Interesting article on the wind energy industry

[westwall]

A fairly well done and in depth report on the benefits (few) and the negatives (many) of wind power as it currently exists. One of many reasons I have not jumped on the wind bandwagon. Solar is coming along real well...not so true for the wind generation however.


OVERBLOWN: Windpower on the Firing Line (Part 1) — MasterResource

 

[konradv]

Fusion power is the REAL answer. Write your Congresscritters and tell them to earmark more money for research. For more info go to:

ITER - the way to new energy OR

Department of Energy - Fusion

 

[Old Rocks]

Nearly 10 gw of wind installed in 2009, a 39% increase over wind capacity of 2008. Don't you wish you had an investment that compounded at that rate? In 2008, wind represented 42% of all new generation.

I would have to say that wind is doing just fine, and now the the solar panel prices are below $1 a watt for really big projects, that will be doing very well, also. And, according to an MIT study, geo-thermal could be cheaper than either wind or solar, plus being a base load, 24/7.

Time to start shutting down the coal fired plants.

 

[Mr. H.]

Nearly 10 gw of wind installed in 2009, a 39% increase over wind capacity of 2008. Don't you wish you had an investment that compounded at that rate?

Evidently, the Italian mafia thinks so:

Italy seizes $1.9 billion of assets as Mafia goes green

ROME (Reuters) – Italy Tuesday seized Mafia-linked assets worth $1.9 billion -- the biggest mob haul ever -- in an operation revealing that the crime group was trying to "go green" by laundering money through alternative energy companies.

Investigators said the assets included more than 40 companies, hundreds of parcels of land, buildings, factories, bank accounts, stocks, fast cars and luxury yachts.

 

[PoliticalChic]

Fusion power is the REAL answer. Write your Congresscritters and tell them to earmark more money for research. For more info go to:

ITER - the way to new energy OR

Department of Energy - Fusion

"...Write your Congresscritters and tell them to earmark more money for research...."

If the possibilities of a successful venture in this area exist, why not allow the traditional American economic approach, which is to allow investors to decide, and in effect, buy a lottery ticket...

...and let the lottery winners keep their money.
We could call it, oh, how about 'capitalism'?

"A basic tenet of American capitalism is that supply precedes demand, as can be see in the case of all airports being closed down: the long lines of people unable to get to their destinations is the demand that cannot be fulfilled. This is why entrepreneurs must be given a free hand to produce, to speculate, as the building of more and more airports will lower prices, increasing demand. This is especially true in the case of new technologies.
Both high taxation and over regulation place a damper on this freedom.

“The proceeds from these speculations? the capital paid for stocks and bonds ? may seem misspent. In the long run, the results are called infrastructure, and they are what economies are built on.”

“Many European postal systems, telegraph lines and railroads were built with government money, and sometimes with insufficient capacity. But in the United States, instead of burdening taxpayers, we sell investors the equivalent of high-priced lottery tickets each time one of these technologies arrives.”
On the Contrary - In Technology, Supply Precedes Demand - NYTimes.com

So, instead of totalist thinking, the command-and-control philosophies of the current administration, how about we actually allow the free market to dictate winners and losers.

 

[PoliticalChic]

Nearly 10 gw of wind installed in 2009, a 39% increase over wind capacity of 2008. Don't you wish you had an investment that compounded at that rate? In 2008, wind represented 42% of all new generation.

I would have to say that wind is doing just fine, and now the the solar panel prices are below $1 a watt for really big projects, that will be doing very well, also. And, according to an MIT study, geo-thermal could be cheaper than either wind or solar, plus being a base load, 24/7.

Time to start shutting down the coal fired plants.

Don't ya' just love the use of 'could be' in all the greeniac posts?

The only way for wind power to be efficacious, Calc, is for you to stand in front of the wind propellers.

Work them lungs, boy!

 

[PoliticalChic]

Nearly 10 gw of wind installed in 2009, a 39% increase over wind capacity of 2008. Don't you wish you had an investment that compounded at that rate?

