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It does not surprise me how Windmills have been designated as a Perfect Way to Tap Renewable Energy and it is even more so not so surprising how so many are "Flocking" (yes there is a pun there) towards this latest Pop Culture Environmental Cure all!
What is disturbing is how such little scientific thought and planning is allocated to the Environmental Impact of Thousands of Acres populated by these Eye Sores! Clearly the only motive for all of these Windmill farms is $$$$!!and not the Health & Well Being of our Environment!
Now I am not saying there is anything wrong with making a good honest profit! However, this is not a Good Honest Profit, as we are being misled and misrepresented regarding the Energy these Windmill Farms will Generate! Some even are spending millions of $$$ to convince you that Windmill Energy Generation will wean us off the Fossil Fuel Oil we import from OPEC Countries!
Sad to spoil your dreams but it ain't ever gonna happen! For example if you cluttered our entire mainland from the West Coast to the East Coast and placed a Windmill on every 1000 Square Yard section throughout our country the electrical power generated would be no more than 3% of our nations total electrical grid! And yes I have the research to back this up!
More so, not to mention the environmental hazards of this mindless endeavor! For Example on Altamont Pass California which is just above Livermore CA where Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories is we have one of the biggest Windmill farms in the World and it barely produces enough energy to light up 100K homes and that is when it has 100% of all the windmills turning! But even this is not happening, as this particular Windmill farm is bogged down in Litigation because of the 1,000's of Birds of Prey it has been slicing up annually!
So here you have a clear example where billions of $$$ have been invested into a total waste and huge environmental disaster! Talk about expensive Energy! I would even go as far to say that the Altamont Pass Windmill farm is costing us more than the current cost per gallon of gasoline!: eek:: eek:: eek:
So before we all clutter up our beautiful country with these Windmill Farms or a better word would be (Gigantic Food Processors!) I hope we will get some good Energy Scientists to do the Math and Environmental Planning we all desperately need!
Ok, so first of all I can edit out my smart remark about the smileys... BUT what I really wanted to say was,
Hey, good point, CometVoyager.
We have a lot of these windfarms in Ireland--I can see one from the highest hill on our farm, and there are plenty more as we drive. Newspapers and blogs here have lived with them, researched them, and commented on them a LOT.
So here's some more facts for you!
You can buy a personal windmill, which will contribute to (but NOT replace) a typical household's electricity supply. For an average sized family, research indicates that it would take approximately 50 years of constant running to recoup its own cost. Fine, you might say--at least the children will benefit, right? Unfortunately, the lifespan of the commercially available personal windmills are 20-30 years. D'oh! Perhaps their best application would be for someone living completely off-grid, who wants NO electric bill, but just wants a bit of light at night, or occasional electric usage. But surely a generator would suit better, I don't know.
As to the big Windfarm-sized windmills:
They're huge. Unbelievably huge when you're close; in fact, the COST to the environmment in the manufacture of their concrete alone, with its related energy usage and pollution is unacceptably high; especially when the cost of their manufacture, installation, and upkeep is more than they typically contribute in energy savings to the national grid, over their lifetime.
Add that to the Blades of Doom bird-wise, and yes you have an environmental catatrophe, not a very Green energy choice at all.
But, if the priority is freeing us from oil, guess they're working....
????
Great topic for a thread, so thanks! This really does need some more public discussion and debate before any more go up.
Last edited by LilyLaLa; 07-12-2008 at 06:31 AM..
Reason: clarity
Oh hey, then they'd be even MORE attractive than they are now!!
LOL
I always wondered why they couldn't be painted blue-grey, to sort of blend into the sky or something (or alternatively, paint them black or red in case that would help the birds avoid them)...then saw them up close and wondered how many millions of buckets of paint that would take.
Whose idea WAS this? I can imagine the windmill-makers pushing it, but honestly, who didn't do their homework then wrote the cheque?
(the emoticon is frowning NOT because he's wondering where his sixty-seven friends have gone, btw, but over the wasted expense!)
It does not surprise me how Windmills have been designated as a Perfect Way to Tap Renewable Energy and it is even more so not so surprising how so many are "Flocking" (yes there is a pun there) towards this latest Pop Culture Environmental Cure all!
What is disturbing is how such little scientific thought and planning is allocated to the Environmental Impact of Thousands of Acres populated by these Eye Sores! Clearly the only motive for all of these Windmill farms is $$$$!!and not the Health & Well Being of our Environment!
Now I am not saying there is anything wrong with making a good honest profit! However, this is not a Good Honest Profit, as we are being misled and misrepresented regarding the Energy these Windmill Farms will Generate! Some even are spending millions of $$$ to convince you that Windmill Energy Generation will wean us off the Fossil Fuel Oil we import from OPEC Countries!
Sad to spoil your dreams but it ain't ever gonna happen! For example if you cluttered our entire mainland from the West Coast to the East Coast and placed a Windmill on every 1000 Square Yard section throughout our country the electrical power generated would be no more than 3% of our nations total electrical grid! And yes I have the research to back this up!
More so, not to mention the environmental hazards of this mindless endeavor! For Example on Altamont Pass California which is just above Livermore CA where Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories is we have one of the biggest Windmill farms in the World and it barely produces enough energy to light up 100K homes and that is when it has 100% of all the windmills turning! But even this is not happening, as this particular Windmill farm is bogged down in Litigation because of the 1,000's of Birds of Prey it has been slicing up annually!
So here you have a clear example where billions of $$$ have been invested into a total waste and huge environmental disaster! Talk about expensive Energy! I would even go as far to say that the Altamont Pass Windmill farm is costing us more than the current cost per gallon of gasoline!: eek:: eek:: eek:
So before we all clutter up our beautiful country with these Windmill Farms or a better word would be (Gigantic Food Processors!) I hope we will get some good Energy Scientists to do the Math and Environmental Planning we all desperately need!
Do you honestly think that mile after mile of cement roof tops is beautyful??????
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