[twistedwrench]

“Not a single conventional power plant has been closed in the period that Danish wind farms have been developed,” he says. “Because of the intermittency and variability of the wind, conventional power plants have had to be kept running at full capacity to meet the actual demand for electricity and to provide backup.”

[M1Tanker]

It also needs to be noted that Germany is moving away from wind power as it is the LEAST predictable source.

Good for backing up back-up power systems, but little else.

[omega4179]

Mccain has to quit the self depracation and stop pandering to the obama voters green fantasies.

[J Aguilar]

True. The last AWEA -the wind lobby- conference was held in Houston. Windenergy and most photovoltaic had to be constantly backed up, and the only power stations that can vary their production so rapidly are gas powered ones.

Behind wind and electric solar you have the same oil and gas companies that you find behind the pump at your gas station.

[STONEWALLS]

...we recently fought off corporate wind farms here in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina...those eyesore towers stand 38 stories tall and make a noise like somebody swinging a rope over your head....the wind enthusiasts will keep on trying though....the tax credit money is simply too lucrative....that’s why before it’s demise, Enron was the largest wind farm company in the US.

[stevio]

If we learn to curb our electrically needs to when the winds blows we’d be fine. Ain’t gonna happen. Power plants produce energy whether it’s used or not.

[bubbacluck]

Our Congressman, Jerry McNerney(D), is a wind generation expert. He might have a lot to do with those eyesore turbines over the Altamont Pass here in California.

We're hoping the winds of change blow him right out of office this November. We have a good conservative candidate with name recognition running against him by the name of Dean Andal(R).

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Wind (and solar) power can be stored, to better match supply and demand — at a cost.

Aye, there’s the rub. For in that dream of renewable energy, what costs may come? When we have shuffled off oil, must give us pause .... And makes us rather bear those energy sources we have than fly to others that we know not of?

[BallyBill]

This blows.

[HardStarboard]

Gee - I guess this dashes the hopes of all those Obamaiacs that hoped he would appoint Boone Pickens as Energy Secretary.

Damn shame, Boone needs the money....[/sarc]

[jpsb]

I think a wind generator is fine for a homeowner, small business etc, to try and save a few bucks on thier electric bill. However wind at best will be a very small contributer to any major USA grid. I'd say dido solar but solar has potential so maybe solar will someday be a big contributor.

I like nukes, but I've heard that it costs more to decommission a nuke plant then it cost to build and operate it. Not sure if this is true, but if it is then nukes might not be all that great of an idea either. Maybe coal with really good environmental controls is our best option.

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

Messrs. McCain, Dion and Pickens notwithstanding, winds do not blow predictably. Without an energy storage battery the size of Mount Everest, most wind-powered electricity will be wasted and will almost certainly increase a country's carbon emissions – albeit inadvertently. When your power plant operates at only 20 per cent capacity (or less), you have to build four or five times as many plants as you need. For reliable backup, you still need either coal, gas or nuclear power – all of which are cheaper than wind.

Power control, power distribution and energy storage will be the primary drivers in any alternative energy scheme.

combined power plant

[Wiseghy]

Wind in the CA Bay Area was run by a company call US Windpower, in the early 90’s. I did some business with them, toured their facility and met their senior officers. They were a very slick group and spent money very freely. I couldn’t believe there was that much money in power generation, but there were subsidies at the time for wind, so I figured they must be pretty generous.

Later, the founders I met all were busted in a stock fraud case. Something about concealing major problems with new, x-tra large windmill design they were marketing. The company went into receivership and I’m not sure who owns the mills and property now.

There is long history of hype in power generation overall.

[TigersEye]

bump to a little light on the wind power equation

[Publius6961]

Wind turbine marketers are full of hot air

Not all of them.
Saw a schlockumentary the other day and the first words were:

"Wind energy is free... ...maintenance is not."

Refreshingly honest and understated.

[steelyourfaith]

 

Beam me to Planet Gore !