Posted on 03/12/2010 10:40:36 PM PST by george76
In ten years Oregon has handed out $1.3 billion in tax credits for renewable energy and conservation projects like wind power, but questions about why the state is spending so much on something that may have a hidden environmental drawback have been raised by some.
Wind power is touted as the cleanest and greenest renewable energy resource.
But Todd Wynn of the Cascade Policy Institute says it’s not as clean as advocates claim.
He says it’s simply because the wind is volatile and doesn’t blow all the time, and Johnson said "you don't know what (the wind) is going to do moment to moment."
There has to be a backup source to power generated by wind at all times to ensure electricity flows to customers without interruption. The more wind power put on line, the more backup power is needed, and often it’s coal or natural gas.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, people prefer hydroelectricity.
“So when the wind blows, the dams stop generating electricity, and when the wind stops, the dams continue to generate electricity,” said Wynn. “So, in fact, wind power is just offsetting another renewable energy source. It’s not necessarily offsetting any fossil fuel generation.”
Oregon is requiring that the largest utilities get one quarter of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025. For Washington, it’s 15 percent by 2020.
(Excerpt) Read more at katu.com ...
The wife and I saw this segment on KATU, it was a very good piece, I imagine the politicians in OR are not happy about it.
The most reliable combination is hydro and nuke. One is constant and the other covers peaks like a giant battery fed by vapor falling from the skies natually!!! (like the ill fated Auburn Dam)
& Solar Power sucks!!!
What a shame wind has zero stored potential. Ever notice that most of the "green" solutions that are going to save the earth have zero stored potential?
I remember an author who appeared on the Dennis prager show last year. She used to be opposed to nuclear and is now an advocate. She said that the trouble with solar and windmill farms is their hugh footprints. It would take a solar farm 7 miles by 7 miles to produce the same power as one nuke plant.
and they’re both gonna cost us money
nice comment SW
People don’t realize that wind turbines won’t produce
current if the wind is less than about 8 mph and they will
tear themselves apart if the wind is over about 45 mph. (they have to be disengaged)
Thank ya big BOB! I was prouder of #42 above, however!!!
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