....dotting the pristine landscape......
Wind alone is not adequate.
For what ever reason even the OBVIOUS escapes people. What if it's NOT a windy day? You cannot STORE the power.
Paging Mr Obvious!!
US THE OLD KG&E CUSTOMERS!!!! BS
This wind energy business is going to make a few people a LOT of money. First, it costs way too much to initially get into, so only a few will build and own these things. In the short run, tax credits and carbon offset and all the other global warming voodoo will contribute to these very few owners’ profits. And then when oil supplies truly are low, (and/or outlawed) these very few owners will have the best locations in the country monopolised and will jack up the price of electricity making big profit. Don’t be surprised if these windmill owners are the strongest opponents to nuclear.
....dotting the pristine landscape......
The best use I can think of for wind in Kansas would be to merge a modern windmill with the water towers towns use to build water pressure. As long as the wind can pump enough water into the tower to supply pressure, it is not a big factor that the wind is intermittant. The big problem with this idea, however, is that the water towers are usually right in the middle of town, and the noise would be a problem.
Wind turbines on the Lake Erie shore at Lackawanna, New York
"Construction of world’s most powerful wind turbines in progress in Emden ENERCON is currently installing two E-126/6 MW WECs on the Rysumer Nacken in Emden, Germany. This new ENERCON model is a sophisticated version of the E-112 (6 MW rated power) – the world’s most powerful wind turbine to date. ENERCON GmbH, the project’s builder/owners, will be testing several types of storage systems in combination with the multi-megawatt wind turbines.
"This is the debut of precast concrete towers for ENERCON wind turbines of this dimension. Previously, in-situ concrete (125 m hub height) or steel towers (97 m hub height) were used for the E-112/6 MW. The towers for the E-126/6 MW will be 131 meters tall and made up of 36 concrete segments manufactured at WEC Turmbau Emden GmbH. Once completed, the hub height will reach 135 metres and the overall height an impressive 198 metres."
Yet, for some reason, you don't see the eviro-mental-wacko's protesting how they, and more specifically, the roads and trails these things require, ruin good grassland and farmlands that could be used to grow crops such as switchgrass, sugar beets, or whatever the land is suitable for growing.
Because the electricity they produce cannot be stored and is constantly variable, they will only at best be able to supplement the more reliable methods of generation as the article states.
Although I use 2 windmills to generate all the electricity I use at my remote country home, and can claim it is a very efficient, "clean" (only after all the 'carbon footprints' of the materials used to build one are discounted)way to make power, it is NOT for everyone, and is absolutely unsuitable for uraban areas where houses are close together.
They make noise, and are potentially dangerous should a blade fail, or coil overheat catch fire and start throwing flaming chunks of plastic everywhere. Imagine an 6-10 ft piece of blade (usually made from a couple of 2x6 fir boards laminated together then carved into a blade)crashing through your roof during a storm, or worse, impaling the family dog to the ground when it comes slamming through it's dog house.
Then there's the cost of storing the electricity they do make. 24-1000 amp marine type batteries,the bare minimum requirement to store the power needed to live in reasonable comfort ALMOST (but not quite) comparable to "on the grid" luxury, and only for a short period of time if more power than your windmills can produce is used, running the batteries down. Those batteries don't last forever either. Expect to repace them every 5 years or so, sooner if abused and not cared for properly.
Most people take grid power for granted and don't realize just how spoiled they are. They don't realize how much power they actually use with all kinds of things they leave plugged in, like battery chargers, clock radio's, instant on TV sets, refrigerators, coffee makers and micro waves, computers, glade room scenters, just about everything uses a small amount of power even when they are supposedly "off".
With windpower, you still have to forget about having things like electric heat, electric clothes dryers, unlimited hot water on demand, dish washers, electric stoves, large shop tools- anything that uses gobs of power, like a window mounted air conditioner.
You don't have to give those things up completely, but you do have to plan special "high power days", especially in the winter when it's laundry day. Then you have to crank up the generator to make the gobs of extra power you need for a sustained run of those appliances.
Then there are windless days, broken windmill days, and cold winter nights and days when you are just too tired to chop wood for the woodstove.
The average household needs about 6-10,000 KW available at all times to meet peak demands for their various appliances and hot water heater, and will use close to that amount in a day.
Living on windpower, you need to get used to living with considerably less depending on your setup and the amount of wind blowing. The batteries can handle high demands for short periods of time, but your daily consumption is restricted to just how much your battery banks can provide, and how much power your windmill generates on any given day to recharge them.
Wind could be stored as hydrogen, using electrolysis.
Remember a month or two back, when wind in West Texas shifted direction and dropped from 35 to 25 MPH? There was a brownout/blackout that covered a huge area, seems there was insufficient conventional plant backup spinning at the time.
If we are willing to accept third-world power, that’s on and off again and somewhat spotty as to the exact voltage, then alternative power will work. We are used to 120VAC 60 Hz CONSTANTLY on.
I’ve been places in Mexico where your motel cabin has a panel and car battery that runs a single RV fluorescent over the bed for four or five hours- how many Americans want that at home?
The suggestion above that government buildings must use alternative power is a good one!
