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Wind power is clean and cheap
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May 19, 2013, 8:11:18 PM5/19/13
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Wind power is clean and cheap
By Rudi Kiefer
The Gainesville Times
Sunday, May 19, 2013
California Highway 58, east of Bakersfield, presents some
truly astounding sights. It�s still a rare occurrence
here in Georgia to see more than one wind turbine. At
Tehachapi Pass on Cal. 58, there are 5,000 of them.
Driven entirely by the atmosphere, they generate a
nominal total of 562 megawatts of electricity. That�s
twice the output of the massive turbines at Fontana Dam
in North Carolina, about two hours north of Gainesville.
Wind power is one of the cleanest energy sources because
the turbines make no appreciable changes to air, soil or
water. Opponents criticize their appearance, arguing that
the huge spinning blades are an unsightly addition to
hilltops and shorelines. On the other hand, the smoke
stacks of coal-fired plants (the dirtiest energy around)
and the huge cooling towers at nuclear facilities could
be put in the same category.
Bird kills are another concern about wind power. Older
turbines, sitting on top of towers made of metal lattice
work, were infamous for that. Birds like to perch on the
metal braces, and fast-spinning old blades are virtually
invisible. Modern designs provide not only for turbines
that generate electricity more efficiently, but their
towers are also smooth and offer nothing that would
attract birds to perch or nest.
Opinions that wind farms are �ugly� aren�t necessarily
shared by the general public. One of the world�s largest,
Horse Hollow wind farm southwest of Abilene, Texas, can
be seen from U.S. 277. In 2005, it was subject to one of
the first nuisance lawsuits against such an installation.
Subsequent court rulings established that neither the
appearance nor the sound made by the turbines created an
annoyance.
Georgia doesn�t have many �high wind� locations. But the
potential for generating completely clean power exists in
our state. A shift to wind energy could ease some of the
water wars involving Lake Lanier, because a good deal of
Chattahoochee River water is used by coal-fired plants.
More reliance on wind would mean less need for the coal-
fired plants along the Georgia-Alabama border, and
therefore a decrease in the enormous water needs of those
plants.
Rudi Kiefer, Ph.D., is a professor of physical science
and director of sustainability at Brenau University. His
column appears Sundays and at gainesvilletimes.com.
More at:
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section/86/article/84000/
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.jai-maharaj
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o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely
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FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted
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specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This
material is being made available in efforts to advance
the understanding of environmental, political, human
rights, economic, democratic, scientific, social, and
cultural, etc., issues. It is believed that this
constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the
material on this site is distributed without profit to
those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
the included information for research, comment,
discussion and educational purposes by subscribing to
USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more
information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article
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Since newsgroup posts are being removed by forgery by one
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By Rudi Kiefer
The Gainesville Times
Sunday, May 19, 2013
California Highway 58, east of Bakersfield, presents some
truly astounding sights. It�s still a rare occurrence
here in Georgia to see more than one wind turbine. At
Tehachapi Pass on Cal. 58, there are 5,000 of them.
Driven entirely by the atmosphere, they generate a
nominal total of 562 megawatts of electricity. That�s
twice the output of the massive turbines at Fontana Dam
in North Carolina, about two hours north of Gainesville.
Wind power is one of the cleanest energy sources because
the turbines make no appreciable changes to air, soil or
water. Opponents criticize their appearance, arguing that
the huge spinning blades are an unsightly addition to
hilltops and shorelines. On the other hand, the smoke
stacks of coal-fired plants (the dirtiest energy around)
and the huge cooling towers at nuclear facilities could
be put in the same category.
Bird kills are another concern about wind power. Older
turbines, sitting on top of towers made of metal lattice
work, were infamous for that. Birds like to perch on the
metal braces, and fast-spinning old blades are virtually
invisible. Modern designs provide not only for turbines
that generate electricity more efficiently, but their
towers are also smooth and offer nothing that would
attract birds to perch or nest.
Opinions that wind farms are �ugly� aren�t necessarily
shared by the general public. One of the world�s largest,
Horse Hollow wind farm southwest of Abilene, Texas, can
be seen from U.S. 277. In 2005, it was subject to one of
the first nuisance lawsuits against such an installation.
Subsequent court rulings established that neither the
appearance nor the sound made by the turbines created an
annoyance.
Georgia doesn�t have many �high wind� locations. But the
potential for generating completely clean power exists in
our state. A shift to wind energy could ease some of the
water wars involving Lake Lanier, because a good deal of
Chattahoochee River water is used by coal-fired plants.
More reliance on wind would mean less need for the coal-
fired plants along the Georgia-Alabama border, and
therefore a decrease in the enormous water needs of those
plants.
Rudi Kiefer, Ph.D., is a professor of physical science
and director of sustainability at Brenau University. His
column appears Sundays and at gainesvilletimes.com.
More at:
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section/86/article/84000/
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.jai-maharaj
o o o
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used
for the educational purposes of research and open
discussion. The contents of this post may not have been
authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion
of the poster. The contents are protected by copyright
law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely
not be read, considered or answered if it does not
contain your full legal name, current e-mail and postal
addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views
expressed by others are not necessarily those of the
poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted
material the use of which may or may not have been
specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This
material is being made available in efforts to advance
the understanding of environmental, political, human
rights, economic, democratic, scientific, social, and
cultural, etc., issues. It is believed that this
constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the
material on this site is distributed without profit to
those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
the included information for research, comment,
discussion and educational purposes by subscribing to
USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more
information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article
for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you
must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed by forgery by one
or more net terrorists, this post may be reposted several
times.
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