Reality check

Outrageously pro-nuclear and frighteningly conventional, this year's World Energy Congress provided a sharp reminder of both the intransigence and the ignorance of the established power sector when it comes to renewable energy technologies. Its perception of wind power is at least a decade behind the times, both technically and economically, while the political agreements reached at Kyoto have barely dented its self-satisfied surface. No wonder that when push came to shove, the American wind market's vital federal subsidy simply fell out of this year's budget agreement.