Wind farms--their long-run value? (Page 4): Mother nature is working on that problem. She gave us Covid-19. 1800 there were around 1 billion people with about 8 billion today. We need...

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Bill_de Loc: US

StanMac wrote:

The biggest problem is that there are too many of us . . .

Stan

Mother nature is working on that problem. She gave us Covid-19.

1800 there were around 1 billion people with about 8 billion today.

We need to start those colonies on Mars sooner rather than later.

---

Ront53 Loc: Maryland

Talking to an power expert on windmills indicated that they will not stand wind over 45 mph and have to be locked down.

clickety

Until we have developed sufficient cost-effective reliable sustainable energy storage, It’s still necessary to build and maintain a back up power generating system in place therefore further negating the benefits of wind energy. This along with other drawbacks which have been mentioned make it a dubious choice at least as a sustainable solution. The environmental impact of the manufacturing and deploying of the necessary infrastructure is easily and often overlooked.

nobody13579

How many coal plants are there in the world today?

Green New Deal???

The EU has 468 - building 27 more... Total

495

Turkey has 56 - building 93 more... Total

149

South Africa has 79 - building 24 more... Total

103

India has 589 - building 446 more... Total

1035

Philippines has 19 - building 60 more... Total

79

South Korea has 58 - building 26 more... Total

84

Japan has 90 - building 45 more... Total

135

China has 2,363 - building 1,171 more... Total

3,534

That’s

5,615

projected coal powered plants in just 8 countries.

USA has 15 - building 0 more...Total

15

And Democrat politicians with their "green new deal” want to shut down those 15 plants in order to "save” the planet.

This makes the point. Whatever the USA does or doesn’t do won’t make a Tinker’s Dam regarding CO2 unless the rest of the world, especially China and India reduces coal-fired power plants as well.

The whole “global warming” and “climate change”
are to create a *supposedly* sound, scientific basis to justify a federal government power-grab and the passage of MORE laws to increase taxes and increased control of the privately owned power industry and its distribution.

“Oh, we will SAVE the planet!!”

100% Bull

whfowle Loc: Tampa first, now Albuquerque

TriX wrote:

You are correct about nuclear, and if we could ever get past the politics of opening the national nuclear waste repository, we could deal effectively with the issue of spent nuclear fuel rods.

But on a different subject, there is an unlimited source of fossil fuels? Really? By what magic are they being produced? Please post links to this information, I’m always ready to learn 😳.

I don't remember the exact article I read since it was about 20-40 years ago and it was by a geologist so it had some credibility. People were concerned about OPEC shutting down the economy at the time. I keep on coming back to the economics of it all. It's like we don't use candles anymore to light our homes because better sources of light have been developed. The whole fossil fuel issue is much the same. We will have developed better, cheaper ways to harness energy as time goes on and smart people develop new ways to do it. The oil, coal and gas will still be in the ground but we wont be using it as much. There are plenty of uses for oil that most people never think about. Some medicines, ink, nail polish, carbon fiber car bodies, a lot of different plastic items, some clothing, tar for the roads, floor wax and many other things. I think we may at some point be able to replace petroleum as the source for these items but only time will tell. There is no good reason today to panic over this energy thing. Shortages just make scientists and engineers work harder to find solutions. Just let the market solve the problem. Nobody subsidized the wagon or the train or the car or the airplane. They just became popular because they were better than what came before. So why are we subsidizing wind and solar? We are trying to jam everything forward before the technology is developed to support it. I'm not against progress, just unrealistic expectations.

cytafex Loc: Clarksburg MA

As a neighbor of an industrial wind project I have come to know them as the neighbors from Hell. Numerous nights we are woken or can't sleep from the noise, also vibration and can feel the windows vibrate when the turbines are cranking. Initially I was for the project but learned the hard way that IWT's are not only terrible neighbors, are a loosing proposition, economically and environmentally. What was a beautiful ridge-line teeming with wildlife has been wrecked!

repleo Loc: Boston

tomad wrote:

What about renewable oils or synthetics? I seem to recall reading years ago that soy bean oil was being investigated as a possible replacement for fossil fuels and I also remember reading that it is already being used in diesel fuel. I use full synthetic oil only in my cars now and have been for years. I wonder if anyone is looking into creating synthetic fuel?

