Posted on 02/01/2010 10:54:44 AM PST by Dr. Scarpetta
Last year, about a dozen Minnesota communities dreamed of clean, green energy: spinning windmills powering hundreds of homes.
Now, months after the deadline, the windmills stand largely immobile, and communities are still waiting for the power to flow.
Eleven cities, including North St. Paul and Anoka, are participating in the wind turbine project, each getting a 115-foot windmill via the Minnesota Municipal Power Association, or MMPA.
The turbines were to be fully operational by Nov. 7. To date, the number is zero.
One reason offered this week at a North St. Paul City Council meeting: hydraulic fluid and lubricating oil in the turbines' gear boxes.
In cold weather, the fluid turns gel-like and doesn't flow, said Derick Dahlen, president of Avant Energy, which manages the MMPA.
That can be particularly problematic if the turbines are already at a standstill.
To fix the problem, a contractor installed heating elements this week in the turbines.
In addition, heat tracing is likely to be added to the hydraulic lines and lubrication oil system.
The windmills each cost about $417,000 and have been erected in Anoka, Arlington, Brownton, Buffalo, Chaska, East Grand Forks, Le Sueur, North St. Paul, Olivia, Shakopee and Winthrop, as well as at the MMPA's energy park in Faribault.
To fund the project, MMPA sold $5 million in zero-interest bonds.
(Excerpt) Read more at twincities.com ...
Fortunately, the demand for electricity falls to almost nothing during the long, dark, cold winter nights.
What kind of a idiot buys a no-yield bond? Oh, never mind. It's Minnesota.
Not the Minnesota wind turbines, as these work....
Minnesota has cold weather? Who knew? TV station KSTP cleverly calls the wind turbines “no-spin zones.”
Read more: http://stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2010/02/01/no-spin-zones/#ixzz0eJQKu0wu
It never occurred to them that Minnesota would be cold in the winter?
Wasn’t it last winter that they couldn’t run the school buses because the ethanol-mix fuel turned gelatinous in the cold?
Said heating elements powered by...?
What happens when beurocrats and greenies try to become power engineers....sheesh...somebody grab the keys before they hurt someone!!!
Never bring a California wind turbine to a Minnesota winter.
You mean it gets cold in Minnesota during the winter?
Wow, what engineering group could have planned on such extreme conditions?
so, now that they have added heaters to the non-functioning wind turbines, they are a net energy drain as well as a capital drain...
I live in Minnesota. Although we do get our share of wind here, the only good place to get reliable wind energy is along the ND/SD border areas, as the wind “comes sweeping down the plains” there.
The story is fantastic in it’s lunacy. The price of these windmills is exorbitant, and the need to actually heat the mechanisms to get them to work seems self-defeating.
Solar cells?..............
I hadn’t heard that about the school buses, but here’s more info from John Stossel.
* * * * *
“Theyll have to use either electricity or natural gas at each turbine to keep the mechanism lubricated.
That will drastically reduce the net energy gain from each turbine, depending on how much heating the turbine fluid needs to stop congealing in the winter.
Since cold weather here lasts anywhere from 4-6 months, that makes it mighty inefficient as an energy resource.”
Read more: http://stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2010/02/01/no-spin-zones/#ixzz0eJR78TUN
Wheel In The Sky
by Journey
(Freeper re-mix)
Winter is here again oh Lord,
Havent seen Al Gore in a year or more
I hope he holds on a little longer
He sent a letter on a long summer day
Made of hot air, not of clay
I also used to run down this warming road
Wheel in the sky isnt turnin
I dont know if it will tomorrow
Wheel in the sky isnt turnin
Ive been trying to make it home
Got to make it before it gets too cold
I cant take this very much longer
Im stranded in the sleet and rain
Dont think Im ever gonna make it home again
The mornin sun is freezin
Its kissing the day.
Wheel in the sky keeps not turnin
I dont know where Ill be tomorrow
Wheel in the sky keeps not turnin
Wheel in the sky isnt turning.
I dont know if it will tomorrow.
Wheel in the sky keeps me yearin
this is hilarious. A friend of mine in Michigan invested thousands of dollars on two windmills in his backyard before Y2K. It was great when it worked. However, Michigan winters caused the props to freeze up during storms and there is not enough wind to propel them in the summer. He finally abandoned them and sold them for there scrap metal value.
.....especially to anyone with commonsense.
Bwahahahahahaha. Progressives win again, and schleps LOOSE!
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