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One off-shore 3 MW turbine in the North Sea will typically generate six million kWh in a year. According to the Kentucky Coal Organization, it takes "about a pound" of coal to generate 1 kWh.
So for the lifetime of that 3 MW turbine (typically 30 years), we can avoid mining, transporting and burning 180 million pounds of coal - 81,600 metric tons. Less black lung, less released radon, less CO2, less fly ash, more mountains with their tops still on. Of course, for those whose wealth is dependent on lots and lots of coal being burned, this is still a bad thing.
Trump's statement in its full glory, btw:
It's a stunning analysis.
Using "analysis" to describe that statement is a disservice to people that actually do analytical work.
One off-shore 3 MW turbine in the North Sea will typically generate six million kWh in a year. According to the Kentucky Coal Organization, it takes "about a pound" of coal to generate 1 kWh.
So for the lifetime of that 3 MW turbine (typically 30 years), we can avoid mining, transporting and burning 180 million pounds of coal - 81,600 metric tons. Less black lung, less released radon, less CO2, less fly ash, more mountains with their tops still on. Of course, for those whose wealth is dependent on lots and lots of coal being burned, this is still a bad thing.
Trump's statement in its full glory, btw:
It's a stunning analysis.
Which is why i think hybrid cars will be the car of the future, not 100% electric.
I have no problem with wind and solar, taken at what they can provide. You do not need to convince me that they do work, or that they have their niche to fill. But wind and solar are expensive, they take up a lot of land area, and they are not reliable or dependable as a power source. They are supplemental, and that is all they will ever be.
Oh sure, you can attach gigantic batteries to them to try and store energy, like the football field sized lithium-ion battery Elon Musk has built in South Australia, but the cost in resources and the increase in cost to operate wind and solar will make them economically unfeasible.
Which is why i think hybrid cars will be the car of the future, not 100% electric.
I have no problem with wind and solar, taken at what they can provide. You do not need to convince me that they do work, or that they have their niche to fill. But wind and solar are expensive, they take up a lot of land area, and they are not reliable or dependable as a power source. They are supplemental, and that is all they will ever be.
Oh sure, you can attach gigantic batteries to them to try and store energy, like the football field sized lithium-ion battery Elon Musk has built in South Australia, but the cost in resources and the increase in cost to operate wind and solar will make them economically unfeasible.
Oil has no place in a long-term future.
And I think many will be surprised how fast electric takes over the auto industry. A lot of things will need to happen, but I think you're going to begin o some enormous investments very soon in both the vehicles themselves (already seeing it) and the infrastructure needed to support them.
I have no problem with wind and solar, taken at what they can provide. You do not need to convince me that they do work, or that they have their niche to fill. But wind and solar are expensive, they take up a lot of land area, and they are not reliable or dependable as a power source. They are supplemental, and that is all they will ever be.
Let's split wind and solar? Very different beasts. Per kWh, wind just isn't expensive any more. Saying a turbine farm takes up a large area is sort of true, but the turbine footprints and service roads take up less than 1% of the actual land - you can farm the rest of the land just fine. (And the trend is to go offshore, anyway.)
Quote:
Oh sure, you can attach gigantic batteries to them to try and store energy, like the football field sized lithium-ion battery Elon Musk has built in South Australia, but the cost in resources and the increase in cost to operate wind and solar will make them economically unfeasible.
Storage is the next problem to crunch. Electric cars and wind power is a match made in heaven - a lot of garages now house what is essentially a giant battery on wheels and they need power at night, when nobody else does.
And I think many will be surprised how fast electric takes over the auto industry. A lot of things will need to happen, but I think you're going to begin o some enormous investments very soon in both the vehicles themselves (already seeing it) and the infrastructure needed to support them.
You think electric cars will be the future, as in powered 100% from lithium-ion batteries?
The notion that we can have this 100% Utopian future, with 100% electric cars and 100% wind and solar, it's a pipe dream, it's unrealistic. Do you know how many batteries that will take? How much mining and manufacturing will go into all of that.
Compare sucking oil out of the ground, to all the flat-top mining, the harsh chemicals and manufacturing that foes into supplying the comparatively short-lived batteries that will supply the energy storage to make that 100% Utopia come true.
If you thought America and the West were plundering the world's resources before, that will be laughable compared to once we deplete all the lithium and other precious metals to live the dream of that 100% Utopian future.
Let's split wind and solar? Very different beasts. Per kWh, wind just isn't expensive any more. Saying a turbine farm takes up a large area is sort of true, but the turbine footprints and service roads take up less than 1% of the actual land - you can farm the rest of the land just fine. (And the trend is to go offshore, anyway.)
Storage is the next problem to crunch. Electric cars and wind power is a match made in heaven - a lot of garages now house what is essentially a giant battery on wheels and they need power at night, when nobody else does.
Car batteries are storage of energy, so the owner can drive their care. What you are suggesting amounts to me claiming that your gasoline car, and it's 20 gallon gas tank, is a giant generator on wheels can be used as a gasoline power generator at night.
You would not use your gasoline car to power your home at night, anymore than you'd use your electric car to do the same. You use your car as daily transportation, not as a home electrical energy generating source.
You have to think though your ideas, not just recite an epiphany as soon as it enters your head, or repeat someone else's, without giving any further thought on the matter.
Car batteries are storage of energy, so the owner can drive their care. What you are suggesting amounts to me claiming that your gasoline car, and it's 20 gallon gas tank, is a giant generator on wheels can be used as a gasoline power generator at night.
I must have expressed myself badly. I'm merely pointing out that electric cars mesh perfectly well with wind energy, because they are, in effect, energy storage devices. And better yet, their peak demand (at night) is when wind power is in abundance because the base load drops off at night when people sleep.
Let's split wind and solar? Very different beasts. Per kWh, wind just isn't expensive any more. Saying a turbine farm takes up a large area is sort of true, but the turbine footprints and service roads take up less than 1% of the actual land - you can farm the rest of the land just fine. (And the trend is to go offshore, anyway.)
Storage is the next problem to crunch. Electric cars and wind power is a match made in heaven - a lot of garages now house what is essentially a giant battery on wheels and they need power at night, when nobody else does.
Not as accurate as you might think... Farmers are learning that a wind farm on their property actually hinders ag production... Gone are the days when you can set the GPS on the combine and go for miles one way and back the other....
If you thought America and the West were plundering the world's resources before, that will be laughable compared to once we deplete all the lithium and other precious metals to live the dream of that 100% Utopian future.
Well, batteries do not consume lithium. Once extracted, it's recoverable. But it's a valid point - the externalities involved in mining (anything) need to be considered as part of the cradle-to-grave costs.
Not as accurate as you might think... Farmers are learning that a wind farm on their property actually hinders ag production... Gone are the days when you can set the GPS on the combine and go for miles one way and back the other....
Fairly certain that it hasn't stopped people from farming around wind turbines.
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