Pickens gets wind knocked out of him...

[kwillia]

Texas Billionaire Pickens Blows Off Plans for Wind Farm - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News - FOXNews.com

Plans for the world's largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle have been scrapped, energy baron T. Boone Pickens said Tuesday, and he's looking for a home for 687 giant wind turbines.

Pickens has already ordered the turbines, which can stand 400 feet tall — taller than most 30-story buildings.

"When I start receiving those turbines, I've got to ... like I said, my garage won't hold them," the legendary Texas oilman said. "They've got to go someplace."

Pickens' company Mesa Power ordered the turbines from General Electric Co. — a $2 billion investment — a little more than a year ago.

Pickens said he has leases on about 200,000 acres in Texas that were planned for the project, and he might place some of the turbines there, but he's also looking for smaller wind projects to participate in. He said he's looking at potential sites in the Midwest and Canada.

In Texas, the problem lies in getting power from the proposed site in the Panhandle to a distribution system, Pickens said in an interview with The Associated Press in New York. He'd hoped to build his own transmission lines but he said there were technical problems.

 

[Larry Gude]

Gee, I wonder why the Obama people aren't all for this?

 

[Otter]

Gee, I wonder why the Obama people aren't all for this?

They will be, T.Boone is no dummy, the Feds will come running with money to help him out. Just watch.

 

[Larry Gude]

They will be, T.Boone is no dummy, the Feds will come running with money to help him out. Just watch.

I dunno. This would be big bucks for Texas (red state).

 

[Sweet 16]

Texas Billionaire Pickens Blows Off Plans for Wind Farm - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News - FOXNews.com

...In Texas, the problem lies in getting power from the proposed site in the Panhandle to a distribution system, Pickens said in an interview with The Associated Press in New York. He'd hoped to build his own transmission lines but he said there were technical problems.

You'd think this would have been planned out in detail before ordering the turbines. I wonder if those "technical problems" have anything to do with EPA restrictions. You would also think that this hurdle would have been cleared prior to ordering $2 BILLION worth of turbines. DUH!

 

[Larry Gude]

You'd think this would have been planned out in detail before ordering the turbines. I wonder if those "technical problems" have anything to do with EPA restrictions. You would also think that this hurdle would have been cleared prior to ordering $2 BILLION worth of turbines. DUH!

This is one reason why the private sector, free markets, supply and demand, are better when we're talking about the economy and the basic operating premise; risk and reward.

If he pulls the deal together, he makes a ton of money. If it falls apart, he's moving on to plan B.

If everything was done ahead of time, the machinery, the land contracts, the distribution, the zoning, the permitting, it's a more certain venture but with less prospects for good return because the only way to get that much certainty is a combination a an awful lot of people in on the deal, including government.

It's probably best to have more people on board for what amounts to a public works project like this. But, then someone like Pickens wouldn't be involved in the first place. Then, it becomes this giant, inefficient 'thing'.

 

[MMDad]

Wirelessly posted (Change we can believe in!: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.7) 320x240; VZW; Motorola-Q9c; Windows Mobile 6.0 Standard)

I heard something on Bloomburg yesterday about these projects in general. Apparently, it is nearly impossible to build new transmission lines but FERC can authorize pipelines immediately. They felt that made LNG a great investment, while "green" industry is years away from being profitable.

 

[Larry Gude]

Wirelessly posted (Change we can believe in!: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.7) 320x240; VZW; Motorola-Q9c; Windows Mobile 6.0 Standard)

I heard something on Bloomburg yesterday about these projects in general. Apparently, it is nearly impossible to build new transmission lines but FERC can authorize pipelines immediately. They felt that made LNG a great investment, while "green" industry is years away from being profitable.

I looked into wind. It's a feel good business decision, not an economic one. You're looking at something like 15 years payback, break even, WITH a substantial subsidy from your neighbors via the state and it still doesn't work when the wind don't blow. And that does not include any major overhauls OR getting blowed up by lightning.

 

[chernmax]

There goes the windbag Pelosi wind stock!!!

 

[Rosehaven]

I hope it happens

T Boone is trying to do something that's never been done and he deserves accolades for that. I know nothing about wind power but if, as has been stated here, there's no return until at least 15 years, then somehow that first step has to be taken. One is naive to believe this can be done and a payback will happen within five years or whatever the expectation is. This is new territory. Wouldn't bother me if the Fed's kicked in somehow to show--yes it can be done. Free enterprise needs a model and once that's in place, watch what it can do.

 

[jrt_ms1995]

T Boone is trying to do something that's never been done and he deserves accolades for that. <snip> This is new territory. Wouldn't bother me if the Fed's kicked in somehow to show--yes it can be done. Free enterprise needs a model and once that's in place, watch what it can do.

No, it isn't new; there've been large-scale wind farms around for decades now. Fly over Mojave, CA, and look down at the hillsides (the windmills are the most visually attractive man-made items in Mojave, but that's another story). Pickens may have been planning for larger turbines, but it's all been done before.

 

[cwo_ghwebb]

No, it isn't new; there've been large-scale wind farms around for decades now. Fly over Mojave, CA, and look down at the hillsides (the windmills are the most visually attractive man-made items in Mojave, but that's another story). Pickens may have been planning for larger turbines, but it's all been done before.

That's the truth!


Hoping and wishing don't get things done. I'm tired of promises from folks who can't deliver, pure and simple.


