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How great to have a fresh and "in the trenches" viewpoint and perspective added to this informative thread.
DC, I think that you make good points in your spreading your positive view of turbines. That said, is it possible to feel the same, and give the same respect, to those of us that have done our research and come to the conclusion that turbines- as they are today and as they are being installed in towns by pulling to wool over poeple's eyes- are just NOT the answer to the problem? Can it be that there are many folks whom have experienced installations, whom have experienced the onslaught of slimey salesmen pressuring you to lease your land for pennies on the dollar, whom have had their hometown divided and lost friends and family because of this?
As we know there are two sides to every story. The wind folks will only tell positive tales, the anti wind folks will only tell the negatives. It is up to us as individuals to read ALL of it and come to our own opinion.
I thank my54ford for joining this thread to give all of us the practical side of the issue. I do hope everyone on both sides can take the information un-emotionally and use it as solid information given without a skew to one side or the other.
I hope we all sit on our porches and turn off the AC this weekend, let the lightening bugs brighten the night and get out and BBQ instead of sitting onside with all the lights on and the stove cranked. That would be a good way to celebrate our independence this holiday!
Another informative site here - some of which material is aimed for the landowners. Welcome | Windustry
Maybe wind is not for everybody or every town. The folks against wind power do make some good points. But we can't continue to rely on foreign oil, or even our own oil because the price will continue to run up and eventually it'll run out. Don't know when, but it's only a matter of time. We need to do everything we can (and afford) to shift to renewables, IMHO. And there are a lot of landowners and a lot of places that are actually clamoring for a wind farm.
In fact, I'd actually respect an opposer of wind if he cites practical issues (like my54ford, bovine, etc) over someone who says "oh, they're ugly!" as the sole basis for opposition vs wind - hence my original post. This is a great educational thread.
I am not actually completly against wind power. I do take a position when people blindly jump onto a technology without knowing all the facts about it. Wind will not save the world. It will not lessen our dependence on a sustainable power source be that clean coal,nuke or fairy dust! The demand growth in this country and the world will outstrip the currently installed supply and wind power will not stop that.
Location: North of the Cow Pasture and South of the Wind Turbines
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I know people always say "we have to lower our dependence on foreign oil" , as far as I can see electricity generating from oil fired plants only make up 3% of the total. And with the variability of generation from wind it just can't be a reliable fill-in for oil or anything.
I am not actually completly against wind power. I do take a position when people blindly jump onto a technology without knowing all the facts about it. Wind will not save the world. It will not lessen our dependence on a sustainable power source be that clean coal,nuke or fairy dust! The demand growth in this country and the world will outstrip the currently installed supply and wind power will not stop that.
You and I stand under the same flag. If I could afford a home installation of wind or solar I would do it in a heartbeat. I am ALL FOR alternative energies, and I am all for conservation, conservation, conservation. If every single consumer conserved, we would not be in such a frikkin mess. But, humans are selfish and want what they want when they want it!!
I take the stand based on my opinions and I cringe when sheeple blindly junp into the "latest, greatest thing" without knowing all the facts. That is why threads like this are so good. All sides come together and tiff and come out and shake hands and in the meantime a lot of info is shared for all to learn! I too believe, based on my research, that wind "will not lessen our dependence on a sustainable power source be that clean coal,nuke or fairy dust!" The research is there, the facts from Europe are there, and the current installations in the US just don't do even near enough to move forward with putting the turbines on every frikkin available spot-which is what the companies want to do-to make billions, not to save the world.
I know people always say "we have to lower our dependence on foreign oil" , as far as I can see electricity generating from oil fired plants only make up 3% of the total. And with the variability of generation from wind it just can't be a reliable fill-in for oil or anything.
That's true, but there's still coal. It actually contributes as much, if not more air pollution and co2, than oil.
What wind needs is diversification and energy storage.
Putting all of your turbines in one place is just like tying all your money up in one stock. It gives you an all or nothing result. As more turbines are installed in different locations, the problems with intermittent energy generation will decline. Its a rare day that the wind isn't blowing somewhere.
In the meanwhile, there are a lot of proven ways to store the excess energy we get at times. Pumping water uphill to store potential energy, making ice to cool large buildings, and compressing natural gas in a storage tank are all simple ways to store excess peak power.
What wind needs is diversification and energy storage.
Putting all of your turbines in one place is just like tying all your money up in one stock. It gives you an all or nothing result. As more turbines are installed in different locations, the problems with intermittent energy generation will decline. Its a rare day that the wind isn't blowing somewhere.
Exactly. We don't see wind companies building 10,000 MW worth of turbines in one piece of land. Instead, there are many 50-200 MW wind farms scattered throughout the country and the world. If a few of those aren't producing at one time, there will always be other farms that produce and deliver at the same time instant.
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Originally Posted by sterlinggirl
In the meanwhile, there are a lot of proven ways to store the excess energy we get at times. Pumping water uphill to store potential energy, making ice to cool large buildings, and compressing natural gas in a storage tank are all simple ways to store excess peak power.
It's a bit unfortunate that the wind has a tendency blows stronger at night, when demand is reduced, and the wind tend to weaken in the afternoons, when peak demand is the highest. It's a meteorological phenomenon that occurs in many places, especially the flatter types of terrain.
However, yes there are ways to get around that. On a small scale, you can use batteries to store the excess energy which can be used later. That's one of the arguments for residential wind, and that's a good one. Since it isn't practical (yet) on a large/industrial scale, the wind industry has been making progress working with utility companies to develop a workaround to this problem.
I have the occasion to have to drive through two different wind "farms" - the most prominent one is outside of Palm Springs. It is not only, IMO - UGLY but, potentially dangerous to drivers -
The whirling blades can distort and distract a drivers vision potentially causing accidents. It might not be such a problem with one or two turbines, but when you have 100's of them - a different story all together.
And while I don't live near a coal fired plant, we do live "near" to a nuclear plant (Palo Verde) -
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