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#11 |
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
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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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#12 |
Master EcoRenovator
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Western Wisconsin.
Posts: 913
Thanks: 127
Thanked 82 Times in 71 Posts
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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. |
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#13 |
Apprentice EcoRenovator
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Oklahoma City
Posts: 155
Thanks: 58
Thanked 17 Times in 14 Posts
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![]() 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. |
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#14 |
Master EcoRenovator
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Vancouver Island BC
Posts: 745
Thanks: 23
Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts
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![]() at which point it's likely too late.
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#15 |
Lex Parsimoniae
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Woburn, MA
Posts: 4,918
Thanks: 114
Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts
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![]() 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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My hobby is installing & trying to repair mini-splits EPA 608 Type 1 Technician Certification ~ 5 lbs or less.. |
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#16 | ||
Helper EcoRenovator
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Canada
Posts: 91
Thanks: 6
Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts
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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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#17 | ||
Super Moderator
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Posts: 964
Thanks: 189
Thanked 111 Times in 87 Posts
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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. But they can, we just don't know how to harness that power yet ![]()
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Ecorenovation - the bottomless piggy bank that tries to tame the energy hog. |
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#18 | ||
Helper EcoRenovator
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Canada
Posts: 91
Thanks: 6
Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts
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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. |
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#19 |
Super Moderator
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Posts: 964
Thanks: 189
Thanked 111 Times in 87 Posts
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![]() 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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Ecorenovation - the bottomless piggy bank that tries to tame the energy hog. |
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#20 | |
Helper EcoRenovator
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Canada
Posts: 91
Thanks: 6
Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts
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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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