You know how much Obama loves windmills, and how overblown is the future of wind power.
In Britain they have been pushing wind power far harder and longer than we have, and it is turning into a fiasco of subsidies from the windless masses to the winded-gentry.
Anthony Watts has background in Britain’s Wind Farm Scam Threatens Economic Recovery (h/t reader John), including this from The Telegraph, The aristocrats cashing in on Britain’s wind farm subsidies:
They are among the nation’s wealthiest aristocrats, whose families have protected the British landscape for centuries. Until now that is.
For increasing numbers of the nobility – among them dukes and even a cousin of the Queen – are being tempted by tens of millions of pounds offered by developers to build giant wind farms on their estates.
An investigation by The Sunday Telegraph reveals how generous subsidies – that are added to consumer energy bills – are encouraging hereditary landowners to build turbines up to 410ft tall on their land.
Considering that wind power does not come close to competing on cost with other forms of electricity production, and probably never will, what possibly could go wrong here?
Bonus question: Will Obama include “wind power” projects in his yet-to-be-unveiled jobs program?
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To date, that is all OUR Don Quixote has used for ALL of the “fixes”, he has graced th U.S. with, “wind power”.
‘Ready yourself Sancho Biden, I see another windmill’.
Will Obama include “wind power” projects in his yet-to-be-unveiled Yobs program?
A couple of years ago, while visiting relatives, I got to see the North Hoyl offshore wind farm…off Rhyl, Wales, UK. From shore I found it quite beautiful. I also noticed that 6 of the 30 windmills weren’t turning.
When I got home I looked up the site and found the usual marketing literature…30 turbines x 2 MW = 60 MW. That is x number of homes powered by wind and equals umpteen tons of CO2 NOT going into the atmosphere blah blah blah.
Predictably I found NOTHING about how much power was ACTUALLY going into the grid. Nothing about how often individual units were down for maintenance, etc.
I realize that power plants are usually rated based on their capacity…even if they’re not always running 100% But ever since then I’ve always been suspicious of the propaganda regarding wind (and solar). Because the day I was there the system was running at a maximum 80% capacity…and that assumes that the wind speed was optimum (something I had no knowledge of).
It is damn hard to find ACTUAL numbers of how much renewable energy is being added to the grid. And you know the utility managers know, down to the Watt, what the numbers are.
I’m hearing increasing amounts of buzz that he’s going to propose a big “public-private” infrastructure bank. Tom Friedman’s fantasy come true.
They have been tried in other countries and oftentimes, as you’d expect, become enmessed in corruption, crony capitalism, and horrendous cost over-runs.
Just what we need. A bunch of “Big Digs” going on all over the country.
Don’t think that happens here already?
Think again. I pay $4.00 extra for “non-utility generation charge”. That’s electricity generated by anyone that’s not a utility (i.e. solar, wind etc.).
They HAVE to buy this electricity whether they need it or not and WE pay for it. (yeah $4 isn’t much but it’s the point that counts. Anyone who says $4 isn’t a big deal is welcome to send me $50 for the year.))
Only thing keeping this from going crazy is too many people don’t want windmills in their backyard and solar isn’t practical in the Midstates).
Merely a rhetorical question, right?