New Record: Wind Powers 40% Of Spain
Wow is about all I can say here.
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http://www.metaefficient.com/wp-cont...ower_spain.jpg |
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-AC |
Even though it was only an instantaneous 40%, it shows that they have built an incredible energy resource. A good part of their transportation system is electric trains so they also have a sustainable transportation system.
Imagine in 15 to 20 years when the wind generation equipment is paid off and the cost of producing power drops, they will become an extremely wealthy nation. |
20 years ago spain had nothing to lose and decided to try something different.
America still believes it has lots to lose so nothing changes. |
MetaEfficient's title should have been "Wind powered 40% of Spain very briefly during wind storm". Kenya may still hold the record for largest percentage of electricity derived from wind.
The article also has me wondering what percentage of Quebec's electric consumption is generated from hydro. >100%? Given Spain's wealth of sites with good wind and solar resources, Spain may become the Quebec of western Europe, exporting large amounts of clean electricity. |
One of the things the Wife and I keep talking about are the wind farms we saw during our visits to Spain. Some of those turbine were HUGE, and there were lots of them, everywhere. It seems like every hill or ridge south of the Pyrenees had wind turbine.
Add to that quite a bit of hydro from small and medium sized installations in the Pyrenees and Sierra Nevada mountains, and a great climate for solar (small solar hot water and PV installs in many places, plus the largest solar power plant in the world) and it just makes you want to go back. I believe that one of the reasons for the large shift to RE is because Spain imports its coal, which makes it tha much more expensive. |
we are so far behind from every industrial nations on green energy.. It is so sad.
Even China is way ahead of us.. Can you imagine, instead using Billion to simulated the economy, we make solar panel affordable to everyone.. less than $1.00 a watt... But I think our oil companies lobbylists and our govn't wont allow it makes too much sense. |
a long, long way to fall....
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The recent Supreme Court rulings, that removed restrictions on political contributions, have pretty much neutralized our most important feed-back mechanism, the democratic process. I don't expect that there will be any significant public action until people are gripped by the realization that they have lost everything and there is nothing left to lose. That's not going to happen soon and it'll be a long, long way to fall. -AC_Hacker |
Spain Supplied With 75% Clean Energy On A Great Day In January
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We North Americans need to ecomod our grid, too! :)
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Wow, 35% average! Thats awesome. 100k jobs is great too. I know unemployment in Spain is pretty high these days.
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What baffles me is that at least here in Wisconsin, our Governor has been pushing first for changes in the law and now changes in the public service policy saying that wind turbines have to be 4 times the blade tip high from the property line, current law gives a distance setback from houses, because it looks like these changes might take place investors in wind power in our state are working on canceling $1.8 billion in investments, scraping plans to build factories that would produce wind turbines and their parts, scraping whole projects and moving there investments to other states.
That $1.8 billion is not stimulus money, it is corporate and private investment money, people who see a 3 to 7 year return on investment as a good investment, if I had the money to invest and these projects were not being canceled I would invest in them as well! but sad to say our governor had some large contributions from big oil. |
Ryland, you hit the nail on the head. Big Oil = big money
In Europe, the cost of living is much higher in almost every way. They are trying to get off all the imported resources they can. They are expensive and they know who controls them. Brazil's autos are ran primarily on sugarcane based ~100% ethanol. The US on the other hand, is fighting more wars that are being financed by tax money. Who is buying our national debt? Primarily China Even if big US businesses control the major solar and wind farms here, we would still be better off. |
at which point it's likely too late.
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March 25, 2008
That news is about 4 years old.. What's going on with Wind these days in Europe?
Here's a recap of 2011. It looks like they are really growing the industry over there.. EWEA Communication Director on 2011 wind energy statistics - YouTube It's a bit surprising to hear they are doing so much.. Maybe they aren't having a Great Depression over there.?. |
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As the saying goes, read the whole thing. It really boils down to this - alternative energy works well for fanboys like us who like to tinker with our own power generation and it's a godsend for people who live off the grid, but considering alternative energy as a viable replacement for more traditional energy sources is akin to wishing unicorn farts could power the world. |
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How much is wind worth in China, Russia, Vietnam, Congo, Brazil? I don't know, but those probably aren't countries which raise the global wind average. Quote:
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Denmark "benefits" from being able to export below cost electricity to Norway which stores that electricity by pumping water up to a higher level so that later, when the wind isn't blowing, Norway can release that water and sell the power generated to Denmark for higher prices due to demand scarcity for electricity at the moment of sale. What happens to national systems which don't have neighbors which can store the electricity for later use? The solution is that the national system has to overbuild dramatically in order to have a minimum generating capacity available at all times and then find a use for surplus electricity. As I already noted, wind and solar are good for people who have the mindset of the regular blog visitors here - tinkerers and those who seek self-reliance. Proposing wind and solar for the masses is crazy talk. |
Wow, thanks for that report:)
As mentioned, large-scale wind works well only when there is a means to store its energy until later. In this case the "hydro-battery" happens to be on the other side of national borders, which means that there are extra costs and problems with buying/selling electricity. If the hydro and wind plants belong to the same owner, then costs should be much lower, and storing/using that power simpler. Europe's national power grids are becoming more interconnected, and more is being controlled by European-level red tape, (hopefully) making international power transfers easier. I can understand that at the moment power exchange politics may not be fair for all involved, but let's look at it globally: Surplus wind power isn't wasted, it's only stored somewhere else, increasing its price, and gets used later. So it does reduce fossil fuel use, though not necessarily where intended. It's still a win, though the politics behind it could be improved... And, of course, wind by itself isn't the answer to all power problems, it's only a part of the solution. |
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-Hey Danish power consumer, you need more wind power. -But we don't reduce the burning of fossil fuels and it costs us more for power, in fact we're already paying the highest rates in Europe. Paying more for power means that everything that uses power as an economic activity becomes more expensive and thus lowers our standard of living. -But even if you don't replace fossil fuels, some else does by your using wind power. -No, it's not like that at all. The buyer of our cheap power, which we sell at a loss, has to store that power because if we're producing a surplus at a given time of day, it's likely that they're also experiencing a surplus, and the only buyers who can do this are those with hydroelectric plants which can be switched on and off on one second's notice and those who have pumping facilities to push water up hill. If these buyers have these facilities then they're not burning oil and coal, so no, us using wind power doesn't reduce Norway's reliance on oil/coal. For the effect you describe to happen the buyer of our wind power would have to be using coal/oil but if that were the case what would they be doing for storage of that surplus power at that time of day? They don't have lakes and hydro to use as batteries, that's why they're using coal/oil. -Well, you don't understand my baby, he's a good kid, he's just misunderstood. He couldn't have done the bad thing you say he did - - - oops, I mean wind power is just misunderstood. |
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You are obviously going to a lot of trouble here, but I'm not sure I understand what your point is? -AC |
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Here's newer story about Spain. Doesn't look good over there. 22% unemployment.
