And when there is no wind to turn the turbines, they turn with electricity. Makes sense, don't it/sarc
Posted on 07/02/2009 2:43:01 AM PDT by Scanian
The idea of wind generated electric energy is being sold by environmentalists as an overlooked opportunity to reduce greenhouse gasses. Global warming advocates claim that this discounted treasure could be a major part of an effort to reduce the burning of fossil fuels and eliminate the need for some of our nuclear power plants.
Is it true that we are passing up on a gold mine of renewable energy in favor of unnecessary and harmful fossil and nuclear fuels?
Let's start by looking at what we use to generate the power we use today. Renewables, such as wind, solar, biomass, etc, provide 2.4% of our electricity. The bulk of our power, 51%, comes from coal, followed by natural gas at 20% and nuclear at 19%.
Included below in the category "other renewables", wind energy is currently supplying about 1% of our electricity (snip)
Can we replace coal and natural gas with renewable energy sources? Let's examine the facts.
Wind energy is harnessed by windmills that are similar to the types that have been around for centuries. The windmills that produce electricity are called wind turbines; they employ fan blades that turn when the wind is blowing. These blades are connected to electric generators.
Keep in mind that sometimes the wind blows slowly or not at all, and windmills don't produce any power until the wind reaches about 8 MPH. A location for a windmill is not considered viable unless wind speeds average 14 MPH.
The percentage of its rated power that a windmill can actually produce, given the variation of wind speeds at the installation site, is called its capacity factor. A realistic capacity factor is 25%. That means that over time, the windmill actually delivers 25% of its rated power.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Here’s another excellent debunking article, from about a year ago at Family Security Matters. It provides quick and fact-based overviews of the absurdities of ethanol, sugar cane, biodiesel, switchgrass, green algae, and electric cars:
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.506,css.print/pub_detail.asp
No new coal plants, no new nukes = severe power shortages in a couple of decades. Obama’s Hope Energy Policy.
It’s the California Plan.
>>>>>B******t. Go to the Department of Agriculture and look up the crop statistics for the last few years. <<<<<
Ethanol to take 30 pct of U.S. corn crop in 2012: GAO
Mon Jun 11, 2007 3:18pm EDT
By Tom Doggett
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Almost a third of the U.S. corn crop will be used in five years to produce fuel ethanol, possibly raising animal feed costs for farmers and meat prices for consumers, a new government report warned on Monday.
Assuming U.S. ethanol production continues to expand to the Energy Department’s projected 11.2 billion gallons by 2012, about 30 percent of the corn crop will be needed for the fuel supply, according to the Government Accountability Office.
“Using more corn for energy production will likely exert additional upward pressure on corn prices, potentially influencing livestock feed markets and meat prices,” the GAO said in a report to Congress.
About 27 percent of this year’s corn crop will be used to make ethanol, according to the Agriculture Department. Corn prices are projected to average between $3 and $3.40 a bushel, making up an estimated 74 percent of the cost of producing ethanol, the GAO said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN1149215820070611
They are not only 25% efficient, (of their rated capacity at best) but the maintenance on them is extremely expensive and excessive. they are also very difficult and costly to tie into the main grid. What little power they produce and the unrealistic land area they require, creates incredible instability in the main grid. The more of them there are, the more problems they represent.
The same goes for Solar Power, which is beyond ridiculous when even compared to Wind. the statistical facts are this; For every standard Coal plant, it takes 1,750 times the land area of Wind Turbines (10,000 turbines) to equal the output of just one Coal, Nuclear, or Natural Gas plant. In regards to Solar, it takes 177,000 times the land area to equal one Standard electrical plant.
These ridiculous facts are not even remotely being published to the public, who still believes that these energy sources will soon replace the old Planet killing methods and far surpass all of our energy needs. The only thing that has kept that from happening in the past, was that those evil Republicans and greedy Oil/Coal companies have kept the Democrats from giving it to us. Which is what even the media has reported.
And the brain dead public keeps on buying it.
Fact:”producing ethanol takes more energy than it produces”.
Ethanol is a loser.
From Environment News Service:
” Corn Ethanol Takes More Energy Than It Makes
BERKELEY, California, July 13, 2005 (ENS) - Using ethanol as an additive to make gasoline burn cleaner does more harm than good to the environment, finds a new report by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. The study concludes that the cumulative energy consumed in corn farming and ethanol production is six times greater than the power the ethanol provides in a car engine.
The paper, published in the journal “Critical Reviews in Plant Science,” comes as Congress debates a provision in the energy bill that would double the amount of ethanol to be used as a gasoline additive to five billion gallons a year by 2012.”
The rest of the article explains how they arrived at their conclusion.
The potential ban could be a big blow to the U.S. chicken industry, which has been struggling with high grain prices and a price-depressing oversupply of chicken. Exports had been a bright spot for the industry..."
Gee. Which grain prices? Corn? The grain being used for Ethanol production, the stupid, useless enterprise which isn't supposed to increase the cost of any food because "we don't eat that kind of corn"?
What happens when there is too much wind? A tornado would not be too good for windmills.
You are correct,
Another statistic taken from close study, shows that it takes 1 gallon of fuel to produce 1.2 gallons of Ethanol. This also does not take into account the reduced fuel economy that ethanol burning vehicles suffer because of the low flash point of ethanol.
The equivalent energy yield compared to fossil fuels easily pushes the yield of Ethanol below a 1 to 1 ratio.
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And when there is no wind to turn the turbines, they turn with electricity. Makes sense, don't it/sarc
But just think of all that electricity it produced! (up til it quit, that is)
Amazing how unterly stupid the American public is, but I blame George Bush, an Oil man, for not articulating this clearly to every classroom in the country.
I’ve seen these coal firing plants in Illinois. They’re hidden, but each day...train loads of coal come in, and train empty load goes out. Day in and day out... so people are comfortable year round..
And when there’s a power outage...it’s restored quickly.
Nuclear is the best way to reduce harmful emissions... We have an abundance of coal...
These liberals think that wind and solar etc can produce energy... Not only are they naive but they don’t know that the energy produced is more costly and less efficient than coal.
redone
Go nuclear, Save the Raptors : (
http://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/07/24/new-data-shows-bird-kills-up-in-altamont/
http://www.windaction.org/documents/13936
http://www.nationalwind.org/publications/wildlife/avian98/03-Hunt-Golden_Eagles.pdf
http://www.wind-works.org/articles/NRELBirdReport04.html
Only if talking about PV (photovoltaics). Thermal gain from solar can save the average household 30-50% of their utility bills. HOT WATER is free from solar systems. The startup costs are usually recovered within 5-7 years, with no additional cash outlay. You just pay the bank instead of the utility costs, until the system is amortized, then (almost) FREEEEEEEEEEEE heat for your dihydrogen monoxide! You just circulate and use it.
The whole ethanol fuel notion is just objectionable in so many ways. But hey! If you want to make your own corn whiskey there should be some real bargains in bankrupt distilleries.
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