They have been doing it for years. It is called ethanol and made from corn. It is used to dilute regular petroleum gasoline by 10% - 15%. Look for the content on the pump next time you get gas (E10 or E15). In fact it very hard to find gas that doesn't contain ethanol. I just paid over $20 for a gallon of ethanol free gas for my snow blower. I only use it at the beginning and the end of the season. It is worth it for small engines that might be left sitting idle for months or years (or so my snow blower dealer tells me.)

wilpharm Loc: Oklahoma

repleo wrote:

They have been doing it for years. It is called e... (show quote)

BTW..corn farmers get very nice subsidies for growing corn to produce ethanol that is bad for your engines..especially 2 stroke...It is NOT cost efficient to use or produce....
here in Oklahoma its about 2.00/gal for "real" ethanol-free gas..its getting harder to find, even here..From OKC to Laredo,Tex on I-35 every station that we have stopped in has only E-10 or worse..
Last I checked Stihl wouldn't warranty motors using ethanol gas..

andesbill

JerryOSF wrote:

A good alternative to the Tesla is the Prius Prime. We have had one for almost a year. It will run for 30 miles on a charge. After that it will continue to run on gas. After almost a year our mileage is about 111 mpg. We can charge it in about 2 1/2 hours for another free 30 miles. After that we can run as long as we wish on gas at about 70 mpg. Tesla can't do that. We usually drive locally (about 30 - 40 miles max per trip) and buy gas every 2 months or so.

I don’t know about the prime, but I owned a Prius from 2008. My wife loved the car. My problem is that the floor for the driver was too narrow for me. My left foot always ached. My solution was to trade the Prius in 2 years ago for the camry hybrid, which I love, and which I’m going to trade in for the Tesla. Financially, it makes no sense. It’s like with cameras. For almost everyone, a Leica makes no financial sense, but: the heart wants what it wants. (No, I don’t own a Leica)

repleo Loc: Boston

wilpharm wrote:

BTW..corn farmers get very nice subsidies for growing corn to produce ethanol that is bad for your engines..especially 2 stroke...It is NOT cost efficient to use or produce....
here in Oklahoma its about 2.00/gal for "real" ethanol-free gas..its getting harder to find, even here..From OKC to Laredo,Tex on I-35 every station that we have stopped in has only E-10 or worse..
Last I checked Stihl wouldn't warranty motors using ethanol gas..

My snow blower guy said Stihl will double the standard warranty if you buy a can of their ethanol free gas at time of purchase of the machine.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

wilpharm wrote:

BTW..corn farmers get very nice subsidies for growing corn to produce ethanol that is bad for your engines..especially 2 stroke...It is NOT cost efficient to use or produce....
here in Oklahoma its about 2.00/gal for "real" ethanol-free gas..its getting harder to find, even here..From OKC to Laredo,Tex on I-35 every station that we have stopped in has only E-10 or worse..
Last I checked Stihl wouldn't warranty motors using ethanol gas..

Yep, I use only Ethanol free in my Stihl Power Tool’s. It’s a little over $3.00/gallon here in NC

David in Dallas Loc: Dallas, Texas, USA

tomad wrote:

What about renewable oils or synthetics? I seem to recall reading years ago that soy bean oil was being investigated as a possible replacement for fossil fuels and I also remember reading that it is already being used in diesel fuel. I use full synthetic oil only in my cars now and have been for years. I wonder if anyone is looking into creating synthetic fuel?

The Germans did during WWII. They converted coal to oil. It was hugely expensive and not environmentally friendly.

Perhaps the problem will be solved when we figure out how to use fusion reactors to generate power (they presumably don't generate radioactive waste).

Indlovu Loc: Greenville, NC

JerryOSF wrote:

A good alternative to the Tesla is the Prius Prime. We have had one for almost a year. It will run for 30 miles on a charge. After that it will continue to run on gas. After almost a year our mileage is about 111 mpg. We can charge it in about 2 1/2 hours for another free 30 miles. After that we can run as long as we wish on gas at about 70 mpg. Tesla can't do that. We usually drive locally (about 30 - 40 miles max per trip) and buy gas every 2 months or so.

I guess you do not want to hear from me. My ideal vehicle in my retirement is a Ford Focus RS with 370 horsepower manual 6 speed transmission and gets 20 mpg. I love it

David in Dallas Loc: Dallas, Texas, USA

Indlovu wrote:

I guess you do not want to hear from me. My ideal vehicle in my retirement is a Ford Focus RS with 370 horsepower manual 6 speed transmission and gets 20 mpg. I love it

I use to have a 1977 Ford F-150 with their 460cid engine and dual Flowmasters. It got 10mpg but sounded fantastic! It was stolen in 2001. Bummer.

DarthMicrowave

TriX wrote:

You are correct about nuclear, and if we could ever get past the politics of opening the national nuclear waste repository, we could deal effectively with the issue of spent nuclear fuel rods.

But on a different subject, there is an unlimited source of fossil fuels? Really? By what magic are they being produced? Please post links to this information, I’m always ready to learn 😳.

As I understand, it's not proven - but the theory is that the earth continues to create fossil fuel on it's own...due to abiogenic hydrocarbon production (within the mantle?). There are several articles that entertain the thought that oil didn't originate from organic matter, but the theory has been around since the 1960s from what I can tell.

Article from 2015: https://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/we-are-not-running-out-of-oil-earth-produces-crude/

It references this study in Science: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/319/5863/604

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