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Post by magellan on Feb 20, 2011 7:12:21 GMT
Technical question about these turbines: Do they have de-icing boots or heaters, and do they have a variable pitch capability to adjust for wind speed? It seems to me that these would be basic design requirements. I haven't looked into those details, just the results www.isope.org/publications/journals/ijope-17-3/abst-17-3-p182-RF-37-Mayer.pdfI'd think they would also need to keep the gear oil warm because the viscosity degrades as the temperature drops. It appears they didn't think of a lot of things, but that's what happens when industry is in bed with government handing out grants and subsidies like candy. BTW, since GE is in bed with Obama, and quid pro quo, just by coincidence ordered 20,000 of the Govt Motors Volt. Purely circumstantial. The rest of America isn't ordering them.
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Post by trbixler on Mar 20, 2011 15:25:33 GMT
Good summary of a failed enterprise. Pand L statement without government tax breaks? Free power? So profitable they are abandoned, leaving eyesores for those that live in the area. When I do my annual survey in the Palm Springs area 25% are working. "The reality of wind turbines in California – video" Sorry picture was biasedly picked from the Hawaii wind farm that had reached maturity. wattsupwiththat.com/2011/03/19/the-reality-of-wind-turbines-in-california-video/#more-36283
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Post by trbixler on Apr 27, 2011 13:33:49 GMT
If you build it bigger they will come. All those tax dollars will be coming in the form of energy deductions then I will be down the road and smiling. FOI to get the proud facts! "Blown promises" " Sandwell Borough Council paid £5,000 a pop to install several wind turbines in their area, and then paid another £750 to have the output of just one of them monitored. The monitored turbine, which was installed on a primary school, generated 209kWh of electricity in the twelve months it was being monitored. That’s about 20 quid’s worth. So each turbine will have to run for 250 years without breaking down or requiring maintainance, just to break even." wattsupwiththat.com/2011/04/27/blown-promises/#more-38791
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Post by trbixler on Apr 28, 2011 13:35:50 GMT
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Post by trbixler on Apr 30, 2011 20:27:45 GMT
"Why windmills won’t wash" "In the first full year of the Oldbury White Elephant’s 20-year life it generated a gratifying 209 kilowatt-hours of electricity – enough to power a single 100-Watt reading-lamp for less than three months. The rest of the year you’ll have to find something else to do in bed. Gross revenue for the year, at 11p (18 cents) a kilowatt-hour, was, um, almost £23 ($40). Assuming that there are no costs of finance, insurance or maintenance, and after subtracting 20 years’ revenue at last year’s rate, the net unamortized capital cost is £5,415.20 ($8,900)." wattsupwiththat.com/2011/04/30/why-windmills-won%E2%80%99t-wash/
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Post by trbixler on Jun 7, 2011 14:13:04 GMT
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Post by trbixler on Jun 19, 2011 2:47:09 GMT
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Post by magellan on Jun 19, 2011 4:25:05 GMT
ROFLMAO Pictures truly can be worth 1000 words.
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Post by hairball on Aug 16, 2011 12:08:20 GMT
Professor Dieter Helm, an economist from the University of Oxford, told the BBC he doubted a large expansion in offshore wind power was affordable. He said: "Offshore wind is one of the very few things that makes nuclear power look cheap."www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14412189
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Post by trbixler on Aug 23, 2011 3:25:29 GMT
AGW driven economic riots. "Britain’s Wind Farm Scam Threatens Economic Recovery" "In a sane world, no one would dream of building power sources whose cost is 22 times greater than that of vastly more efficient competitors. But the Government feels compelled to do just this because it sees it as the only way to meet our commitment to the EU that within nine years Britain must generate nearly a third of its electricity from “renewable” sources, six times more than we do at present. Madness is far too polite a word. –-Christopher Booker, The Sunday Telegraph, 21 August 2011 They are among the nation’s wealthiest aristocrats, whose families have protected the British landscape for centuries. Until now that is. For increasing numbers of the nobility – among them dukes and even a cousin of the Queen – are being tempted by tens of millions of pounds offered by developers. –Robert Menthingy and Edward Malnick, The Sunday Telegraph, 21 August 2011" wattsupwiththat.com/2011/08/22/britains-wind-farm-scam-threatens-economic-recovery/
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Post by trbixler on Oct 7, 2011 2:10:27 GMT
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Post by commonsense on Oct 7, 2011 4:25:13 GMT
Professor Dieter Helm, an economist from the University of Oxford, told the BBC he doubted a large expansion in offshore wind power was affordable. He said: "Offshore wind is one of the very few things that makes nuclear power look cheap."www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14412189The article also claims that onshore wind is just about the cheapest form of energy available, beaten only by pre-existing gas facilities. It also claims that offshore wind energy is expected to radically drop in price over the next 9 years.
