Wind Energy Planning

Wind turbine manufacturer Siemens has won a dispute over the description of its green energy business as “drastically” reducing CO2 emissions.

Siemens marketing campaign posed the question “How can you power a planet hungry for electricity without damaging it?“. The Siemens answer was “efficient energy supply…our innovations efficiently generate and distribute the power we need while at the same time drastically reducing CO2 emissions“. A complaint was lodged by an unknown wind energy sceptic who objected to the use of the word “drastically” when talking about wind energy projects and CO2 reduction helping in the fight against climate change.

The evidence provided by Siemens to the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) included wind energy emissions compared with fossil fuel generated electricity. Siemens argued that wind energy is one of the most efficient forms of energy generation and that the company was also involved in many other green technologies. A global auditing firm reviewed the evidence and concluded that the claim “drastically reducing CO2 emissions” had been justified and was unlikely to mislead the general public. Although Siemens were allowed to run the ad, they appear to be taking a cautious approach by currently claiming to “avoid” rather than “drastically reduce” CO2 emissions.

Siemens are supplying 175 x 3.6 Megawatt turbines for the UK’s largest Offshore wind energy project – London Array.