Posted on 08/10/2016 9:36:30 PM PDT by Ray76
Government policies, rather than market forces, primarily drive the growth of wind power in the United States.
The wind industry has become dependent on government mandates and subsidies for its success. When policymakers limit subsidies to the wind industry, constructing wind installations ceases to be economically viable. American taxpayers incur the costs of subsidizing the wind industry.
These extensive subsidies are funding a power source that is inconsistent and cannot reliably generate the electricity demanded by consumers.
Large-scale energy storage may offer solutions to the variability of wind power, but the most promising technologies are not currently economical on a grid-wide scale.
One of the most overlooked environmental impacts of wind power is its effects on bird and bat populations. Wind turbine blades move at speeds of 138-182 miles per hour, which can injure or kill birds and bats.
In North America, wind turbines kill an estimated 214,000–368,000 birds annually. Some threatened species of birds are protected by laws such as the Endangered Species Act, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Although wind turbines cause no direct emissions when they produce electricity, they do have other environmental costs.
The widespread support for wind energy rests largely on the idea that wind will result in a cleaner environment. Wind energy, however, is not as clean as most people assume due to the fact that it requires backup forms of electricity generation to compensate for its variability. The backup forms of power are most often based in fossil fuels, which means that wind energy still results in the emission of greenhouse gasses and other pollutants. Wind power may actually result in more greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions than conventional power generation due to the inefficiency of repeatedly ramping up backup power plants.
(Excerpt) Read more at usu.edu ...
Part of a series of five posts:
To Get Wind Power You Need Oil
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3458518/posts
Reliability of Renewable Energy: Wind
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3458519/posts
Deep De-Carbonization Would Increase Electricity Costs 20–90 Percent, Says J.P. Morgan
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3458520/posts
Electricity Prices Soaring In Top Wind Power States
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3458521/posts
MidAmerican Energy customers rattled by electric rate hike
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3458522/posts
From the article:
Policymakers at both the federal and state level have chosen to allocate billions of taxpayer dollars to an energy source that cannot sustain itself on the energy market [] With government mandates and subsidies causing the wind industry to grow artificially fast, the ability to generate wind energy is outpacing the ability to transmit it.
//
The next step in the boondoggle will be subsidized transmission construction.
I don’t see why they don’t couple wind and solar with hydro electric. Wind and solar pump water from a lower reservoir to a higher one. Electricity produced by water going from higher to lower with ability to regulate power output according to need.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.