sultan_emerr Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 Rock Port, Missouri becomes the first U.S. town solely powered by wind energy. Four turbines supply electricity to its 1,300 residents, with enough power left over to feed to a nearby townhttp://www.wxpnews.com/080722-Wind-Powered-Town Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDoors Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 (edited) Ya gotta love the Googlebot ad for "coal" power! Oops, it went away ... ----- Edited July 25, 2008 by JDoors Quote Link to post Share on other sites
irregularjoe Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 (edited) Bravo Rockport, Mo!We need a lot more forward thinking people like those folks.Here's another idea until that happens. Put a large bubble over D.C. to capture all the hot air coming out of politicians mouths. Maybe on the way in it could also power a turbine. We can call it "Windbag Power". Edited July 26, 2008 by irregularjoe Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mikex Posted July 27, 2008 Report Share Posted July 27, 2008 Go Rock Port,In California the liberals are crying because the wind mills are killing the bird migrating through the wind mill farm.Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDoors Posted July 27, 2008 Report Share Posted July 27, 2008 I'm just waiting for the "sudden" realization that solar power will have a negative effect. You take all that solar energy that USED to be absorbed by the Earth, suck it away to power distant cities, and you just wait and see ... It's going to have a drastic effect on the local climate. Solar power's taking a long time to become mainstream so maybe I'll be dead and gone, but it's GOING to happen. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
blim Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 I read about that in the newspaper and only FOUR windmills required for a whole town! Sure hope more jump on the windpower bandwagon!Living in W Michigan with the nearly constant breezes, a couple Windmill companies attempted to build here. Nope, the Nimbys fought them. Now, if a cellphone company wanted to build a new tower, those same folks would be thrilled. *Someone* needs to invent a series of small turbines inside cellphone towers! Keep Nimbys happy and the tower will do double dutyI also heard about the windfarm in CA with the bird problems. Seems that is the only windfarm in the US that is causing problems for birds. Musta been built smack dab in the center of a migratory pathLiz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Honda_Boy Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 Good for them. But the whole birds thing, if they can't figure out how to get around a windmill then let natural selection take place I kid, I kid.My town runs on Hydroelectricity by the way. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
irregularjoe Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 I read about that in the newspaper and only FOUR windmills required for a whole town! Sure hope more jump on the windpower bandwagon!Living in W Michigan with the nearly constant breezes, a couple Windmill companies attempted to build here. Nope, the Nimbys fought them. Now, if a cellphone company wanted to build a new tower, those same folks would be thrilled. *Someone* needs to invent a series of small turbines inside cellphone towers! Keep Nimbys happy and the tower will do double dutyI also heard about the windfarm in CA with the bird problems. Seems that is the only windfarm in the US that is causing problems for birds. Musta been built smack dab in the center of a migratory pathLizWhat's a "Nimby"? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
irregularjoe Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 Go Rock Port,In California the liberals are crying because the wind mills are killing the bird migrating through the wind mill farm.MikeYeah yeah..... blame the liberals for something else.....Actually I think what you are referring to are the conservationists.That being said I am both of the above.... But I've rarely met a roasted goose or duck that I didn't like. (especially when served crispy with a black cherry Kirsch sauce. And maybe some sauteed mushrooms and saffron rice. So here's an idea: Have a poultry processing plant right next to the wind mills. You can run it with spare power from the wind generation.Duck/ goose/ pheasant flies into the spinning propeller, drops down to the ground and is quickly harvested, cleaned, and butchered. There can even be a market on the property.They'd have to cull out the sparrows, seagulls, woodpeckers, etc. But net fisherman do the same thing all the time with any undersirable catch while fishing for salmon, haddock, bass, etc.Could be an up and coming cottage industry. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDoors Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 ... So here's an idea: Have a poultry processing plant right next to the wind mills. ... Great idea! NIMBY = Not In My Back Yard Everyone wants something or other; more power plants to prevent brownouts, more wind power, more oil refineries, more roads, etc., but NO ONE wants them in their own neighborhoods. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
irregularjoe Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 ... So here's an idea: Have a poultry processing plant right next to the wind mills. ... Great idea! NIMBY = Not In My Back Yard Everyone wants something or other; more power plants to prevent brownouts, more wind power, more oil refineries, more roads, etc., but NO ONE wants them in their own neighborhoods."Nimby" Got it. Thanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDoors Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 There was a recent case around here: A utility proposed building a "peaker" power plant that'd only run when necessary. It was going to be built out in the "country," among corn fields, miles from any towns or cities. They had a design that "disguised" the plant to look like a grouping of farm buildings (IMO it was quite handsome). Nope. Shot down. "Too noisy!" "Too ugly!" "Too much pollution!" Noisy? What, it'd disturb the crows or something? Ugly? It looked like FARM BUILDINGS, there are already FARM BUILDINGS in the area! Pollution? It was gas fired, there's nothing currently feasible that's cleaner! But nope, apparently we'd rather suffer brown-outs than have a power plant anywhere near us. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
irregularjoe Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 There was a recent case around here: A utility proposed building a "peaker" power plant that'd only run when necessary. It was going to be built out in the "country," among corn fields, miles from any towns or cities. They had a design that "disguised" the plant to look like a grouping of farm buildings (IMO it was quite handsome). Nope. Shot down. "Too noisy!" "Too ugly!" "Too much pollution!" Noisy? What, it'd disturb the crows or something? Ugly? It looked like FARM BUILDINGS, there are already FARM BUILDINGS in the area! Pollution? It was gas fired, there's nothing currently feasible that's cleaner! But nope, apparently we'd rather suffer brown-outs than have a power plant anywhere near us.Front page above the fold today's local fishwrapper (Arizona Republic(an) wrote "Ariz. to get 1st wind powered farm." $100 million project near Snowflake will begin next year. It will be developed and run by Iberdrola Renewables of Spain. I guess there aren't enough smart people here to take on such a task.It does not look like a big producer. The agreement with SRP, a co-op type of power company is that SRP will buy 63 megawatts from the wind farm. Not sure over what time frame. It's also only to have a 25% capacity factor. I'll be amazed if it ever gets off the drawing board. The AZ legislature is not known for their Mensa memberships. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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