[neverdem]

What's the problem with these fair weather, transplanted windmills? The answer will be interesting, IMHO.

[Western Phil]

One possible moral of the story: Don’t buy old used junk from California. There is probably a reason its for sale.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Algore and his enviroloonies have some ‘splainin’ to do. LOL!

[Nervous Tick]

If you’ve ever driven through West Texas (north of Lubbock, towards Amarillo), you might be astounded by a couple things:

1) How many wind turbines there are, and
2) How many of them are NOT TURNING.

I’m not sure why. I’d like to know.

However, I wager that when enviros quote some big honkin’ number of megawatts of wind power available in Texas, they’re talking POTENTIAL. Not actual.

Food for thought. I think the whole wind power contribution to the grid is MUCH less than is touted, and not just in Minnesota.

[FlingWingFlyer]

... and also to serve as educational symbols...

I'm glad these morons finally admitted what these damn things are really all about. They're "educational symbols" for the "great unwashed masses". I suspected this all along.

[dr_lew]

“If people see a water tower, they expect it to stand still,” said Wally Wysopal, the city manager of North St. Paul. “If there’s a turbine, they want it to turn.”

I can see it now. They'll install motors and heaters to keep them turning through the winter. It would make about as much sense as installing them in the first place.

[Doulos1]

If this is the same turbines that was reported on earlier in the week, they are stopped by the extreme cold. The fluid that is part of the working mechanism didn’t stand up to the extreme cold in Minnesota. The contractor said it would. The city is set to sue for non-compliance to their contract. Stupid city government. Build a freaking coal fired power plant and stay warm, and run lights and machines and tools. They bought into the crap of global warming. Suffer you idiots. November 2010 we start taking our country back!

[ricks_place]

Windmills ... educational symbols S U C K E R S !

[beefree]

They are an eyesore and I have heard the noise they make can drive you insane. It sounds like they are a money-pit. We have plenty of oil. DRILL IT!

[rockinqsranch]

I’ve seen several wind farms out here in So. Cal., and every one of them have a percentage of non turners. I’ve wondered why some turn, and others immediately next to them don’t.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

... serve as educational symbols...

Here are a few "educational symbols" they can use in the classroom without going outside...

[al baby]

I think the Good New senator from Massachusetts should spear head a project fo a wind farm out by teddys old place and call it the Ted Kennedy memorial windfarm

[Balding_Eagle]

These windmills ARE educational.

They teach children that government is not to be trusted to make good choices.

[Kickass Conservative]

How much time, man hours, energy and fossil fuel was wasted dismantling, transporting and rebuilding these things when they bought them from California?

Feelings beat out common sense every time in Liberaland.

[libertarian27]

Why can’t they just take the wind turbines to a local airport and get them de-iced (stated in my most nerve wracking, know it all, greenie-environmental voice)

[roamer_1]

What's the problem with these fair weather, transplanted windmills? The answer will be interesting, IMHO.

The answer is simple, and not very interesting: Nothing works when it is cold. Anyone from the Rockies on up to Alaska will tell you that one.

[NaughtiusMaximus]

bump for later

[Bean Counter]

Twenty year old wind turbines is probably the answer to this problem, because the technology has changed considerably since these turbines were designed and built. Blade technology alone makes an enormous difference in how much wind is required to get the turbine moving in the first place, and there are many more factors that will affect technology this old, including low temperatures.

Classic example of the Law of Unintended Consequences in action in my view.

For the record, we have a large number of windfarms here in Washington and Oregon, and when you drive up the Columbia River Gorge, it is not unusual to see a significant number of wind turbines feathered, and not turning.

Any down time at all that a windfarm spends in favorable winds costs money and lots of it...

[musicman]

"What's the problem with these fair weather, transplanted windmills? The answer will be interesting, IMHO."

[RayChuang88]

Fortunately, new technologies for wind turbines may eliminate a lot of the downsides of traditional models.

One company, WindTamer Corporation, developed a sophisticated wind turbine that looks like a ducted fan, automatically steers into the wind, won't harm birds (because birds see it as a solid object and will avoid it) and runs at a much higher range of wind speeds than conventional wind turbines. Sales have been strong, and with even more emphasis on wind power expect WindTamer to start scaling up the technology.

The controversial wind turbine off the coast of Massachusetts would works superbly with WindTamer turbines, mostly by eliminating the need for tall, unsightly wind turbine installations. They could assemble hundreds of WindTamer turbine towers located only 25 feet above the ground, dramatically reducing visual impact (and making it real easy to service, too).

[count-your-change]

Gear lube too cold probably but it doesn’t matter as the wind turbines were given plenty of spin before they were installed.