[Kitanis]

Another aspect of Wind Energy to consider is.. that the wind is variable. To maintain a constant state of power.. other sources have to be balanced to handle the fluctuations in power to maintain a constant cycle.

Up here in the Pacific Northwest.. where a extensive grid of Damns provide 45% of the regions power.. They have to throttle back the dams when the winds increase.... To do that. they reduce the water flow of the turbines and open a few flood gates. The environmentalists hate that because they claim it kills the fish.

Wind energy provides only 7% of the electricity on the Bonneville Power Administrations grid..

Wind Energy is a neat concept.. but spoiling of views, noise in some areas.. Its Not the answer to all the energy needs of the country

[okie01]

Another valid point that the writer could make:

Wind energy and solar energy both need to be fully backed-up by conventional energy sources -- for those times when the wind doesn't blow or the sun doesn't shine. Each and every watt generated by a wind turbine or a solar array must be backed-up by a watt of coal- or natural gas- or nuclear-generated power.

Not exactly the model of efficiency, no?

Regarding wind generation in West Texas, the month of highest electricity consumption in the Southwest is August (air conditioners, doncha know). And when is the wind least likely to blow in West Texas?

That's right. August.

[smokingfrog]

Map 2-6 Annual average wind resource estimates in the contiguous United States

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http://rredc.nrel.gov

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[count-your-change]

Of course all those windmills in far off windy places take lots of wire to bring the power to the user too. I’d rather see a smaller version for the individual house used.
I don’t know what the pay back time would be but at least it would tend to put the cost on the user.

[cabojoe]

Here's a pic of my Dad, BIL, and I hoisting Dad's new wind turbine on the mountains above San Diego last weekend. It took him months and lots of frustrations to get all the permits required, but in the end if he gets his rebates it should cost very little.

[Kirkwood]

I really want to like photovoltaic panels, but when you run the numbers, they are just not practical, even when the govt picks up 80% of the cost in some states. I would never recoup the money I put into the system, although someone in their 20s might be able to.

[Wpin]

I also view the large windmill ‘farms’ as a blight on the land. What’s the difference between 100 windmills and 100 billboards? Perception, that is it. Both, block natural views.

In Illinois some unlucky communities rushed to allow wind farm development. One, near Rochelle Illinois has about thirty or forty windmills which rarely can be seen turning.

I am a supporter of individual energy development, wind, solar, what have you. Where we become independent from the government and it’s utilities.

[mvpel]

I certainly would not want a huge wind turbine (many times the size of a pump jack) blocking my view of the Sandia and Jemez mountains. Large wind farms are only effective in certain locations and if those locations happen to have nice scenery around them, you can expect tremendous resistance to them.

[The Great RJ]

Wind generators not only do not generate electricity when there is no wind, they are also shut down when there is too much wind. Those monster turbine blades will self destruct in high winds so they only operate in a narrow range of wind speeds. This means that windmills cannot be used for reliably generating a large part of electric needs because there may not enough or too much wind blowing when there is a demand for power or ideal wind conditions when there is little demand. On February 28, 2008 Texas experienced a power crisis when nearly all of their wind generators were stopped due to a large weather front. Imagine the consequences if wind generators were to be the source of 20% of our electric generating capacity.

[El Gato]

You're not blocking anyone's view of anything except more flat, featureless landscape.

Heh! Some of us *like* flat featureless landscape. (It's not really featureless anyway. It's just flat.

Waves of grain, or grass come to mind, as only one of many features.

BUT...

I was driving in north central Kansas (I think, might have been south central Nebraska, just last Friday. I drive the route once or twice a year. (It leads directly to my mother-in-law's house..:).. in fact that's who was in the car with me. ) We came across one ridge, not out on the flat at all, with at least a dozen wind turbines on one side and at least a couple of dozen, maybe even three dozen on the other side, of the highway. All right on the ridge line.

They were all feathered. Too much wind is also NOT GOOD, and Thursday there had been too much wind.

But, smarter folks than I have shown by some fairly simple calculations, there is not enough wind in the country to make much of dent in the demands for energy.

Fossil fuels can do that, but so can nuclear, with a lot less "bothersome" side effects. So, what has the Messiah done? Canceled the project to ameliorate the one bothersome side effect of nuclear energy. (Yucca Mountain storage site). I think Obama is Crazy Eddie.

[razorback-bert]

The wind is so predominately from the southwest that all the trees grow leaning to the northeast

If I were home, I post some pictures of this.

[Clock King]

I am really astounded by the public's apparent ignorance about "wind energy".

I'm not. From Kindergarten on, most kids hate math and science. You can dress it up, hip it up, or sex it up, and they won't learn or retain it. So it's no surprise that people promising "magic" to them get all the accolades and press. Most people are completely clueless as to how the world works.