Obama's Looming Energy Disaster

The American Spectator ^ | November 10, 2008 | William Tucker

[St. Louis Conservative]

I subscribe to an Internet newsletter called Energy Central and the news is getting more depressing every week. Every time I scan the headlines I realize I'm looking at another piece of a gathering energy debacle.

Take last Thursday's edition. Right at the top of the page was the story, "Xcel Energy, eXco Join in Major Wind Farm Developments in Minnesota, North Dakota." It's like this every day. Wind farms of sprouting up all over the country like 65-story mushrooms. The North American Reliability Council estimates we will have 175,000 megawatts of new capacity by 2017 (that's the equivalent of 175 major coal or nuclear plants). Unfortunately, it admits, "only approximately 23,000 MW…is projected to be available on peak." That means these windmills will be idle most of the time. Coal plants operate at 65 percent capacity, nuclear rims at 90 percent. But at best windmills produce only 30 percent of their "nameplate capacity" and they are almost useless on torpid summer days. California has found its windmills running at only 3 percent capacity on hot summer days.

Never mind, we are forging ahead anyway. Right under the Minnesota story is a report that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has laid down a "wind farm code of ethics" governing dealings between wind companies and municipal officials. It seems that several windmill manufacturers are following the tried-and-true pattern of bribing municipal officials by hiring them as "consultants" in seeking zoning and other approvals. Although you'd never know it, there are actually folks out there in the hinterland that don't like the idea of littering the landscape with these nearly useless monstrosities. However, those folks are being steamrolled in the march toward alternate energy utopia.

[Aliska]

Many thoughtful responses to my input and questions, have to admit I got in a little over my head, dropped the ball, and got sidetracked into other issues of the day.

I haven't seen an oil well (I know the drilling rig is different), was just a kid twice going through the OK panhandle, TX and those parts (about 12 and 14 years old). It looked so bleak and desolate because all you could see were the wells and no trees or much green, etc. I was fascinated with the tumbleweed and jackrabbits though, still like my midwest green not that it is all that picturesque everywhere around here.

But I met a Texan in Taxachusetts years and years ago, and he felt claustrophobic because MA has lots of trees (and pretty scenery) which I loved, have no idea what they've done to the place now. That was in the mid-60's. No the wells in themselves are not that unappealing especially compared to urban blight. I do have aesthetic sensibilities, but try to temper them to the real world in which I live and enjoy conveniences that don't lend much to the environment. I hate too much paved over stuff :-( but we need it, how much of it is another matter.

Somebody posted an article about a new kind of more compact nuclear plant, sounded like a AC unit would be, one for every homeowner. Sorry I didn't read the entire article.

[ASOC]

I took a bit different turn. It helps that a bud is the greenskeeper at the local links. HE buys batteries by the pallet, and has on open recycle account at the local junker.

HE will replace a full set of (6VDC, deep cycle, flooded cell) battery string if a cart will not make it thru 38 holes without a recharge. In many cases, it is a bad cell on one battery.

He lets me test and pick, and I pay him the salvage value of the battery. I get quite a bit of use out of them, then the cycle repeats. HE gets the bettery back, nd collects the salvage (again, which is fine) & I get to pick thru the batteries again.

Every 2 to 4 years is not a big deal - and everyone wins.

Amazing thngs happen while looking at the box from the outside.

I have been using salvaged panels that I fixed by my own bad self. The charge controller I did buy off the shelf (wife is much happier about that)

So - explore and enjoy. Inverters (MSW or TSW) are a lot less expensive today when considering the new features - like the ability to daisy chain units together, High Voltage MOSFET switching transistors and so on....