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Post by glennkoks on Oct 7, 2011 13:30:37 GMT
When natural gas was 14.00 an MCF and oil was 147.00 a barrel in 07' and 08' wind and solar energy made much more economic sense. Now with more and more shale gas coming on line and prices at 3.50 per MCF alternative energy cannot compete.
Wind and solar energy will make more sense when the worldwide economy recovers and the demand for both natural gas and crude oil increases and the price rebounds.
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Post by richardlowe on Oct 10, 2011 0:39:27 GMT
When natural gas was 14.00 an MCF and oil was 147.00 a barrel in 07' and 08' wind and solar energy made much more economic sense. Now with more and more shale gas coming on line and prices at 3.50 per MCF alternative energy cannot compete. Wind and solar energy will make more sense when the worldwide economy recovers and the demand for both natural gas and crude oil increases and the price rebounds. Power plants are long term investments. Your post actually supports the choice of solar and wind power, especially as the choices made today won't affect power production until the plant is up and running. Interestingly, if we were to choose that path, gas and oil could drop in price, and so wind and solar don't become cost effective until after the current new power plants are retired!
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Post by richardlowe on Oct 10, 2011 1:49:13 GMT
Buildings, cars, cats, and pesticides each kill way over a thousand times as many birds as windmills, and most windmill deaths are caused by pre-2000 units that were far more dangerous. I think bats are a bigger issue. www.wvhighlands.org/VoiceText%20PDFs/VoiceOct04%20P22.pdf"Peaks in bat kills seem to occur on calm, low-wind nights after the passage of storm fronts, for example. On the other hand, “We find no evidence that bats are killed by stationary turbines,” he said. In other words, it’s the spinning blades. “We also have not given up on deterrents on adjusting the sounds put off by turbines,” Tuttle said. “We have just started looking at the thermal imaging tapes. The turbines put off a wide range of sounds that are audible and ultrasonic.” " Many backup power plants might be replaced by batteries. Ten years or so after a hybrid car is built, a reasonable battery comes on the secondary market. These used batteries could be tied into the grid. www.hybridcars.com/hybrid-car-battery"The discharge power capability of the Prius pack is about 20 kW at 50 percent state-of-charge." It would take about 25,000 Prius batteries to replace a 500MW power plant. www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2011-04-06-prius-tops-one-million-in-sales.htm"Prius gas-electric hybrid has passed 1 million in U.S. sales since the then-radical high-mileage car’s launch in 2000," So using just the Prius batteries we have in the pipeline, we could replace 4 coal plants for ten hours. www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/coalvswind/c01.html"A typical (500 megawatt) coal plant burns 1.4 million tons of coal each year. There are about 600 U.S. coal plants." We'd need a lot of hybrid vehicle batteries. I wonder how long the used batteries will last in a controlled stationary application with good monitoring and maintenance? The smart grid and smart appliances will also remove some need for backup power plants. Most people's laundry will be done when rates are low and supply is plentiful. Electricity will be very cheap at those times in a renewable energy world.
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