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To: bigbob

Really?

Please help us understand why there are more than 14,000 windmills now abandoned in place, across the U.S.?


2 posted on 02/15/2012 11:40:34 AM PST by G Larry (We are NOT obliged to carry the snake in our pocket and then dismiss the bites as natural behavior.)
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To: G Larry

That’s because they were the oldest, smaller ones installed that never did make economic sense, and since the laywers hadn’t remembered to put removal clauses in the contracts, it was cheaper for developers to just abandon them in place than to remove them.

Not much different than why we have so many abandoned gas stations with leaking underground tanks that now must be removed at public expense.

I am not pro-wind in all aspects, “small wind” that you see at homes and farms for example, makes absolutely no sense and will never have a payback, and should not be subsidized. It is through incentives like PTC that the GEs, Suzlons, Simeens, Mitsubishis, et al had access to a large enough market that made them willing to invest in the R&D needed to scale up and find the right cost point. Just as airline subsidies helped Boeing and Airbus create the most fuel-efficient aircraft and the airlines design the best route system rather than trying to fly puddle-jumpers into tiny airports. Economy of scale.


5 posted on 02/15/2012 12:09:26 PM PST by bigbob
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