Fields of Amber Whoosh

QUINNSCOMMENTARY · Post by **QUINNSCOMMENTARY** » Fri May 16, 2008 4:45 am

Having worked for an electric company for nearly 47 years, I should be able to tell you where electricity comes from. In fact, I don’t have a clue. Ok, I do know that we make electricity at generating stations and that in one way or the other we convert water to steam to turn turbines that in some magical way makes electricity. It has always fascinated me that even though you cannot store electricity and must use it the instant it is generated we somehow are able to do just that with a maze of wires, substations, transformers and who know what else.

You probably know all this too, but I bet you don’t know where these generating stations are located, or do you care for that matter. They are near rivers or oceans (lost of water you know), they are either out in the middle of nowhere or they are buried in old industrial areas (and occasionally within large dams).

But be prepared, in the future you will know where electricity is generated as the landscape and perhaps your neighbors backyard become doted with giant wind generators. Think I’m kidding, you can buy your own wind turbine for about $3,000 and all you need is 26 mph of wind and you are good to go, whoosh, whoosh, and whoosh! But if you want to be serious, you need the real thing and that are 328 feet tall and larger in diameter than a Boeing 747.

T. Boone Pickens the Texas billionaire just order 667 of these monsters for a wind farm in Texas, so much for the wide open plains of Texas. Heck if we are really serious about this, let’s line the rim of the Grand Canyon with these things. Of course anyone putting down a few billion on wind turbines is betting that the U.S. government will provide incentives or subsidizes and why not, it is farming after all and we are good at giving millionaire farmers subsidies.

Yeah, I know pollution and all that, coal burning generating plants hurt the environment and heaven forbid we embrace nuclear power. But in the years ahead I suspect someone may ask, how the heck did we create such ugly landscapes with these thousands of noisy turbines across our deserts, off our beaches, in our backyards, over our mountains and on our farmlands…my God they are everywhere! Couldn’t we have improved the technology for generating stations and accomplished the same result and not even dependent on Mother Nature?

The problem you see is that this rush to wind is politically correct and who better to generate interest in an excess amount of hot air than the people in Washington?

“What’s the matter Ralph?” “I can’t sleep.” “Is it the neighbor’s dog barking?” “I wish!”

WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH

When the fields of amber grain are covered with 10,000 acres of solar panels interspersed with wind monsters, remember…you really needed that electric toothbrush. :p

Clodhopper · Post by **Clodhopper** » Fri May 16, 2008 5:07 am

Between a quarter and a third of the world's wildlife has been lost since 1970, according to data compiled by the Zoological Society of London.

Populations of land-based species fell by 25%, marine by 28% and freshwater by 29%, it says.

Quoted from BBC Science/Nature updated 2:30am today. (No linkable address - sorry)

I'd say the damage we are doing to the planet and its inhabitants is a good reason to move away from fosssil fuels to generate our electricity. It has certainly caused me to drop my opposition to nuclear electricity over the last few years.

Is the USA so crowded that it's really impossible to site a few hundred thousand acres of windfarm away from population centres?

FUBAR · Post by **FUBAR** » Fri May 16, 2008 5:55 am

But what if while you were at work you could generate power and sell it back to the grid or offset your own power bill? Bet they would sell a lot more then, the only ones against it would be the power companies.

Mustang · Post by **Mustang** » Fri May 16, 2008 6:59 am

It is all ready happening in my state. Wind farms are being installed on the mountain tops across the state.

They have 200 feet blades on them. So you look out your back door and see them across the mountain tops? Would you want one of them in your back yard?

Joe · Post by **Joe** » Fri May 16, 2008 7:32 am

Quinn asked, "Couldn’t we have improved the technology for generating stations and accomplished the same result and not even dependent on Mother Nature?"

Any suggestions for how to do this?

Mustang · Post by **Mustang** » Fri May 16, 2008 8:01 am

I myself think water is the best way the same as it has always been but with new Technology.

Clodhopper · Post by **Clodhopper** » Fri May 16, 2008 9:54 am

Mustang;867103 wrote: It is all ready happening in my state. Wind farms are being installed on the mountain tops across the state.

They have 200 feet blades on them. So you look out your back door and see them across the mountain tops? Would you want one of them in your back yard?

That sort of puzzles me. Is the USA really so small it is necessary? Wouldn't it be possible to site them in more remote places? I assume it's greed on the part of the operator or something to do with state laws?

I've seen some of these things in Cornwall, and they aren't the prettiest things but they aren't on mountaintops, so I don't know why yours are.

Mustang · Post by **Mustang** » Fri May 16, 2008 11:18 am

Clodhopper;867326 wrote: That sort of puzzles me. Is the USA really so small it is necessary? Wouldn't it be possible to site them in more remote places? I assume it's greed on the part of the operator or something to do with state laws?

I've seen some of these things in Cornwall, and they aren't the prettiest things but they aren't on mountaintops, so I don't know why yours are.

It's not that the USA is small it's greed by the state and the power companys. Your right they are not the prettiest things to look at. But in my state the only place they will work is on the mountain tops.Some of them are being installed on state land. My state is made up of mountains and the wildlife in this area live on the mountains they have no chance of staying in that area with them things up there only to be driven down to the citys. It's a no win for every thing because of greed!

Sheryl · Post by **Sheryl** » Sat May 17, 2008 11:19 pm

Several have gone up in my area. I can go in my backyard and count 8 of them. They don't make any noise that I can hear, but it would take a bit of noise to drown out all the irrigation motors. :wah:

Clodhopper · Post by **Clodhopper** » Mon May 19, 2008 7:53 am

the wildlife in this area live on the mountains they have no chance of staying in that area with them things up there

We can hope you are wrong there. Wildlife can be quite adaptive in that sense: once they work out the things won't hurt them and can't be eaten there's a good chance they'll just ignore them.

QUINNSCOMMENTARY · Post by **QUINNSCOMMENTARY** » Tue May 20, 2008 5:33 pm

And so it begins...

AP

Groups plan to sue over W. Va. wind project

Tuesday May 20, 4:17 pm ET

Environmental groups plan to sue over W. Va. wind project

MOUNT STORM, W.Va. (AP) -- A coalition of 11 environmental and citizen groups is planning a lawsuit challenging the NedPower Mount Storm wind project.

Groups such as the Friends of Blackwater Canyon contend the project near the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area could kill endangered squirrels, bats and other animals.

Director Judy Rodd says Friends of Blackwater Canyon and the other groups plan to sue Dominion Resources Inc. and Shell WindEnergy.

Rodd says the nearby Mountaineer Wind Project kills 4,000 bats annually and predicts NedPower's 44 turbines could kill 20,000 bats a year.

Representatives of Shell and Dominion did not have immediate comment.

And PS, when they are spinning they sure do make noise.