Wind Energy Milestone

[novakevlar]

I live in Texas and a fairly good grasp of how ERCOT works.

Yep, you are lucky in many ways! Texas will be the leader in renewable energy in the US while at the same time drilling and refining oil and shipping LNG. Abbott seems to have turned a corner and will show other states that energy diversity is the way to go.

[MichAngler]

https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2021...lade-disposal/

[Bueller]

BBCer’s Google skills remain strong and impressive. No matter what you are looking to support or skewer, it’s right there at your fingertips.

[ProVle]

Maybe we can bury those "dirty old wind mill blades" with this stuff from burning coal. https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/slag

[BOATS]

https://www.firstcoastnews.com/artic...tag1=wtlvshare

[riggpigg]

Having been around a lot of the country myself, if we're going to shut an energy source down based on this criteria, we're ALL back to the Dark Ages, literally. Never seen a good looking coal, gas, solar, nuclear, or hydro plant that wasn't ugly.

IF IT WAS ONE OR TWO WINDMILLS LIKE NUCLEAR OR HYDRO IT WOULDNT BE BAD, BUT THOUSANDS OF THE DAMNED THINGS EVERYWHERE A GUY LOOKS IS RIDICULOUS.

[Bassin Bob71]

I knew this would be a fun thread to watch

[Rangerdeepv]

Its all about capacity factor and wind/solar is nowhere near the nuke/coal plant. They can't even be used as peakers because they are so unpredictable. While the concept is great and green to the public the facts are misleading at best. Ever see what it takes to get the raw materials for solar panels and windmills is pretty ungreen. The recycling of the worn out parts is pretty unclean also. The gov't killed the goose that laid the Nuclear golden eggs and the rest of the fossil fuels are beyond dirty. Fusion is so far a vapor and there are only so many rivers and lakes to put hydro on. Fact is we need a mix of all the above.

[TroyBoy30]

just like nuclear, no one wants them around their neighborhood. they are ugly and noisy. some remorts even say they don't pay for themselves with the energy they produce.

[CJ1]

As some one who does offgrid installs. A windmill is DEAD last for power output. A maintenance headache, noisy, and very poor return for money spent, normally upside down forever. Solar is first, ICE gen with natural or propane second, then liquid fuel, diesel gas and then hydro where available. Normally if it moves it is going to cost money. I am glad the government "finds" money to pay for all these windfarms. CJ

[RangrSkipr]

Maybe they should install solar panels in the blades. Win Win with killing two birds with one blade kinda thing .. .

[Gsmith223]

I knew this would be a fun thread to watch

You are welcome.

[dwtaylor]

This doesn't surprise me one bit. It has been windier than hell the last few weeks!

Wanna know why it is so windy in Iowa? Because Nebraska blows and Illinois sucks!

[local16]

I have to admit, they ruin the landscape and I hate seeing them.

[basscat21]

I feel sorry for all the endangered species that will die. So many questions..... the interruption of Whale Migration movement. Sharks using the structures corner to kill seals. Kite surfers caught the blades.........The destruction of native fishing grounds of the Aquinas.

[jcruse64]

Really. How many nuke plants would it take to power the country? It takes about 800 wind turbines to equal the capacity of a single conventional plant. A conventional plant produces power 24/7 while a wind turbine can be run AT BEST 75% of the time. It produces nothing when there is no wind.

I responded to your initial comment about the windfarms being "fugly". Efficiency wasn't a part of your initial post or mine. I don't disagree with your statement on what it takes for a windfarm to equal the capacity of a single, conventional plant, nuclear, gas, or coal. But ALL of them are a blight on their surroundings. Coal, nuclear (not including one designed to use spent fuel), and gas, while generally not taking up and blighting the same amount of space as a windfarm at a given location, have additional sources/areas of blight due to what has to happen to bring in their "feed".

I don't believe there will ever be a "free ride" for humans for their energy needs; there will always be some cost to us and our surroundings to bring us our energy wants/needs.

[Abrin Yad]

I herd dat sum semrt guy sez dat they cauz cancer and go werrrr wherrr werrrrrr.

[richg99]

Most salient comment on this thread, from RangerDeepV... "Fact is we need a mix of all the above."

[high 2]

I'm seeing a 3 MW turbine costs about $4 million to build and about $45k a year in maintenance. They say they have a 20, maybe 25 year lifespan, but several reports have found them to be worn out at 12-15 years. They operate at typically about 35% capacity on the plains, but we'll say 20 years at 50% at 2019 prices (which my quick search found data of).

$4 mil + (20 x $45k) $900000 = $4,900,000. At 50% production, they show $262800 a year for a total of $5,256,000 for its life. At 35%, it drops to $245,280 a year for $4,905,000, just breaking even. The costs doesn't clarify if that includes the removal of the spent turbine. If they only last 15 years and do 50%, they only lose $ 1 million per turbine as they only produce $3,950,000 worth of power.

Now look what you did!! You’re not supposed to look behind the curtain.

[MikeF]

The reason given for never opening the doors was we cannot compete with China on solar panels...

This was known before the money was ever spent.

Criminal magnitude in wasted money in my opinion.