borndead1 wrote:The thing with wind is, a farm is only "allowed" to pump so much power into the grid at once.
Wind would do fine against other energy sources if ALL subsidies to ALL industries were eliminated.
Another thing about wind is they need to do proper long term wind studies. There is a spot in northern MI where they put up 2 turbines about 10 years ago -- over a mile away from where the wind study predicted great potential for energy production. These 2 turbines barely make a profit for the owner.
I looked into those "subsidies" for other power sources. This is a gross myth. Those "subsidies" include things like roads, and tax breaks for energy produciong companies...which are no susidies at all. That is, unless, you consider basic modes of transportation subsidation for transporting oil and gas from one place to another.
That's like saying they build the railroad system to "subsidize" coal, because locomotives used coal as fuel. It's pure bunk.
However solar farms and wind farms ARE directly subsidiezed by taxpayer dollars...checks are cut from government entities to support these technologies, as well as laws being passed to mandate percentaged of annual energy production to be generated from these forms of power. There is no quibbling on the definition there...it is a subsidy.
And to be honest, cutting out the subsidy for wind and solar won't make them cost efficient, or even effective because a) the technology to farm them is grossly inefficient (solar panels, even more modern ones, are only some 15% efficient overall), b) the energy source tends to fluctuate hourly, and c) there is nothing where excess capacity can be stored.
Coal for elecrical generation doesn't store excess capacity; they either disconnect the generator from the grid, turn it doan, or something along those lines; However, unlike wind and solar, they can control when they start and stop producing energy. You can't do that when Mother Nature is in control.
So, really, the only way these methods of power generation can be successful is if there is some sort of storage system that acts as a buffer, storing excess capacity, and releasing its charge when capacity is low. In short: it needs to charge a battery.
Unfortunately, Sears does not sell a 3 mile x 1 mile car battery, or a 370 ton Duracel coppertop.
So we'll just have to wait until they do...