I would not be a big fan of a windmill in my backyard, but this is a bit silly.
Yeah, they make it when it’s windy, but it doesn’t take much wind. Hardly ever is it truly calm. Even then, it stores what was made.
I just think this is silly. Why not make some use out of the wind for our purposes...doesn’t seem backwards to me at all!
It takes quite a bit of wind, usually at least 12 mph steady which is quite rare in the summer most places. As for storage, there is no storage. That's why Texas had a huge blackout when the wind went down unexpectedly over a large part of the grid.
A windmill stores nothing. Battery or capacity technology to do that at the scale needed and at a convenient price point doesn't exist yet.
It does take some wind, and it is truly calm enough. Maybe parts of Kansas are never calm, but in MN/IA there are calm hot sweaty summer days which are also the peak electricity demand days.
And then, wind can be too strong forcing the windmills to stop.
Living our lives by the rhythms of nature, being hot and sweaty in the summer and dark in the windy winter is going backwards.