Socialism has been tried before also. Look at the results. Who coined the phrase that doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results is idiocy? I think it was someone smarter than the Messiah.

 

[glhs837]

T Boone is trying to do something that's never been done and he deserves accolades for that. I know nothing about wind power but if, as has been stated here, there's no return until at least 15 years, then somehow that first step has to be taken. One is naive to believe this can be done and a payback will happen within five years or whatever the expectation is. This is new territory. Wouldn't bother me if the Fed's kicked in somehow to show--yes it can be done. Free enterprise needs a model and once that's in place, watch what it can do.

T. Boone is trying to line his pockets with goverment subsidy money. Theres no profit for 15 years for the utility company. Lots of profit for the company that gets paid by the govt subsidy to install the equipment.

Dont mine the gold, that the sucker bet. Sell the shovels to the suckers mining gold.

 

[MMDad]

Wirelessly posted (Change we can believe in!: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.7) 320x240; VZW; Motorola-Q9c; Windows Mobile 6.0 Standard)

T Boone is trying to do something that's never been done and he deserves accolades for that. I know nothing about wind power but if, as has been stated here, there's no return until at least 15 years, then somehow that first step has to be taken. One is naive to believe this can be done and a payback will happen within five years or whatever the expectation is. This is new territory. Wouldn't bother me if the Fed's kicked in somehow to show--yes it can be done. Free enterprise needs a model and once that's in place, watch what it can do.

Windmills have been around for more than 1,000 years. If it worked that well, would we need to prove it now?

In 1610 Don Quixote was tilting at windmills. You delusional greenies are doing the same thing today.

 

[ImnoMensa]

A windmill powerful enough to keep my home in electricity and the batteries to go with it when the wind isnt blowing would cost in the neighborhood of $50,000 and would be worn out in 20 years provided the wind didnt make it tear itself to pieces or lightning didnt hit the thing before that.

It's a pipe dream at this time. Why even fool with it when we have enough coal to supply our current needs for 500 years.

This Carbon crap the Dems are spitting out is just so much BS. I can remember when smog could be seen in the sky most days during the summer. Now that's gone and we have cleaned it up. As time passes we will find other ways to clean it even more and much cheaper than building windmills that dont work.

 

[jayzee]

How long does it take to build a coal plant?
What is the payback on that?

Propose a better solution, stop stomping your feet and yelling.
Do Something

 

[-SS-]

T Boone is trying to do something that's never been done and he deserves accolades for that. I know nothing about wind power but if, as has been stated here, there's no return until at least 15 years, then somehow that first step has to be taken. One is naive to believe this can be done and a payback will happen within five years or whatever the expectation is. This is new territory. Wouldn't bother me if the Fed's kicked in somehow to show--yes it can be done. Free enterprise needs a model and once that's in place, watch what it can do.

O RLY? It is NOT new territory [see: Mojave Desert] and it is unlikely to have the effect many *believe* that it will.

Global Warming Science and Public Policy - Speaking Truth to "Wind" Power

Enjoy.

 

[-SS-]

How long does it take to build a coal plant?
What is the payback on that?

Propose a better solution, stop stomping your feet and yelling.
Do Something

~Oooooooooooh~

"Do something"... about what?

- Stop GW / ACC perhaps???

- Provide cheap energy?

What are you getting at here?

Go ahead and define what you would like to see "done".

 

[ImnoMensa]

Build Nuclear Power plants. and new Coal Fired plants that use clean coal technology. Drill for the Natural gas we have in the ground. Then studt the effectiveness of Wind Power and solar power until you can make them competitive.

Closing down Nukes and coal with no viable alternative is insane.. Wind power and solar are not viable at this point in time.

Forget this Global Warming nonsense. Cleaner energy is always a great goal, but destroying America to reach that goal is just plain stupid.

 

[-SS-]

Build Nuclear Power plants. and new Coal Fired plants that use clean coal technology. Drill for the Natural gas we have in the ground. Then studt the effectiveness of Wind Power and solar power until you can make them competitive.

Closing down Nukes and coal with no viable alternative is insane.. Wind power and solar are not viable at this point in time.

Forget this Global Warming nonsense. Cleaner energy is always a great goal, but destroying America to reach that goal is just plain stupid.

2 things:

1 - Greenpeace was very effective at at shutting down Nuclear power [and its benefactor, nuclear medicine], which pushed us into coal plants. It takes YEARS just to get permits approved before any construction can begin. Dont forget the EPA environmental impact report needs to be done too.
Why I Left Greenpeace - WSJ.com
There is no such things as "clean coal" either. Its still "dirty" to a certain level.


2 - You may think ACC [anthropogenic climate change, aka global warming] is nonsense, but I am pretty sure you havent really run into a New Religion zealot whose very belief system is completely rooted in ACC. Im telling you right now, these people are vastly more dangerous than any terrorist organization in the world. I kid you not. These are the most mypoic people I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with no matter how much data I hammered them with. The IPCC Climate Report published by the agenda driven oligarchy [too include e-Gore] is their Bible, facts be damned.

Analogy: It was like trying to persuade a Southern Baptist Evangelist that God doesnt exist.

Here's a sneak peak at their overall agenda [circa Dec 2007]:
IBDeditorials.com: Editorials, Political Cartoons, and Polls from Investor's Business Daily -- Tax And Wane