Evidently, the Italian mafia thinks so:

Italy seizes $1.9 billion of assets as Mafia goes green

ROME (Reuters) – Italy Tuesday seized Mafia-linked assets worth $1.9 billion -- the biggest mob haul ever -- in an operation revealing that the crime group was trying to "go green" by laundering money through alternative energy companies.

Investigators said the assets included more than 40 companies, hundreds of parcels of land, buildings, factories, bank accounts, stocks, fast cars and luxury yachts.

Mafia suckered by the greeniacs??? What is this world coming to?

"Despite the massive infusion of government funding in recent years, renewable technologies have captured only a tiny share of the energy market and remain heavily dependent on government funding to be viable, says the Times.
Samuel Sherraden, an economic analyst at the New America Foundation, said the problem with job leakage overseas promised only to get worse because governments in Europe and Japan -- which in years past spent lavishly on renewable energy -- now are drastically cutting back their green subsidies as they try to pare enormous budget deficits.
With the United States left as the only major developed country still flooding the market with government funding, competition from overseas suppliers promised to be fiercer than ever.
"It is impossible to guarantee that clean energy stimulus is not leaked abroad," he said. "We have to recognize that we are funding job creation programs in Germany, Spain, Japan and China," Mr. Sherraden said."
'Green' jobs no longer golden in stimulus - Washington Times

 

[Mr. H.]

If it's not hydrocarbons, it's got to be good - whatever the price.

 

[Trajan]

Nearly 10 gw of wind installed in 2009, a 39% increase over wind capacity of 2008. Don't you wish you had an investment that compounded at that rate? In 2008, wind represented 42% of all new generation.

I would have to say that wind is doing just fine, and now the the solar panel prices are below $1 a watt for really big projects, that will be doing very well, also. And, according to an MIT study, geo-thermal could be cheaper than either wind or solar, plus being a base load, 24/7.

Time to start shutting down the coal fired plants.

maybe we should figure out what this wind generation costs per kilowatt and what % of the overall total of power generated in the US , before we start shutting down power plants using coal?

 

[westwall]

Nearly 10 gw of wind installed in 2009, a 39% increase over wind capacity of 2008. Don't you wish you had an investment that compounded at that rate? In 2008, wind represented 42% of all new generation.

I would have to say that wind is doing just fine, and now the the solar panel prices are below $1 a watt for really big projects, that will be doing very well, also. And, according to an MIT study, geo-thermal could be cheaper than either wind or solar, plus being a base load, 24/7.

Time to start shutting down the coal fired plants.

Ahhhh yes the ever popular time to get off the fossil fuel chant. I wish it could be today but alas the technology isn't quite there yet. olfraud must be heavily invested in wind tech based on the amount of blather he spews about it.

Here are a few more interesting things going on in the wind industry.....

Carbon offsets: Green project offends Indian farmers who lose land to windmills - CSMonitor.com

Renewable energy: Not all it’s cracked up to be? | Energy

 

[Mr. H.]

China goes overboard in subsidizing wind generation:

China rejects US trade complaint over clean energy

The Sept. 9 complaint by the United Steelworkers said Chinese producers of wind and solar equipment receive improper subsidies in violation of Beijing's free-trade commitments.

Then they ship the cheap shit over here.

 

[Skull Pilot]

Wind is a waste.

To realize the rated nominal out put of one windmill, 3 must be built because in reality windmills only operate at one third rated capacity.

Wind is only cost effective with small individual units serving one or several houses. The idea of thousands of acres of windmills on "farms" is unrealistic, overly expensive and let's not forget ugly.

 

[westwall]

China goes overboard in subsidizing wind generation:

China rejects US trade complaint over clean energy

The Sept. 9 complaint by the United Steelworkers said Chinese producers of wind and solar equipment receive improper subsidies in violation of Beijing's free-trade commitments.

Then they ship the cheap shit over here.

But of course. And fools like olfraud crow about how wonderful the Chinese alt energy programs are compared to ours...the only problem is it is our companies that have been chased over there in the first place and it is our tax dollars that are subsidizing the Chinese assault on our country.

