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It is really pathetic to see the level of ignorance and partisanship this thread.
Wind power is good but it can only be cost efficient in certain areas of the country where reasonably reliable wind is present. Like in the flat lands of Iowa and Nebraska and Kansas. Or as Britain has done it, off shore in the North Sea. But in areas where wind is not consistent it is not cost efficient.Paradoxically when wind is too strong it endangers the wind blades and it needs to be temporarily shut down. And we had people like Ted Kennedy who did not want iff the shores of Cape Cod because it will spoil his view and reduce the value of his home. So he blocked it.
Storing wind and solar power is not easy. Batteries to store such high amounts of electricity is not feasible. Even the huge battery storage that Tesla built for New South Wales in Australia costing millions of dollars could power only for a few minutes and was more used for smoothening the power fluctuations. They are trying the old fashioned way of using the electricity in the day to pump water off a lake up the hill during the day and running it down at night to a turbine to produce electricity in the night. It think that is in WV.
So Trump is both right and wrong. We cannot rely on wind power in all situations but there is a place for wind power in certain areas and to be used in conjunction with Solar, fossil and maybe nuclear power. The right mix and match. All groups will not be fully satisfied but it is the right approach for the country.
Batteries have always been the problem and then there’s the price it’s not the panels. Talked to a guy who made REALLY good money and he put panels on his house, said the batteries were very expensive. Too much for the average Joe. Before anything else happens need to build better, low cost batteries the words low cost and better doesn’t always go hand in hand.
The perfect is the enemy of the good...of course!
But, remember, we are talking about a large portion of the US Population who claimed that renewables would never get anywhere near parity. We have cavemen who want 100 watt bulbs that use 100 watts and then another bunch of power to cool their house (A/C) after the bulb heats it up!
They tell us that is "freedom".
The same dude that is telling us the wind dies down sometime also rolled back efficiency standards for vehicles- so we can use more fuel to go where we need to and create more pollution and save less of it for the future.
A genius!
I was in the energy biz for over 40 years (mostly renewables). During that time I learned a lot. I used to think that Energy was a real problem...that is, that it was quite finite and limited and that the only way to save ourselves would be to burn woodstoves, build our houses with Solar envelopes and keep the thermostat set low.
As the decades passed and I saw the incredible advances in efficiency (10 to 100X in many cases), my outlook has changed. Now it is evident...in real terms...what we always knew anyway. Energy is virtually unlimited.
In short, ONLY technology can help us now...and it is doing so. A comment about "well, the wind doesn't blow" is so beyond ignorant as to not warrant a word, let alone a debate.
Wind may not blow, but tides come and go. Everyone except Bill O'Reilly knows why that happens. In the future we will chuckle about how we worried about energy....
That is not to say we won't have a lot of issues getting there. But, short of nuclear war or anti-vaxxers killing all of us, we will make it to the promised land of Energy.
It is really pathetic to see the level of ignorance and partisanship this thread.
Wind power is good but it can only be cost efficient in certain areas of the country where reasonably reliable wind is present. Like in the flat lands of Iowa and Nebraska and Kansas. Or as Britain has done it, off shore in the North Sea. But in areas where wind is not consistent it is not cost efficient.Paradoxically when wind is too strong it endangers the wind blades and it needs to be temporarily shut down. And we had people like Ted Kennedy who did not want iff the shores of Cape Cod because it will spoil his view and reduce the value of his home. So he blocked it.
Storing wind and solar power is not easy. Batteries to store such high amounts of electricity is not feasible. Even the huge battery storage that Tesla built for New South Wales in Australia costing millions of dollars could power only for a few minutes and was more used for smoothening the power fluctuations. They are trying the old fashioned way of using the electricity in the day to pump water off a lake up the hill during the day and running it down at night to a turbine to produce electricity in the night. It think that is in WV.
So Trump is both right and wrong. We cannot rely on wind power in all situations but there is a place for wind power in certain areas and to be used in conjunction with Solar, fossil and maybe nuclear power. The right mix and match. All groups will not be fully satisfied but it is the right approach for the country.
I've literally never seen anyone advocate for "only wind power".
This is not even a debate that anyone is having. That's how stupid Trump is. He does this all of the time, makes sweeping and ridiculous claims about industries and fields that he knows little to nothing about - but does so in some way that he supposedly has "all the answers". It wouldn't be a problem if he wasn't the President and dictating national policies.
I've literally never seen anyone advocate for "only wind power".
This is not even a debate that anyone is having. That's how stupid Trump is. He does this all of the time, makes sweeping and ridiculous claims about industries and fields that he knows little to nothing about - but does so in some way that he supposedly has "all the answers". It wouldn't be a problem if he wasn't the President and dictating national policies.
^^^^This. I am sure he would say the same with solar power because the sun isn't out all the time! The man is a true moron.
I'm not supposed to let on, but - he's so, so right. I'm flying to Denmark - with over 40% of electricity by wind - in May, and I'm already steeling myself for the inevitable. It's not publicly known, but on quiet days, we Danes have to cook over open fires in our gardens. The trains run on auxiliary pedal power, the ferries set sail, and what happens in the hospitals - it does not bear thinking about. Watching patients hand-cranking their own ventilators is something carefully kept from the media...
We'd be so much happier if we had only allowed the fossil fuel industry to run our energy planning, but noooo...
I've literally never seen anyone advocate for "only wind power".
There is a member of Congress who comes close.
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