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Electricity from solar and wind is great...unless you like having electricity on nights with no wind. During those times, you need power from conventional sources like coal, gas, nuclear, and hydro.
I'm a professional engineer with 37 years of experience in the electric utility industry. I also was qualified chief engineer for naval nuclear propulsion plants. Does that make me a "self proclaimed" expert in your mind?
Location: Big Island of Hawaii & HOT BuOYS Sailing Vessel
5,277 posts, read 2,801,130 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stburr91
Somebody on here that worked in the electric generation industry busted that myth in another thread.
Coal is much cheaper than these other fuels.
Coal is only cheaper when the wind is not blowing.
So many windfarms have been built in North Dakota that the problem is there are not enough transmission lines to send the electrical energy to places like the Twin Cities and Chicago without shutting off coal plants.
Yes the coal plants for now have to be kept, however that is just until excess energy produced by the wind can be stored in pumped hydroelectric facilities like Ludington.
All those windmills represent payments to workers to build them and maintain them and revenue for farmers to rent the space.
North Dakota alone has enough potential wind energy to eliminate many coal jobs.
However, net jobs goes up. Net income goes up. CO2 goes down.
There is one and only one reason the GOP refuse to see this and call wind generation bad. They are taking money.
Spend a second to read about pumped storage of electrical energy. The Great Lakes and other big reservoirs can easily store energy from wind farms so coal can be eliminated altogether.
These pumped storage facilities will also create many more jobs.
Better than the asthma cause by coal fired plants.
'
Asthma rates have increased while the 6 most common air pollutants as an aggregate have been reduced by about 64% since the 80's, call me crazy but I think you need to look elsewhere. I would suggest it's indoor air quality with 3 factors.
Insulation, Tyvek, air tight windows.... While these things have lead to increased efficiency they also trap indoor air pollutants.
The way we heat homes and buildings has shifted from hydronic heating systems to ducted heating. These systems can harbor and distribute the "nasties" throughout the air in a house or building. If you have a weak stomach probably not a good idea to click this link.
People and kids in particular spend a great deal more time indoors. They aren't out riding their bikes in the fresh air but sitting at home in what has become a polluted environment.
Coal is only cheaper when the wind is not blowing.
So many windfarms have been built in North Dakota that the problem is there are not enough transmission lines to send the electrical energy to places like the Twin Cities and Chicago without shutting off coal plants.
Yes the coal plants for now have to be kept, however that is just until excess energy produced by the wind can be stored in pumped hydroelectric facilities like Ludington.
All those windmills represent payments to workers to build them and maintain them and revenue for farmers to rent the space.
North Dakota alone has enough potential wind energy to eliminate many coal jobs.
However, net jobs goes up. Net income goes up. CO2 goes down.
There is one and only one reason the GOP refuse to see this and call wind generation bad. They are taking money.
Spend a second to read about pumped storage of electrical energy. The Great Lakes and other big reservoirs can easily store energy from wind farms so coal can be eliminated altogether.
These pumped storage facilities will also create many more jobs.
We would need something on the order of 10,000 large pumped storage facilities in order to have a 7 day power supply for the USA. If we think 7 days of storage is not necessary, even one day of storage is still 1400 large pumped storage facilities.
Last edited by Freak80; 06-04-2017 at 06:21 PM..
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