The world will produce the same amount of wind next year and the year after until the Lord returns. All of our current electrical needs could be provided by capturing a tiny percent of what blows across this country. Study the supply of fissionable material and you'll be surprised at how little there is.
Public opinion counts and people don't like nukes but they love windpower.
Not really, wind generation fluctuates with the weather, some years are going to be windier than others. And of course too much wind is just as bad for windmills as too little, as each one is speced for a certain range of wind speed. When the wind goes out of phase with your whole farm, like say during bad storms, the farm is doing nothing. Yes eventually the wind will get back in phase with at least part of your wind farm, but that’s cold comfort when your whole city is using battery backup.
Our energy need CANNOT be supplied by wind. Like I’ve told you already, there’s big chunk of this country that DO NOT get windmill usable wind on any consistent level. You’ll never be able to supply Southern Arizona on wind power, we don’t get the wind. Just plain can’t happen.
Ignorant hippies don’t like nukes, but eventually they’ll all die. People that pay attention know wind power is at best a toy, and there’s getting to be more of us every day. Basically right now the only people that actually like wind power are the same smelly hippies that don’t like nukes.
It's still about efficiency, not fuel supply.
First, there is easily enough known fissionable material available to provide safe, efficient nuclear power for hundreds of years, so your point is moot.
Second, wind turbines still COST more to manufacture, install and maintain than they EVER produce in power. Counting taxpayer subsidies, they are a net LOSER.
Theoretically, you're right, capturing the power in the wind would solve all our power problems. In reality, though, we're just not very good at the capturing part.
Public opinion counts and people don't like nukes but they love windpower.
Public opinion cannot change the laws of physics. No matter HOW much the public loves wind power, it's still an expensive, inefficient, land-hungry way to make electricity.
They love it for the same reason so many love Barack Obama: The facts are ignored in favor of hopes and dreams.
People love wind power when they aren’t paying for it.
The Austin city council decided to “go green” and buy wind energy from West Texas and other sources. However, it was expensive, so they couldn’t swing it unless they made it voluntarily for environtally (but not economically) minded people.
A few signed up, but it only took a few months before the Austin utility started to go bust because of the expense of their wind power commitments vs the lack of willing customers.
So, what would any logical thinking person do?
Right.
They tried to make it mandatory for all customers to spread the high cost of wind energy around. Funny how that works.
We may not have a lot of fissionable material, but we’ve got a shitload of coal.