Highest rate in the Euro zones. News Headlines |
This topic does not seem to be related directly to DIY, but to a news story.
A story that seems to be pointing to the great success of wind power in Spain. One might assume some very smart people in Spain made good choices on the best way to spent their money..?. The wisdom of investing billions in wind power for environmentalist reasons, is a political issue in Spain. When we look at what's happening to the standard of living in Spain today, we have to wonder if one of the reasons for their apparent decline, is due to their adherence to the mandates laid down by the environmentalist.?. Since we have environmentalist in control of our government now, it's also a political issue here in the USA. At this point in time, is it wise for American treasure to be spent on low-yield methods of energy production? Are we just rearranging deck chairs here?? Seems like a good topic to discuss in the Wind Power section of the forum.. |
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You are hijacking the thread. -AC |
Tilting at Windmills...
Last evening I got to thinking about an old novel that was written by a Spanish guy...
The novel was about a delusional man who imagined himself to be a chivalrous warrior, and who, along with his hapless sidekick attacked Spanish windmills in order to save the honor of a fair damsel, who in reality was the village prostitute. There must be something about Spanish windmills that attracts this kind of thing. -AC |
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about a great achievement in wind power. I'm pretty sure we can question that assumption, without moving the discussion to another part of this web site. If the moderator wants to move the discussion, so be it. Why would anyone who is following it, even care? I've met a few people that read information (hype?) about wind power and jump to the conclusion, that those glowing reports could be translated into a backyard success with a wind turbine they can order on-line.. For examples, search on "Missouri Wind and Solar" scam or rip-off. One of my Youtube PV buddies down in Florida wanted to mount a MW&S turbine, on a low mount, in the narrow space between his house and his neighbors. Because the wind increased when it was forced between the houses. Even with my limited experiences with small sailboats seems to tell me that's a nutty idea.. I told him he should get a good site evaluation done before placing his order. I'm not sure if he did or not.. |
Alonso, is that you?
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But, if you think about it with an open mind, it cuts both ways.. Some readers might think that you are referring to yourself as Alonso Quijano.. :D And what does that make Lady Wind Power, without her makeup? LOL!! |
Just to show that I'm not irrationally opposed to wind power let me say that I intend to build a small windmill, not for power generation, but as a well pump. I'll build a reservoir and when the wind blows, and the reservoir has available capacity, the windmill will pump up water and then when the wind dies down I won't care because the pumping requirement doesn't have to meet an "always-on" condition.
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And then get a pelton turbine wheel and use that for hydro-electric. Job done! :)
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Inappropriate post about 2 years ago..
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Wind Energy in Spain...
I'm sure that 65 year old memories of rusting wind powered water pumps and dreams of a miraculous nuclear future offer comfort, they are not of the present, and have nothing to do with this thread.
In an effort to redirect this thread away from technologies that have nothing to do with Spain, or wind, or technologies that are not available, and even more importantly, offer no relevance to us in any way as EcoRenovators... I found a very interesting link to an Energy and Materials Conference that is happening in Spain, on Feb 25, 2015. It's good to see that Spain's success is relevant, recognized and is being seen as an inspiring example for future endeavors in alternative energy. Here are the areas of discussion:
Note that of the fifteen areas of discussion, only on of them concerns nuclear energy. I wish this conference was closer, I'd really love to go... maybe they have EcoRenovator discounts. -AC |
Spain at a standstill : Spain at a standstill | Windpower Monthly
SPAIN: New legislation has left one of wind power's biggest and most successful markets in a state of complete paralysis, with some Spanish developers seriously considering dismantling their projects and selling the turbines on the second-hand market. On 9 June the Spanish government rubberstamped its austere and retroactive regulation, slashing income for all existing renewables technologies and ending support mechanisms for new capacity. As a result, the national wind-power market entered a stage of full paralysis, according to practically all speakers at Spanish wind energy association AEE's annual convention, held the following day in Madrid. |
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All signs are that the technology is viable. The problem is that just like the US has done, Europe is allowing financial institutions to dictate economic policy. What you are seeing is what happens when you let the IMF and World Bank lend a helping hand. This is how the 1% (or more correctly, the 0.1 %) feeds off of the planet. Countries are slowly wising up. Iceland, Brazil, Argentina are refusing the assistance of the IMF and the World Bank, and they are beginning to bloom. It looks like Greece is going that way, too. -AC |
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