And thus we see the basic flaw in wind generation. Unless a backup
source of power is in place and can be connected to an active grid,
wind power is not practical. This source needs to be engineered into
a system rather than used as an add-on. The system in the US is too
fragile and too spread out to allow much wind power to be added. The
same problem exists for solar and will doom this source to a minor
contribution as well until a large investment is made in the grid and
in nuclear reactors as a backup. Consequently we in the US have
driven ourselves into a hole because now, when clean power is
essential, we do not have the money to put the necessary supporting
structure in place. The money is going to bail out the banks, into
social systems such as healthcare, and into wars, all of which are
essential expenses because of past failures in making political
decisions. But, we must not talk of politics.
Ed
On Jul 8, 2009, at 9:13 AM, Terry Blanton wrote:
My guess is the "transmission issues" and grid regulation far
outweighed the capital funding. Building the equivalent of over 4
nuclear reactors at a single location whose output variability is
intimately linked by geography and weather AND figuring out how to
distribute to the loads while regulating the grid using existing
generating is an absolute nightmare.
Terry
On Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 8:26 AM, OrionWorks<svj.orionwo...@gmail.com>
wrote:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/07/08/pickens.wind.farm/index.html
Exerpts:
--------------------------
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Billionaire oil man T. Boone Pickens is shelving
plans to build the world's largest wind farm.
T. Boone Pickens says the capital markets will not support his plans
to build the world's largest wind farm.
The chairman of BP Capital Management announced Tuesday that his
plans
for the Pampa Wind Project, designed to generate 4,000 megawatts of
electricity using thousands of wind turbines, is on hold.
"I had hoped that Pampa would be the starting point, but transmission
issues and the problem with the capital markets make that unfeasible
at this point," Pickens told CNN's Ali Velshi. "I expect to continue
development of the Pampa project, but not at the pace that I
originally expected."
--------------------------
Regards
Steven Vincent Johnson
www.OrionWorks.com
www.zazzle.com/orionworks
