Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Approved Wind Farm Needs Your Support: Cape Wind
Grand Rants ^ | 06-12-10 | Alan Speakman

Posted on 06/12/2010 6:10:31 AM PDT by Stoutcat

I (we) ask that you consider what has happened in the last 53 days. The most recent government estimate suggests that the Gulf oil disaster is spewing the equivalent of one Exxon Valdez every 5 to 12 days with no definite end in sight. You do the math. Our country is facing an environmental disaster of unknown proportions and characteristics. And no, a wind farm couldn’t have prevented that. But at least it will take a tiny step or two in the right direction.

(Excerpt) Read more at grandrants.wordpress.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Local News; Outdoors; Politics
KEYWORDS: capecod; capewind; cleanenergy; environment
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-40 last
To: Pilated

I would have to think that maintenance of a windmill farm would be less than the maintenance of an oil rig. And I don’t think the government should stick it’s nose in it by either subsidizing them or taxing.


21 posted on 06/12/2010 7:26:20 AM PDT by Frenchtown Dan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Pilated

It is so interesting in a ridiculous sort of way, to see history repeating itself so soon. Wind power for rural electrification, was active in the 1920’s and 30’s, it was soon supplanted by the more efficient, and cost effective power plant, fueled by water, coal, gas, etc.

Here is an example of what one person thinks about how wind power in the 30’s died. “The modest wind industry that had built up by the 1930’s was literally driven out of business by government policies favoring the construction of utility lines and fossil fuel power plants”.

There may be a smidgen of truth therein, but when you are dealing with a 25 to 30 percent efficiency AT BEST, it was driven out of business because there was something MUCH better, and the people spoke loud and clear.


22 posted on 06/12/2010 7:44:08 AM PDT by wita
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Stoutcat

Frankly, there’s a little too much ‘hot air’ in wind farms. Many have already been abandoned here in the US. Drill, baby, drill.


23 posted on 06/12/2010 7:45:20 AM PDT by Doc Savage (SOBAMP!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Recon Dad

GREAT POST!


24 posted on 06/12/2010 7:52:40 AM PDT by kitkat (OBAMA hates us. Well, maybe a LOT of Kenyans do.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Frenchtown Dan
“I would have to think that maintenance of a windmill farm would be less than the maintenance of an oil rig.”

That is like saying the maintenance on a container ship is less than that of your car. It is a meaningless comparison. Windmill farms suffer greatly from maintenance issues. There are literally thousands of abandoned wind turbines in some of the best locations in the world due to the fact that the amount of energy produced was not enough to justify the maintenance required to keep them going... even with government subsidies.

“Cannibalizing parts from the original 37 turbines, Apollo personnel kept the declining facility going with outdated equipment. But even in a place where wind-shaped trees grow sideways, maintenance issues were overwhelming. By 2004 Kamaoa accounts began to show up on a Hawaii State Department of Finance list of unclaimed properties. In 2006, transmission was finally cut off by Hawaii Electric Company.”

From

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/02/wind_energys_ghosts_1.html

25 posted on 06/12/2010 7:59:14 AM PDT by fireman15 (Check your facts before making ignorant statements.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: Stoutcat

Small pebble bed nuclear reactors are the answer. Solar and wind are pipe dreams.


26 posted on 06/12/2010 8:03:36 AM PDT by Mike Darancette (Flip Both Houses)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: fireman15

“California’s wind farms — then comprising about 80% of the world’s wind generation capacity — ceased to generate much more quickly than Kamaoa. In the best wind spots on earth, over 14,000 turbines were simply abandoned. Spinning, post-industrial junk which generates nothing but bird kills.”


27 posted on 06/12/2010 8:04:49 AM PDT by fireman15 (Check your facts before making ignorant statements.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: fireman15
Beautiful abandoned wind farm

Abandoned Windfarm http://www.americanthinker.com/tehachapi-wind-turbines-p1.jpg

28 posted on 06/12/2010 8:14:48 AM PDT by fireman15 (Check your facts before making ignorant statements.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: Recon Dad
“And when there is no wind, windmills produce no power, so a traditional power plant must be operational at all times to provide power during those in-between times”

Well that’s easy to fix. Just install electric motors to spin the blades when there is no wind.

29 posted on 06/12/2010 8:22:47 AM PDT by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Frenchtown Dan
I think this wind farm would have been built if Ted Kennedy didn’t tie it up in courts for so long.

I think Walter Kronkite was against this too. What progress can be reaped from the death of two NIMBYs.

