of a coal-burning power plant, a figure which was widely used in the energy industry. RES said electricity from wind turbines would replace the output of coal fired power stations because coal was the most flexible part of the national grid. The Agency took expert advice on the claims and its adjudication stated that although this was ?a reasonable figure for RES to use to calculate the reduction of CO2 emissions at the present time, it was not a reasonable figure to use for calculating the reduction over a period of as long as 25 years without some qualification to indicate the uncertainties about future fuel generating mix.? The ASA asked the advertisers not to publish the results of similar calculations in the future without such a qualification. The ruling follows an original adjudication in August this year, RES say the circular was withdrawn in November 2004 and they have no plans to use it again. There were a total of five complaints made by opponents of the scheme about the leaflet which was distributed last year, all of which were initially not upheld. However, the Agency last week overturned its original ruling on the potential carbon dioxide savings. A spokesperson for RES pointed out that the ASA had revised only one of its original findings about the complaint.