"Wind turbines: from dream to realities", the shock film which deconstructs the imposture

Charles Thimon is director and president of the Documentary and Truth Association.He made the documentary "wind turbines: from dreams to realities".

When it comes to wind turbines we usually summon landscapes, decibels or birds.In this explosive documentary, there is more question of energy independence, the destiny of EDF, German pressures, influence of gas, techniques of pension or greenpeace funds ... bringing together eminent experts from the worldEnergy, former presidents of groups, association members and residents, this film lifts the veil on the most unknown (and most thrilling) chapters of the wind scandal.

Figarovox.- The subtitle of your film suggests a gap between dreams and reality.Would the ecological transition by wind turbines prove to be a gigantic illusion?

Charles Thimon. - In reality, this story begins at the end of the 90s. The world's leading exporter of electricity, France benefited from clean, abundant and inexpensive energy as well as an invaluable advantage over its neighbors. Prayed by the European Union and Germany to break its monopoly, EDF has privatized, the alternative suppliers appeared, the user has become a customer. As nuclear became shameful, the dream of 100 % renewable energy embalmed hearts. Some policies found the opportunity to accredit their green voluntarism. Others saw it above all an opportunity to have no risk of fortunes. With net operating profit of around 30 % and a guaranteed pension for 20 years, the temptation was too strong. Pension funds, gas and oil trees did not resist it. Since then, these groups have been prospecting the territory in search of needy municipalities ... All with the blessing of the State.

From electricity bill to the fuel pump, nothing is too good to finance renewables.In 2018, the Court of Auditors had evaluated the expenses already incurred in photovoltaics and wind turbines at more than 120 billion euros… all for around 8 % of our electricity.The irony of history wants these 120 billion correspond to the historic cost of construction of the French nuclear fleet which has provided more than 70 % of our electricity for the past thirty years!

Barbara Pompili recently declared that the establishment of wind turbines was "vital" in the battle for employment.Do you also question this?

Absolutely.Less than 1 % of wind turbines installed in France were manufactured by national manufacturers.More than 90 % of the equipment is imported, and apart from maintenance, once built wind turbines require very little labor.Add to that the fact that the jobs created in the "green jobs" often evaporate as quickly as the subsidies cease (as we have seen in Germany and Spain) and you will understand that we are entitled to measureIts enthusiasm vis-à-vis the 20,000 jobs that this sector is expected to have created.

So how do you explain the political consensus around wind turbines?

Symbol of ecology and modernity, wind turbines have imposed themselves in our collective imagination.Everything contributes to making them sympathetic.But this distant love hardly resists the analysis of the field.People with a priori favorable wind power not knowing how much they produce, last, cost and measure ... can we base ourselves on an ignorance to take the energy turns that the world of tomorrow claims?

Of their very confession, our fellow citizens suffer from a serious deficit of information on these essential questions.In reality, wind turbines the less we know, the more we love them (1).Carrying true ecology at the heart, leaders, experts and residents have allowed us to take stock, which turns out to be more tragic in many ways than what we had imagined.

While warming of the planet is one of the main issues of the 21st century, should we sweep the question of renewable energies with a back of hand?

Absolutely not.Replacing coal with wind or oil with solar is completely desirable.Only, as French electricity is already more than 90 %decarbonized, a massive subsidy of wind turbines and solar panels have been dressed in "climate policy", the climatic result of which is zero, since this electricity replaces another,Nuclear, which produces half less CO2 on the whole of its life cycle (2).Such blindness led to, for example, not to wonder if these billions would not be much more effective if they were devoted to the insulation of buildings, agriculture or transport.

Does your documentary break a taboo?

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In reality, a large quantity of researchers, independent organizations, experts and associations have been high in recent years to denounce collateral damage for which wind turbines were responsible.Not moderating with the meaning of history, their criticisms have not imprinted on opinion.We thought we were late, we didn't want to see.

With questions of physical properties, comparative costs or trade balance, the media favored the aesthetic and ornithological dimensions, while the issues caused by their development are otherwise large.The film is thus trying to browse the entire spectrum, returning in detail on democratic, tax, geopolitical or financial issues ...

Do wind turbines reveal a fracture between the people and the elites?

The main fracture is territorial: 8 out of 10 French people are urban.From the moment we are not concerned by the establishment of a wind farm, difficult to take a deep interest in the question and by extension to oppose!

The second fracture is fiscal.Since the emergence of yellow vests, many official reports have been able to demonstrate that it is indeed the most modest and rural households that pay the heaviest price for this transition (3).In turn shaken in their living environment and surcharge to finance the massacre of their own environment, the carbon tax will have been the drop too much.Without legitimizing anything, let's at least try to understand it and explain it.

The last fracture is ideological.Benefiting from a positive image with the media and decision -makers, wind turbines are ultimately only very rarely envisaged from the angle of science or the economy.When it comes to this totem, substantive questions are mostly evacuated.Anything that limits or thwarts the Gospel is systematically you or biased.

Do you not fear that the film will be qualified as a conspiracy?

(Laughs) The accusation of conspiracy will certainly be the most convenient to brandish for wind promoters.Difficult for them to do otherwise.The accounting assessment is there, severe and relentless.The reality is already desperate enough to avoid adding it: we are only advancing facts.Bearing true ecology at the heart, the eminent experts gathered in this documentary (among which we find Jean Marc Jancovici, Henri Proglio or Antoine Waechter) allow us to bring clarity in confusion.Offering us the possibility of finally distinguishing the real from ideology: all the analyzes of the film are available in free access.

This documentary will obviously hinder many people.Is that why it is broadcast free of charge on the Internet, not on television?

To climb up to the challenges and guarantee a certain freedom of tone, we have chosen to remain as independent as possible.Nearly 1,000 people contributed to our association.Like many others, they ended up understanding that the time had come to end this unnecessary rent which, by brewing wind, risks harvesting the storm.

See also - Pauline Le Bertre: "The process for building a wind turbine lasts 7 years"

(1) IFOP survey-Documentary and Truth: https://www.ifop.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/raptport-enquete-ifop-connaissance-francais-energie-eolienne-2021.pdf

(2) On the whole of its life cycle, wind turbines produce 14g of CO2 per kW product, French nuclear 6. (source Ademe) https://www.bilans-ges.ademe.fr/documentation/upload_doc_fr/index.htm? renewable.htm

(3) See the 2019 Budget Report on the Environment: https://www.vie-publique.fr/RAPPORT/276480-RAPPORT-SUR-LIPACT-ENVIREMENTAL-DU-BUDGET-DE-LETAT