30 posted on 06/12/2010 8:25:11 AM PDT by King Moonracer (Bad lighting and cheap fabric, that's how you sell clothing.....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: count-your-change

Now you’re thinking.......like a liberal. /sarc


31 posted on 06/12/2010 8:29:27 AM PDT by Recon Dad ( Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: kitkat

Wind is a joke once you look at a map showing just where it is viable in this country.


32 posted on 06/12/2010 8:31:02 AM PDT by Recon Dad ( Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Recon Dad

You don’t believe in honoring a contract?


33 posted on 06/12/2010 8:37:41 AM PDT by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: count-your-change
I took your first comment as a joke was I wrong?

Well that’s easy to fix. Just install electric motors to spin the blades when there is no wind

My response was an attempt at humor, thus ending with the /sarc.

34 posted on 06/12/2010 9:03:33 AM PDT by Recon Dad ( Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: Frenchtown Dan
"I would have to think that maintenance of a windmill farm would be less than the maintenance of an oil rig"

Actually, probably not. Oil rigs are built far more robustly than a wind turbine as strength is a compromise to weight that has to be made in a something so high off the ground. Bearings will need to be replaced far more frequently.

Then there is the matter of the blades themselves. Much like a helicopter rotor or a plane propeller, the blades are subject to a great deal of stress and vibration. Micro fractures and delaminating (in composite blades) must be constantly inspected in order to avoid catastrophic failure. There have been multiple instances of this occurring and it is just luck no one has been killed.

Then there is the issue of the electronic controls. Set in less than a clean room climate controlled environment, careful monitoring and repair is a must. Should sensors not detect the blades going over speed, fun times would surely ensue.

Speaking of over speed, the turbines all have brakes. These are another maintenance item.

Then there is the maintenance for the grid which must be extended for wind farms, which are usually placed in out of the way locations. The cabling for most of these the farms in the water has been proposed for underwater. No cheap maintenance option there.

Finally, because wind energy isn't constant and will require backup generation, the maintenance cost of the backup generation plant must be included with the wind power.

"I don’t think the government should stick it’s nose in it by either subsidizing them or taxing.

They can't exist without it.

One final thought, aside from the damage done to wildlife and the awful noise they create, no one has really studied the environmental impact of the thousand of vortices in the atmosphere created by windmills. What if years down the road we discover that it could cause the general populace to go insane and elect an unqualified fraud President?
35 posted on 06/12/2010 9:15:48 AM PDT by Free_SJersey (Celebrate Diversity------------ Divide and Conquer?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: Free_SJersey

I understand how the rigs are built. My father was a welder on a Texico rig off of New Orleans. There are crews working on them constantly. They are like floating hotels also, he would be on one for days, and he wasn’t eating hamburger, he said the food was quite good.

But I wasn’t aware of the amount of failures and maintenance costs of windmills.

I’m really having a hard time with why we can’t come up with better technology to make them more efficient and durable.

I have wondered if there were thousands of them together, let’s say a huge wind farm, what if any wind diversion there would be and what effect that would have on the local weather.

As for the president, well we’ve aready got an unqualified one, maybe his wind could be harnessed!


36 posted on 06/12/2010 9:29:11 AM PDT by Frenchtown Dan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Recon Dad

I messed up with a response to another threazd. Yeah, the motor thing was a joke, an attempt at humor on a hot and soggy day. Mea culpa.


37 posted on 06/12/2010 10:18:30 AM PDT by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: wita

Wind turbines are inefficient, run on electricity when there's no wind and they receive some of the largest government subsidies to operate. Plus, they screw up the scenery. There is nothing pretty or romantic about large white blades on a hillside, possibly overlooking your home or farmland. Ugly! Learn more at Wind Action

38 posted on 06/12/2010 10:26:57 AM PDT by rabidralph
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: rabidralph

There is nothing pretty or romantic about large white blades on a hillside,

Especially when they are not turning. At least turning they may be producing something besides disgust. No pun intended.


39 posted on 06/12/2010 10:35:13 AM PDT by wita
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: rabidralph
Wind turbines are inefficient

No, they aren't:

The theoretical limit of efficiency for wind energy extraction is 16/27 = 59.3%. According to Wikipedia, modern wind turbines can reach 70-80% of that, which would be 41 - 47% efficiency.

"Subcritical fossil fuel power plants can achieve 36–40% efficiency. Supercritical designs have efficiencies in the low to mid 40% range, with new "ultra critical" designs using pressures of 4,400 psi (30 MPa) and dual stage reheat reaching about 48% efficiency." - link

Thus the efficiency of modern wind turbines is the same range as the most-efficient, highest technology fossil fuel power plants.

40 posted on 06/12/2010 11:41:04 AM PDT by wideminded
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-40 last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson