[robertpaulsen]

"The cost of wind power, about 10 cents per kWh, is one of the highest for any kind of present-day electricity generation (cf. 4 cents per kWh for high-cost nuclear)."
-- oism.org

Without a government subsidy, wind farms would lose money.

[gitmo]

Thanks for the link.

The renewable resource best beloved of ecophiles is wind power. Despite decades of subsidies (amounting to more than $1,200 per installed kilowatt), wind power remains stubbornly uneconomic. One problem is that the wind usually refuses to blow hardest at times of peak demand for electricity, generating only about 7.5 megawatts per 50 MW of nameplate capacity at peak. (Perhaps there are 42.5 negawatts?) ``Wind farms'' are thus sometimes called ``tax farms.''

The cost of wind power, about 10 cents per kWh, is one of the highest for any kind of present-day electricity generation (cf. 4 cents per kWh for high-cost nuclear).

But even environmentalists are turning against wind power because of the ``avian mortality'' problem. The windmills act as ``bait and executioner'' because rodent populations multiply rapidly at the base of the windmills that protect them against predators. ``How many dead birds equal a dead fish equal an oil spill?'' is the question. The 1,731 installed megawatts have killed some 10,000 birds. On a percentage basis, windmills at Altamont Pass kill eight times as many bald eagles as the Valdez oil spill every year. (Though it is a federal crime to kill a bald eagle, no windmills or wind farmers have been prosecuted yet.)

Other externalities include visual blight and the environmental impact of manufacturing large quantities of steel and concrete.

Another favorite, solar power, while coming down in price from around 25 per kWh to a claimed 8 cents due to improved photovoltaic cells, still costs three times as much as new gas-generated capacity. The often-ignored externalities are also substantial. Just producing the concrete for a 1,000 MW nameplate solar capacity results in carbon emissions equivalent to burning 10 billion cubic feet of natural gas, a year's worth of fuel for a similar gas-fired plant.

Solar plants are also bird killers. Bird deaths per megawatt at Solar One operated by Southern California Edison, primarily due to collisions with mirror-like surfaces, were 10 times as high as at Altamont Pass. The installation of the Kramer Junction Luz site killed numerous desert tortoises and ground squirrels as they were displaced from their natural habitat. Moreover, the production of photovoltaic cells results in toxic chemical pollution (arsenic, gallium, and cadmium).

Hydropower, long a favorite of renewable energy buffs, has fallen from favor. Capacity may actually decline due to concerns about endangered fish.



CIVIL DEFENSE PERSPECTIVES: Negawatts

[snopercod]

I drove through Tehachapi Pass on a windy day three weeks ago. 90% of the thousands of wind generators there were not turning at all. I assume they were broken.