Anyone live near a windfarm?

[Valveman]

I have dodged the windmills twice. Now they want to put a huge transmission line across the place. Just another consequence of being next door to a wind farm.

 

[riptides]

I would rather have a windmill near me than a data center. If we had less data centers, we could get by with less power plants, windmills, and solar farms.

34 of them, public, within 45 minutes of me.

A lot more coming. Needs are sub-stations, transmission lines and water.

Feds not included. Counties not talking with each other and wham....you got one, they got one, everyone gets one.

 

[oldnslo]

Per acre or per bushel?

$4.27 might be there profit per acre this year with high input prices and low commodity prices.

 

[rontaki]

I read somewhere about people flying exploding drones into the windmill blades. Probably not legal, though.

 

[Hay Dude]

Interesting. My state produces over 35% of total power from solar and wind, and is adding more at a rapid clip. My electric bill has been stable for the past 5+ years. IDK where this idea that renewables cost more than fossil fuels is coming from?

Maybe taxpayers are footing the bill through state or federal government funding.
Billions have been given away by the federal gubmit through the new green deal and other programs.
This is funded by taxpayers.

There’s no free lunch.

Nuclear power is far & away the best answer, not chinese windmills and solar panels.

 

[jyoutz]

Maybe taxpayers are footing the bill through state or federal government funding.
Billions have been given away by the federal gubmit through the new green deal and other programs.
This is funded by taxpayers.

There’s no free lunch.

Nuclear power is far & away the best answer, not chinese windmills and solar panels.

Correct there is no free lunch. But the sun and wind are lots cheaper than coal and oil once the infrastructure is in place. These windmills they are installing here are made in Pueblo, Colorado. The economics of wind and solar have changed greatly over the past 5 years as the technology and infrastructure has matured. The subsidies were important for building infrastructure, but once in place, these technologies produce energy very cheaply. And look at the taxpayer funding that other energy sources have had for years. Oil, gas, and coal have and continue to receive lots of taxpayer dollars. The federal lands leases are one example: the mining and drilling industries have enjoyed rates far below the private lands market values for over a century. Not that that I’m knocking oil and gas: my state receives considerable funds from those industries but let’s be honest about taxpayer money. Nuclear is great, but only where abundant water resources are available; it’s not a great solution for much of the western U.S.

 

[Hay Dude]

Correct there is no free lunch. But the sun and wind are lots cheaper than coal and oil once the infrastructure is in place. These windmills they are installing here are made in Pueblo, Colorado. The economics of wind and solar have changed greatly over the past 5 years as the technology and infrastructure has matured. The subsidies were important for building infrastructure, but once in place, these technologies produce energy very cheaply. And look at the taxpayer funding that other energy sources have had for years. Oil, gas, and coal have and continue to receive lots of taxpayer dollars. The federal lands leases are one example: the mining and drilling industries have enjoyed rates far below the private lands market values for over a century. Not that that I’m knocking oil and gas: my state receives considerable funds from those industries but let’s be honest about taxpayer money. Nuclear is great, but only where abundant water resources are available; it’s not a great solution for much of the western U.S.

Yeah but they’re BUTT UGLY and ruin the beauty of open country.
Nuclear is the answer. Not pretty, either but one nuke plant will make more power than thousands of windmills chopping up birds and ruining views.

 

[Valveman]

"It would take 3.7 trillion pounds of materials to generate half of U.S. electricity with 1,095,000 2 MW wind turbines. Each turbine requires 1,671 tons of material: 1,300 tons concrete, 295 tons steel, 48 tons iron, 24 tons fiberglass, 4 tons copper, 0.4 tons neodymium, and 0.065 tons dysprosium, replaced every 15-20 years. Mining and ore processing, is the second most polluting industry in the world, releasing acid rain and heavy metals into land, water, and air. Extracting and processing dispersed minerals consumes significant fossil fuel energy. Billions more tons of materials are needed for transmission, power plants, and utility-scale batteries, also replaced every 15-20 years. The green energy dream remains just that—a dream."

 

[jyoutz]

Yeah but they’re BUTT UGLY and ruin the beauty of open country.
Nuclear is the answer. Not pretty, either but one nuke plant will make more power than thousands of windmills chopping up birds and ruining views.

I can’t argue with that, except as I stated earlier about nuclear. It needs a large and abundant water source, so not a really good idea for the interior western U.S. The Arizona nuclear plant is sucking the groundwater dry.

 

[Jstpssng]

Mining and ore processing, is the second most polluting industry in the world

Just out of curiousity, what is above it?
Presumably all forms of manufacturing.