Wind Energy in Iowa...Your Thoughts

[Entropy]

I don't see chemical battery tech advancing enough to make it cost effective to store wind energy and release it on demand to the grid. We're light years away on battery tech on so many levels.

My van carries around a 500lb battery that gets me 30 miles of range. I can go the same 30 miles on 1 gallon of gasoline. Factoring in the weight of the tank and gas is still a much better fuel.

The cool thing right now is there are some really, really smart people working on it. I took a group of students to Argonne National Laboratory last Spring and saw just a few things that they are working on. I'm not an electrochemist, and I haven't reviewed many of the things that they are working on, but it looks very, very promising.

In case you are curious:
https://www.anl.gov/tcp/energy-storage

 

[crawfy54]

I agree a "super battery" could potentially change the game for the wind industry.

 

[CtownCyclone]

I don't see chemical battery tech advancing enough to make it cost effective to store wind energy and release it on demand to the grid. We're light years away on battery tech on so many levels.

My van carries around a 500lb battery that gets me 30 miles of range. I can go the same 30 miles on 1 gallon of gasoline. Factoring in the weight of the tank and gas is still a much better fuel.

Well the simple answer is to use the excess energy and mine bitcoins with it. When you need more energy, buy some from a coal plant with said bitcoins.

 

[nocsious3]

The cool thing right now is there are some really, really smart people working on it. I took a group of students to Argonne National Laboratory last Spring and saw just a few things that they are working on. I'm not an electrochemist, and I haven't reviewed many of the things that they are working on, but it looks very, very promising.

In case you are curious:
https://www.anl.gov/tcp/energy-storage

The energy density of batteries is so many orders of magnitude less than fossil fuels, it's not going to get us there ever. Batteries are never going to be a panacea. Sure batteries are useful but large scale storage is a pipe dream. If you have extra energy production capacity you're better off pumping water uphill and recovering what you can from gravity or spinning an enormous flywheel. Looking at factors like endensity of the fuel, pollution, baseload power needs, we already have most of that handled with nuclear power.

 

[CyJack2299]

Watching some of you call Wind Energy a hoax is why we have President Dumb ass.

 

[cycloner29]

Haven't you heard the latest from our stable genius, it causes cancer.

For all these years I thought that standing under power lines causes cancer.... Not only is he our commander in chief... but a world renown scientist now. He should now a lot about wind and he produces enough of it.

 

[Walden4Prez]

Watching some of you call Wind Energy a hoax is why we have President Dumb ass.

Yeah, that's why.

 

[cyfan92]

Litterally every form of energy we produce in the US is MASSIVELY subsidized. So I don't consider that a negative to renewable energy sources until fossil fuels are rid of subsidy themselves

 

[ThePollinator]

It takes energy to obtain the materials, manufacture, ship, and install these. Energy produced by fossil fuels usually. I’d only be interested to see how long it takes to recoup that.. if it takes a year or two I guess it’s worth it. If it’s 10+ plus years it’s silly.

 

[nocsious3]

I agree a "super battery" could potentially change the game for the wind industry.

I believe super large mutant hamsters running on wheels eating human garbage could be a great solution, however that's as unlikely as a super battery.

 

[Walden4Prez]

I believe super large mutant hamsters running on wheels eating human garbage could be a great solution, however that's as unlikely as a super battery.

Mutant hamsters fart too much, thus negating any benefit to the environment.

 

[nocsious3]

Mutant hamsters fart too much, thus negating any benefit to the environment.

Well we just capture the methane then. Instead of burning it we will strip off the hydrogen and use it in fuel cells, but that takes on another tangent on why we don't all drive hydrogen powered cars.

Hydrogen is an energy dense fuel, however the storage is the problem. You need huge heavy tanks to store enough to get any range out of it or store it as a liquid which has it's own challenges. Did I mention hydrogen likes to explode? I'm surprised Toyota is still trying to make it work.

 

[Stewo]

It takes energy to obtain the materials, manufacture, ship, and install these. Energy produced by fossil fuels usually. I’d only be interested to see how long it takes to recoup that.. if it takes a year or two I guess it’s worth it. If it’s 10+ plus years it’s silly.

As a supply chain guy, this is where my mind goes as well. Windmills, contrary to popular belief, aren't grown from tiny windmill seeds.

