Economics and Performance – The Primary Deficiencies of Wind Power

By Jerry Graf -- June 17, 2010 9 Comments

[Editor’s note: Mr. Graf’s cash flow analysis of wind power projects is presented as another view of the inappropriateness of planned public policy in the electricity sector. The economics of wind power is a broad topic; previous posts at MasterResource are listed at the end of this post. For general problems of industrial wind, see here.]

There are many arguments to be made against government subsidization of industrial wind power, some objective and others subjective. We hear about noise, shadow flicker, disruption of wildlife, lack of consistent energy output (intermittency), questionable performance with respect to pollution reduction, and undesirable aesthetic appearance.

It occurs to me, however, with regard to subsidies for energy ventures and technology, three things must be kept in mind:

(1) any good investment must be made in worthwhile ventures that can show a reasonable return;

(2) arbitrarily subsidizing some ventures may cause inadvertent (or advertent) exclusion of others; and

(3) jobs cannot be created by subsidizing ventures that do not provide a viable return.

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Eric Bibler to The Grassroots: Go for the Jugular, Windpower Simply Does Not Work

By -- June 15, 2010 9 Comments

In yesterday’s post, Scientists versus Lobbyists: Looking for a Winning Strategy Against Big Wind, I promised to share with readers a citizens’ letter I received from Eric Bibler. Consider his piece, which has been condensed to meet format and space requirements, as Part II of my post. Mr. Bibler is focused on Massachusetts, but his experience and advice apply across the Northeast and across the nation where grassroots opposition to industrial wind turbines is growing apace.

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This post summarizes a group discussion about how to counter Massachusetts’s Wind Energy Siting Bill.

Would it be more politically pragmatic (and therefore advisable) to avoid any argument against the fundamental viability of wind energy (which continues to be an article of faith held by many legislators), and instead to focus exclusively on the flaws specific to the bill?

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Scientists versus Lobbyists: A Winning Strategy Against Big Wind

By -- June 14, 2010 19 Comments

My hope as a physicist is that our representatives make energy and environmental policy decisions based on sound science. So far that has not been the case. The main reason for this is that we are engaged in an epic battle between scientists and lobbyists for those with financial or political agendas.

Right now the scientists–the group with the better case for sound public policy–are losing.

I used to think that trying hard and being right was enough. Foolish me! Everything today is really about public relations. The Internet has spawned the perfect storm. Within a few minutes we can now send messages that are read by millions of people. At the other end, recipients are in overload, due to a steady bombardment of these messages. It is very hard for almost everyone to separate the wheat from the chaff.…

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Subsidizing CO2 Emissions via Windpower: The Ultimate Irony

By Kent Hawkins -- June 10, 2010 17 Comments

It is the irony of ironies. Taxpayer and ratepayer-forced subsidies for utility-scale windpower also subsidizes emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2). The same would be true under a national renewable portfolio standard as proposed in pending federal legislation.

Such is a vivid demonstration of the perils of unintended consequences and, to borrow a phrase, “an inconvenient truth” about wind power.

My recent four-part Wind Integration Realities reviewed two new studies, based on actual experience, that show fossil fuel consumption and CO2 emissions areincreased, not reduced, with the introduction of wind. Their results were compared as well as to those of my fossil fuel and CO2 emissions calculator for the same conditions. The brief summary in Part IV of the series is expanded upon here for clarity of this game-changing argument.…

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Paul Gipe on Wind’s Ecological Problems Circa 1995: Worth Another Look?

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 3, 2010 6 Comments Continue Reading

Beyond NIMBY: A Grassroots Strategy to Defeat Windpower

By Thomas Stacy II -- May 29, 2010 16 Comments Continue Reading

Wind Integration Realities: The Bentek Study for Texas (Part IV)

By Kent Hawkins -- May 26, 2010 10 Comments Continue Reading

Wind Integration Realities: The Bentek Study for Colorado (Part III)

By Kent Hawkins -- May 25, 2010 7 Comments Continue Reading

Wind Integration Realities: The Netherlands Study (Part II)

By Kent Hawkins -- May 24, 2010 4 Comments Continue Reading

Wind Integration Realities: Case Studies of the Netherlands and of Colorado, Texas (Part I: Introduction)

By Kent Hawkins -- May 22, 2010 15 Comments Continue Reading