Texas Approves Massive New Wind Power Project; A Gust at the Volt's Back?

[Michael_S]

Originally Posted by eaton53

That's because the power companies know the first bird that gets creamed by a turbine in California will get 'em shut down...

Not every environmentalist is a whacko who would rather see people live without electricity than risk killing a pigeon with a windmill.

[ronald mcretard]

Originally Posted by Michael_S

Not every environmentalist is a whacko who would rather see people live without electricity than risk killing a pigeon with a windmill.

I second that.

Still, I wonder if some kind of system could be set up so that the windmills emit sounds that repel birds before they get too close, or something like that.

[Ed Arcuri]

This is good news. It's nice to see Texas leading the way - again.
California could be part of the solution too; but the good people of the Golden State are outnumbered by the navel-gazers, Bazillionaires (Ahnuld, Feinstein, Boxer), the fantasy producers in Hollywood, and assorted oddments in the policy making landscape.
'twas ever thus; the hand wringers bemoan the crisis and the real leaders take action. Congratulations to Texas for the leadership shown here.
With appropriate apologies to the Governator for the paraphrase - We'll be back.
Cheers,
Ed Arcuri
The first five words of the Bill of Rights: "Congress shall make no law . . . " They shoulda' quit there and gone home.

[TruckMan]

The blades don't rotate as fast as you think. There's a reducer (like a transmission) inside the housing that keeps the blades moving relatively slow, while the output shaft speeds up. They try to maintain a constant speed on the blades to reduce stress since they are so large.

I didn't read this article, but this has been in the news for a couple of days now. One report said that while Texas has been #1 in wind power for several years, once this project is implemented, we'll be generating more wind power than the next 14 states combined.

[Michael_S]

Originally Posted by ronald mcretard

I second that.

Still, I wonder if some kind of system could be set up so that the windmills emit sounds that repel birds before they get too close, or something like that.

It couldn't hurt, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it. More birds have undoubtedly died from flying into the steam from a nuclear plant (and I support nuclear power), or the smoke from coal power plants.

We're a society that slaughters hundreds of thousands of cows, pigs, chickens, and turkeys a year to eat. I don't see how anyone can justify getting upset over a few thousand other birds.

[m4bama]

This is another false postive just like wait for it :

Corn Ethanol is not it neither is Wind Power too dependent on the wind and the Europeans are finding this out now and it cost alot of money to take these down.

We need to Drill, Coal to Oil and Natural Gas .

Go toward Algae to Ethanol , Solar among other sources.

[johnny smallblock]

Originally Posted by Michael_S

I don't see how anyone can justify getting upset over a few thousand other birds.

Nobody does get upset about it. 1 person raises it as an issue and people mock an entire movement as if that 1 person represents something beyond themself. In this case, 1 person here mocked the State of California because he assumed someone would raise it.

[johnny smallblock]

Why is wind power a great thing when Texas does it, but not if someone from a "blue state" suggests it? I know, I know, too political.

I'm glad they're doing it. The more people that see rough and tumble Texas looking for alternative fuel, the more it will be accepted.

[tgagneguam]

Funny that this topic comes up now. This week I have been talking to a windmill dealer in my state who sells, among other things, windmills for residential use. Price for the windmill and its installation is a bit pricey-roughly $10,000-but I also am tired of paying the second highest electric utility rates in the continental US. And that, in part, reflects a completely complicit Utility Commission that has never once denied rate increases for my electric company. At last count, we've had two increases this year alone (one was followed by a 20% increase in executive compensation; I kid you not). At present rates, let alone presumed future increases, I assume that I will be able to recover my investment in literally less than 4.5 years.

It's pretty tempting. I have the area in my yard, and it appears I wouldn't have a problem obtaining a permit. I confess I need to learn more before I write the check, though.

[953228]

The average wind turbine kills 1.7 birds per year. The bird blender reputation started with early turbines that used a lattice tower (an excellent bird house) to hold up the nacelle. That dramatically increased the bird kill rate and is one reason the towers are now tubular steal.

To answer the earlier questions - the blades of the turbines in the Pickens ad are 37m long and made of fiberglass

I think the big tie in between wind and the Volt will be when people have an interruptable line put in for their car charging just like many people have for AC. The problem with wind is it's variability. If the utilities can control demand, than Wind becomes a better source of power and doesn't require "spinning reserve" to avoid problems. I think most interuptable circuits gurantee power for 45 minutes of every hour. Something like that would give companies the ability to start peaker (usually natural gas) turbines when the wind stopped blowing, without having to keep them at idle.

[yamahr1]

Originally Posted by m4bama

This is another false postive just like wait for it :

Corn Ethanol is not it neither is Wind Power too dependent on the wind and the Europeans are finding this out now and it cost alot of money to take these down.

We need to Drill, Coal to Oil and Natural Gas .

Go toward Algae to Ethanol , Solar among other sources.

I tried hard to translate this into English. But I loved the revelation that "Wind Power too dependent on the wind"! Tonto prefer Ethanol from horse dung.

Seriously, this $4/gallon gas is probably just what this country needed. All kinds of real innovation kicks in to chase the revealed opportunity, and in a few years we'll probably really start to see the results.

[ejfx]

There were plans to put one of the nations biggest wind farms off the coast of Cape Cod

Many years later its still delayed...too much bureaucracy on Beacon Hill.

[AndrewGS]

People mention the vulnerability of wind power to the weather, but these wind farms are only going in where it's blowing almost all the time. There is, however, the chance of interruption during uncharacteristic weather. This is why I believe in personal power generation with home solar to supplant the grid and natural gas or propane home generators when both of those fail.

[joemac]

This last Tuesday morning around 11:30'ish, north bound US-75 in north Dallas, spotted 4 to 5 class 8 rigs hauling pairs of blades for what would have appeared to be for wind mill use.

Total length of the blades was longer than a regular trailer. I would estimate about 80 feet in total.

[griff7774]

I'm still waiting on the superconducting supercollider