*pauses for collective gasps*

There is a ton of energy being used to produce, ship, and construct these bad boys. They are expensive, the money they have to pay land owners is incredibly high, and the people that erect and maintain them are paid very well. As the link below states, each one is $3-4 million to build and install. Not sure on maintenance costs.

So, the question, to me, is how long does it take for each of these windmills to produce $3-4 million worth of energy? And for the record, I'm neither for or against them. However, if the ROI isn't anywhere near their cost, is it worth continuing down the same path or should those dollars and resources be better spent looking into something else?

http://www.windustry.org/how_much_do_wind_turbines_cost

 

[g4ce]

Here's a good TED talk about our power options

 

[ruxCYtable]

It's not a hoax. But a lot of people were under the impression that wind energy was free. Yes, the fuel is free. Harnessing that fuel is not free.

 

[Tri4Cy]

We are paying for them and subsidizing them, and then the energy company makes the profit off them. Not to mention they aren't taxed properly and the property right restrictions they encumber the land that they are on.

If they could go on their own or even partially on their own and didn't tie the hands of the land they were put on, they would be freaking great, but they are nothing more than a look how green we are icon.

Also someone mentioned the manufacturing emissions part of them. Yah, that has to be factored into the overall green scale or you are just kidding yourself.

Just like electric cars, the electricity (aka energy) has to be produced somewhere. It still takes a certain amount of energy to do a certain amount of work. It has to be produced somewhere and that equals emissions.

So you're against ethanol too right? This is always a tough subject for me because fiscally I don't believe in subsidies. However ethically, sometimes we the people need to invest in things that can't be sustained on their own for the benefit of our future. Works great for government (tax payer owned projects like NASA, DOT, etc) but I REALLY have a hard time subsidizing privately owned projects where someone else is profiting off of my taxes.

Something to consider; the government is not in the business of running a utility company. So, in all likelihood they would outsource the local management to a private company if they did "own" the turbines. They would likely be paying out the rear for the services to manage said projects, properties, utilities, etc. So, I'd be interested to see the cost difference of what these companies make in subsidies to run/own the projects vs what their projected revenue would look like if they were instead hired as a contractor to run the projects on behalf of a government owned entity. The government would still have substantial costs in leasing property, buying equipment, and then the additional fees of outsourcing the management. I mean, look at what the DOD spends on private contractors vs doing it themselves.

 

[brianhos]

Where I live in Northern Iowa there are two existing wind farms and two new proposed farms in development.

What are your thoughts on wind energy?

Is it beneficial...or is it a hoax?

A hoax? Iowa gets a huge percent of it's energy from wind, this is a good thing.

 

[Cdiedrick]

Where I live in Northern Iowa there are two existing wind farms and two new proposed farms in development.

What are your thoughts on wind energy?

Is it beneficial...or is it a hoax?[/QUOTE


There are both good and bad about wind farms. Of course I see “experts” have already voiced an opinion. I live in north central and I do sales for the northern 1/4 of the state. Most of my customers are in agriculture so I talk to people that have them on their property.

Renewable energy is great but have you been to northern Iowa lately? Our beautiful landscape is tainted. This is an interesting article about what all goes into a windmill
http://energyskeptic.com/2015/900-tons-of-material-to-build-just-1-windmill/

It would be nice if they energy produced was used in the area or at least in the state.

I suggest everyone reading this goes to a farm with a windmill on it multiple times a year and make observations. I would not want one close to where I live with the sound, the shadows cast while in operation, and just the visual aspect. Also note that some farms for instance around Carroll and Webster City are about ten years old and are currently being “updated.” New blades and generators is what it looks like. Supposedly this is why Alliant Energy is raising rates a considerable amount.

Obviously I’m not completely sold on wind energy and I do think we need to explore other sources. Wind energy is not the solution but is an alternative. Coal will never go away and natural gas is a cleaner alternative. Solar rooftops intrigue me. I’m fine with nuclear but I know it’s incredibly dangerous. I guess it’s the price we pay for having electricity.

 

[nocsious3]

Everyone wants the lights on but hardly anyone wants a wind turbine or power plant built next door.

 

[Clonefan94]

Is wind energy a hoax? As in, they put up all these windmills, but they don't actually produce any energy? I'm going to say, no, it isn't a hoax.

Not a hoax? Don't produce energy? I see you haven't spent much time around Trumpers. All he had to do was say one negative thing about wind energy and all his idiot followers jump on the bandwagon. They probably believe that we are actually using electricity to turn the blades as opposed to producing energy.