Wind Farms - Before pictures

[Ed Richards]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,5257706.story

Landscape photographers - time to start taking your before pictures for every place that might support a wind farm. If you do a hybrid process and print digitally, I am sure someone will come up with the Photoshop Wind Turbine Eraser plug in.:-)

[Heroique]

They’re popping up like mushrooms West of the Columbia River, along I-90.

Better than coal plants.

Can’t quite explain it, but from a distance, there's something soothing, graceful about them, as long as they don’t interrupt too much of the beautiful, open desert space.

[photobymike]

They’re popping up like mushrooms West of the Columbia River, along I-90.

Better than coal plants.

Can’t quite explain it, but from a distance, there's something soothing, graceful about them, as long as they don’t interrupt too much of the beautiful, open desert space.

Most people do not want to live near them because of the noise, and they kill birds, lots of them...

[Heroique]

I say forget the birds – industrial energy is what matters, and silly animals shouldn’t get in the way of our higher species. Plus, no law forces a free people to live near noise pollution – or any other kind of pollution. Migrate! ;^)

[Greg Lockrey]

I say forget the birds – industrial energy is what matters, and silly animals shouldn’t get in the way of our higher species. Plus, no law forces a free people to live near noise pollution – or any other kind of pollution. Migrate! ;^)

LOL Now we know where to put one! LOL

[Michael Gordon]

I believe that solar is a much bigger threat. There are limited places to profitably cite wind turbines, while panels can be sited just about anywhere in the West. Southern California's deserts are under siege from solar projects:

Desert Protective Council
Mojave Desert Blog

[Two23]

I believe that solar is a much bigger threat. There are limited places to profitably cite wind turbines,

No wind turbines are anywhere near "profitable." None will even return their cost. I see them as a short lived fad, just another way for politicians to hand other people's money over to their supporters. It's much like ethanol subsidies etc. Solar is even worse from a cost/reward benefit. It's all window dressing, something to allow politicians to speak "happy talk".


Kent in SD

[Drew Wiley]

Wind turbines are pretty damn affordable compared to hydroelectric or geothermal.
And what is any more expensive about extending an electrical grid versus natural gas
lines? Either way, you need infrastructure and access, and someone is going to game the cost of the energy at the end anyway. The bird studies get fairly serious. A few wisecracks and shoot-from-the-hip web searches aren't really competition for the kind of long-term bird census work going on around critical areas. Geese fly in formation and often relatively high unless water or forage are nearby, so are a poor analogy.

[tlitody]

No wind turbines are anywhere near "profitable." None will even return their cost. I see them as a short lived fad, just another way for politicians to hand other people's money over to their supporters. It's much like ethanol subsidies etc. Solar is even worse from a cost/reward benefit. It's all window dressing, something to allow politicians to speak "happy talk".


Kent in SD

All energy has it's root in solar power. Oil is the residue from solar power. Gas is the residue from solar power. Wind is the residue from solar power. But the thing that really shows how stupid humanity is, is that just a little way below your feet is enough stored heat energy to keep everyone in virtually free energy for the rest of humanity. Unfortunately because its virtually free no companies will invest in thermal energy.
A heat pump system for your home heating and hot water uses 1 unit of electricity to extract 4 from the ground and all you need is single electric pump to run it.
Costs quite a lot to install it (if you have the land and suitable underground geology) but once installed it costs next to nothing to run it.

Check out what they do in Iceland. OK they got it easy cos its so near to the surface. But in the UK we are already beginning to implement thermal heating systems for big city buildings because the on going heating costs are reduced.
Its simple for someone with a big garden to dig trenches to do self install of thermal heating sustems. AND because they are just heat exchangers they can be used to cool your house in summer too. Just think how much you wills save on running air conditioners when your hot water is generated from air heat exchangers.

[Frank Petronio]

In twenty years, once this generation of wind turbines become rusting 300' hulks and the corporations charged with maintaining them skip town, let me know how you like them then....