Nine-year wind farm fight

Vince

......
Same mentality as those that fight off shore oil drilling. :bs: Put the windmills up, and start drilling for oil.
 
D

dems4me

Guest
Wind mills are dumb. Build a damn nuke plant and get on with it.

That may be a while Larry. I could be wrong, but I think the nuclear companies applied for $122 billion in loans and was only granted $18.5 billion in loan guarantees for their projects about a month or two ago. :ohwell: I think the DOE came out with a decision at that time to only federal back the loans of 3 or 4 plants total (expansion of Calvert Cliffs (Constellation) being one of them).
 

Larry Gude

Strung Out
That may be a while Larry. I could be wrong, but I think the nuclear companies applied for $122 billion in loans and was only granted $18.5 billion in loan guarantees for their projects about a month or two ago. :ohwell: I think the DOE came out with a decision at that time to only federal back the loans of 3 or 4 plants total (expansion of Calvert Cliffs (Constellation) being one of them).

Right but, Bush, Obama, the next person, we NEED to make nukes a priority and now!!!

:buddies:
 

ylexot

Super Genius
That may be a while Larry. I could be wrong, but I think the nuclear companies applied for $122 billion in loans and was only granted $18.5 billion in loan guarantees for their projects about a month or two ago. :ohwell: I think the DOE came out with a decision at that time to only federal back the loans of 3 or 4 plants total (expansion of Calvert Cliffs (Constellation) being one of them).

And these offshore wind farms will be cheap and go up quickly?
 

itsbob

I bowl overhand
5 - 10 years they will be towering rusting eyesores in the Nantucket Sound. Hope they name it after Kennedy too.. sounds fitting.
 
5 - 10 years they will be towering rusting eyesores in the Nantucket Sound. Hope they name it after Kennedy too.. sounds fitting.

I wouldn't doubt the cost for maintenance/upkeep will take a fair portion of the profits. It's tough enough to replace a blade or bearing on a windmill on land, now try that on water. Specially designed boats to carry and hoist, hazardous duty pay, etc....

Wind power is a great idea. It just isn't cost effective.
 

itsbob

I bowl overhand
I wouldn't doubt the cost for maintenance/upkeep will take a fair portion of the profits. It's tough enough to replace a blade or bearing on a windmill on land, now try that on water. Specially designed boats to carry and hoist, hazardous duty pay, etc....

Wind power is a great idea. It just isn't cost effective.

I don't think these wind farms realize profits for something like the first ten years. But then they say "After the initial set-up, it's FREE energy." Yep, that's right, you heard it here first. Those wind turbines are sooo well engineered and built they NEVER need maintenance or repairs for the rest of all time and eternity it will be 100% FREE energy, even if these monolithic metal strucures are built in saltwater!

Hell, by the time they make it to the break even point, I bet you most of them will be gone, or just more junk out in the ocean for someone to run into.
 
Wave generation is another good idea. Until it comes to maintenance. Anything that is in the top layers of the ocean will have to contend with buildup of marine life, algae, barnacles, etc... and the maintenance to keep them clean is manpower-intensive and expensive. Any anti-foul chemicals or paint that are strong enough to be useful will kill most of the ocean life around it and downstream from it.

Submerging a wave/current generator below the light zone in the ocean reduces the maintenance, but is still expensive to maintain. Can't just walk up to it with a pair of pliers and fix it.

Like Bob pointed out, anything in the ocean will have high maintenance and limited life.
 

jrt_ms1995

Well-Known Member
That may be a while Larry. I could be wrong, but I think the nuclear companies applied for $122 billion in loans and was only granted $18.5 billion in loan guarantees for their projects about a month or two ago. :ohwell: I think the DOE came out with a decision at that time to only federal back the loans of 3 or 4 plants total (expansion of Calvert Cliffs (Constellation) being one of them).

Then build them without federal loan guarantees!

Oh, wait, sorry, how stupid of me! It's the government's responsibility to fund everything, like our carmakers, bankers, mortgages, education, medical care, ...
 

Larry Gude

Strung Out
I don't think these wind farms realize profits for something like the first ten years. But then they say "After the initial set-up, it's FREE energy." Yep, that's right, you heard it here first. Those wind turbines are sooo well engineered and built they NEVER need maintenance or repairs for the rest of all time and eternity it will be 100% FREE energy, even if these monolithic metal strucures are built in saltwater!

Hell, by the time they make it to the break even point, I bet you most of them will be gone, or just more junk out in the ocean for someone to run into.

A 10 year old, 10 mpg rust bucket pick up truck is better, by far, for the planet than a brand new, 50 mpg hybrid.

The steel in the truck was long ago manufactured along with the plastic. Its environmental impact is pretty much over except for new belts, hoses, oil changes and fuel, all things the new hybrid needs PLUS the impact of the new metal, new plastic and the manufacture of the batteries not to mention their replacement and disposal.

If Cash for Clunkers was about the environment, and it wasn't, it would have been incentivized to get us to buy USED cars.

:buddies:
 

itsbob

I bowl overhand
A 10 year old, 10 mpg rust bucket pick up truck is better, by far, for the planet than a brand new, 50 mpg hybrid.

The steel in the truck was long ago manufactured along with the plastic. Its environmental impact is pretty much over except for new belts, hoses, oil changes and fuel, all things the new hybrid needs PLUS the impact of the new metal, new plastic and the manufacture of the batteries not to mention their replacement and disposal.

If Cash for Clunkers was about the environment, and it wasn't, it would have been incentivized to get us to buy USED cars.

:buddies:

I want to get a Bumper STicker for the LR.. Something like..

"12 MPG, I'm doing my part for the environment."
 

somdwatch

Well-Known Member
Floating Poseidon Wind and Hydro Power Plant ....

Nonno,
I hope you didn't believe that article. Any experience on the water? If there's no wind, there's no waves, unless of course we have seismic activity. So the wind mills and wave "collectors" have to be counted as a single source.
 
S

shagger

Guest
Solar power is still not cost effective either:
Solar Power Cost Effectiveness

"Solar power is still not cost effective with photovoltics (PV) costing in the neighborhood of 30 cents per kilowatt and 20-22 cents per kilowatt for solar thermal plants. Taxpayers subsidize this inefficient roll out of solar panels by way of government (on the backs of taxpayer) subsidized incentives instead of waiting for the technology to improve.
U. S. Average Revenue per KWh is 7.62 cents"
 
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