But he's really smart you know. He knows all about pollution control....the company he works for is an exceptionally gifted polluter on every continent they do business on!

 

[kwc57]

Wind is a waste.

To realize the rated nominal out put of one windmill, 3 must be built because in reality windmills only operate at one third rated capacity.

Wind is only cost effective with small individual units serving one or several houses. The idea of thousands of acres of windmills on "farms" is unrealistic, overly expensive and let's not forget ugly.

As opposed to the beauty of the oil fields.

View attachment 11523

 

[Skull Pilot]

Wind is a waste.

To realize the rated nominal out put of one windmill, 3 must be built because in reality windmills only operate at one third rated capacity.

Wind is only cost effective with small individual units serving one or several houses. The idea of thousands of acres of windmills on "farms" is unrealistic, overly expensive and let's not forget ugly.

As opposed to the beauty of the oil fields.

View attachment 11523

How many new oil fields have been constructed in the US in the last 2 decades?

 

[Mr. H.]

Wind is a waste.

To realize the rated nominal out put of one windmill, 3 must be built because in reality windmills only operate at one third rated capacity.

Wind is only cost effective with small individual units serving one or several houses. The idea of thousands of acres of windmills on "farms" is unrealistic, overly expensive and let's not forget ugly.

As opposed to the beauty of the oil fields.

View attachment 11523

LOL what is that a 1930's photo?

 

[kwc57]

Wind is a waste.

To realize the rated nominal out put of one windmill, 3 must be built because in reality windmills only operate at one third rated capacity.

Wind is only cost effective with small individual units serving one or several houses. The idea of thousands of acres of windmills on "farms" is unrealistic, overly expensive and let's not forget ugly.

As opposed to the beauty of the oil fields.

View attachment 11523

LOL what is that a 1930's photo?

Or earlier. But we had an oil boom in western Oklahoma back in the early 80's and that is pretty much what both sides of I-40 looked like for as far as the eye could see. Of course, it was modern derricks that are not left in place. But nobody complained about them being ugly because each one meant energy and money. Kind of like the wind farms today. Here is a modern Oklahoma photo of the Blue Canyon Wind Farm.

View attachment 11525

 

[kwc57]

Wind is a waste.

To realize the rated nominal out put of one windmill, 3 must be built because in reality windmills only operate at one third rated capacity.

Wind is only cost effective with small individual units serving one or several houses. The idea of thousands of acres of windmills on "farms" is unrealistic, overly expensive and let's not forget ugly.

As opposed to the beauty of the oil fields.

View attachment 11523

How many new oil fields have been constructed in the US in the last 2 decades?

Fields? I have no idea. There are two active rigs working smack dab in Oklahoma City that I see each day on my way to and from work.

 

[Mr. H.]

As opposed to the beauty of the oil fields.

View attachment 11523

LOL what is that a 1930's photo?

Or earlier. But we had an oil boom in western Oklahoma back in the early 80's and that is pretty much what both sides of I-40 looked like for as far as the eye could see. Of course, it was modern derricks that are not left in place. But nobody complained about them being ugly because each one meant energy and money. Kind of like the wind farms today. Here is a modern Oklahoma photo of the Blue Canyon Wind Farm.

View attachment 11525

Thanks for that.

I visited a friend working on Oklahoma drilling rigs back in the early 80's and I remember driving to a rise in the landscape and, looking around, saw 9 active rigs. One of the coolest things I've ever seen.

 

[Mr. H.]

Wind is a waste.

To realize the rated nominal out put of one windmill, 3 must be built because in reality windmills only operate at one third rated capacity.

Wind is only cost effective with small individual units serving one or several houses. The idea of thousands of acres of windmills on "farms" is unrealistic, overly expensive and let's not forget ugly.

As opposed to the beauty of the oil fields.

View attachment 11523

How many new oil fields have been constructed in the US in the last 2 decades?

Reports & Statistics » Economic Reports & Industry Statistics

Drilling activity from 1975 to 2008