Across our beautiful country wind mills for generating electricity are being constructed. It appears to makes sense. Clean energy that will never run out. Who could argue with that? It is good for the environment. The wind is free and can’t be controlled by the oil companies. We are free from their horrible grip.
Are you ready for the ugly truth? Wind Generated Electricity produces little if any useable electricity. While oil companies can’t control the wind. The truth is no one can. WGE plays havoc on the power grid. As wind slows and increases the power output drops and spikes. These variations are compensated by conventional power plants.
When the wind is blowing the conventional power plants are forced to run on spinning stand by. Simply put these plants are running but not producing electricity. When the wind stops the conventional power plants are engaged to keep the supply constant.
Pouring millions of tax payer dollars into these feel good projects doesn’t make sense. It is like being forced to have an employee that works when he feels like it.
Wind Generated Electricity is displacing the existing conventional power plants when the wind is blowing. Wind Generated Electricity is causing the grid to spike and drop. This increase in maintenance cost that is paid for by the consumer.
Recently a Skiing Magazine ran an article about the perfect ski town. While the respect for the environment is commendable. The lack of reality is scary. These people appear to believe the entire resort and town could be powered by WGE. Unfortunately the environmentalists aren’t aware of the facts. Or choose to ignore them.
A possible solution is available.
1. Disconnect the existing wind mills from the grid.
2. Reroute the power to a series of upper and lower reservoirs.
The WGE could be used to pump the water to the upper reservoir when the wind is blowing. The water can be drained to the lower to generate electricity for the grid at a consistant rate. This will have some loss due to friction and heating. However the power drops and spikes will be eliminated. The supply of electricity will be more predicable.
A similar project has been in use in the Catskill Mountains for over 50 years. This upper lower reservoir system powers the New York City Subways.
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Not sure what "myth" you're referring to. Also unclear what environmentalists you're referring to - everyone becomes an environmentalist once they become poisoned by mercury, arsenic, carbon monoxide or other pollutants. With 7 billion people in the world, it is critical that we develop a greater understanding of our affects on our environment than even native americans (purportedly) did. Forget the hippie/liberal stereo-types. Acidifying oceans,climate change,PCB in plastics, perchlorate in breast milk--these are mankinds' problems.
ReplyDeleteWe need multiple sources of electricity and an intelligent grid to help manage it. Wind, like solar, is intermittant. We either need a way to store it, or manage it with a smart grid.
We need to focus on research and incentivize the entrepreneural spirit to come up with some options that don't poison our world. A tax on gasoline, as used for decades in Europe and proposed by a bi-partisan trio of Senators today seems like a great option-- as long as the $$ fuels true research.
Your proposal sounds good--reservoirs are one of the few 'clean' ways of storing power. But we as a civilization must also be prepared to adapt. The "consume-more-forever" economic model has a deadly end that is not sustainable.
Sorry I wasn’t clear enough. The myth is:
ReplyDelete“Wind generated electricity is reliable source of energy.”
The environmentalists are the people that support WGE. General Electric is receiving millions tax payer dollars to build these wind mills.
I supported WGE until I learned the facts. WGE doesn’t add to the supply. It must be backed up by a system that can have the output controlled. He who controls the supply controls the price.
As I said before conventional power plants (mainly coal) are forced to run on “spinning stand by” when the wind is blowing. When the wind stops the conventional power plants are engaged to make up for the drop in power. Wind spikes equal power spikes.
The wind supporters (environmentalists) appear to be unaware that they have done the following to the grid.
1. Increased complexity
2. Decreased reliability
3. Increased the price of electricity.
Most environmentalists are well intended but very misinformed. An economy that is not growing is rotting. We will continue to become more energy efficient. Technology will continue to improve our standard of living. We will live longer, better, more productive lives. All this will happen if government stays out of the way.
Thank you for the compliment about the upper lower reservoirs.
The truth is, steam-fired electrical generation from any source still cannot be stored, just like wind power cannot be stored. We don't have batteries capable. Reservoirs are a notable exception. Engineers constantly have to reroute electricity from differant areas in order to meet power demands. The "spinning stand by", I'm pretty sure, is always the case with conventional power plants.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with some of your economic statements. Since ours is an extractive economy, it can only continue to grow as long as there is stuff to extract. As we see with oil, things eventually run out. A sustainable economy is a real possibility. The other factor you don't mention, is the by-products of production. Toxic waste, air pollution, mountains of garbage, burning of rain forests, etc are becoming a greater and greater threat to humans and other species. Having the little arrow on the GDP graph go up while sickness, poverty and extinctions grow is not a good trade-off.
Finally, the paradigm that technology is the god that fixes all of our ills and improves our standard of living for infinity, is based on your own short life. Technology is also causing problems that we may not be able to fix. Look at the oil spill, dangers of nuclear proliferation, water shortages worldwide, global warming, the oxone layer, fertilizer induced dead zones, etc. The same technologies that have raised our standards of living are now telling us of the dangers of global warming & other pending disasters. You can't simply choose your reality based on what you WANT it to be.