[randiferous]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5893101.html

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas is moving forward on the nation's largest wind-power project, a plan to build billions of dollars worth of new transmission lines to bring wind energy from gusty West Texas to urban areas.

Texas is already the national leader in wind power, and supporters say Thursday's preliminary approval by the Public Utility Commission, will make the Lone Star State a leader in being able to move all that energy to the urban areas that need it.

"We will add more wind than the 14 states following Texas combined," said PUC Commissioner Paul Hudson. "I think that's a very extraordinary achievement. Some think we haven't gone far enough, some think we've pushed too far."

Looks like the grid in Texas would be able to handle the Volt easily and with a Cleaner conscience

 

[AndrewGS]

Re: Texas approves massive new wind power project

More people would be willing to pay extra for renewable energy sources if it meant the "fuel surcharge" were taken off their bill. The surcharge for natural gas more than doubles the electricity bills and, of course, you get charged this fee no matter what plan you choose.

 

[johnstarnes]

Re: Texas approves massive new wind power project

great news...thanks!

 

[GMusa]

Re: Texas approves massive new wind power project

There was also talk about putting massive wind turbines out in Lake Erie. There was talk that one blade would be as long as a football field.

 

[johnstarnes]

Re: Texas approves massive new wind power project

There was also talk about putting massive wind turbines out in Lake Erie. There was talk that one blade would be as long as a football field.

The size of those things amazed me in that Pickens video! I had NO idea those turbines were SO HUGE...they dwarfed the men beside them. I wonder what the blades are made from...aluminum? titanium? fiberglass? Hard to imagine something so large being made from carbon fiber...maybe the same material as the hull of the new Boeing Dreamliner?

 

[Ming]

Now how are people going to make fun of Texans as evil oil men in expensive cowboy hats when we have more wind power than California?

 

[eaton53]

Now how are people going to make fun of Texans as evil oil men in expensive cowboy hats when we'll have more wind power than California?

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

 

[jaywestfall]

Now how are people going to make fun of Texans as evil oil men in expensive cowboy hats when we'll have more wind power than California?

So Ming, whadaya say we go slap some of them turbines on all the refineries next to the Gulf. Should be enough to light Houston and power the plants, right?

 

[AndrewGS]

Now how are people going to make fun of Texans as evil oil men in expensive cowboy hats when we'll have more wind power than California?

We're still all oil-rich cowboys that ride horses and drive pickups and Cadillacs while wearing our cowboy hats. At least, that's what I tell everyone that asks me if I'm a cowboy when they find out I'm from Texas.

BTW: We already have more wind power than California.

 

[FoMoCo Fan]

We're still all oil-rich cowboys that ride horses and drive pickups and Cadillacs while wearing our cowboy hats. At least, that's what I tell everyone that asks me if I'm a cowboy when they find out I'm from Texas.

BTW: We already have more wind power than California.

Hey, we've got our own cowboys here in CA, and we're darn proud of em. California is a lot more than obnoxious, smug people from "the City".

 

[randiferous]

We're still all oil-rich cowboys that ride horses and drive pickups and Cadillacs while wearing our cowboy hats. At least, that's what I tell everyone that asks me if I'm a cowboy when they find out I'm from Texas.

BTW: We already have more wind power than California.

....Very True! Everyone thinks we are big, loud and we have to roll up our cowboy hats to fit our girls in the passenger compartment of our F-450's.

My girl had that stereotype that all we eat are cows and BBQ... she is from Canada....Very true about having more wind power than California too. Take that, hippies(sarcasm at stereotyping all Californians)

 

[mjd1001]

It's good to get more wind power, but getting more wind farms up isn't really a big thing to help out the Volt now. As pointed out in a thread on here the other day, most people with a Volt would be charging it overnight...when power demand is the lowest..and the current power grid could EASILY handle plug-in electric cars right now.

 

[rdj92807]

Wind power in Texas makes a lot sense, with all that "hot air" in the state.

 

[triadecho]

Even without wind power, the demand for electricity falls way off at night.
If you plug in your car for a charge overnight, the power company will be glad to see you as they are loaded with excess capacity at night. Elecric cars could really help a utilities' bottom line.

 

[Ming]

It's good to get more wind power, but getting more wind farms up isn't really a big thing to help out the Volt now. As pointed out in a thread on here the other day, most people with a Volt would be charging it overnight...when power demand is the lowest..and the current power grid could EASILY handle plug-in electric cars right now.

The point is that you could be charging your Volt on wind power. Not non-renewable energy sources, regardless of the state of the grid. It's an environmentalist's dream.

Imagine a small town in Texas near one of these wind farms where people can have their big screen TVs, cars, heat and air conditioning all coming from wind...

You can have the "American Dream" while using very little oil, coal or nuclear power. I'd say that's worth celebrating, even if there are downsides and flaws to it.

 

[Michael_S]

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 McChevy]

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]

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.