The turbine in a North Ayrshire wind farm caught fire on Thursday afternoon as storms hit the country.I'm not making this up, you know.
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A wind turbine went up in flames as gust of up to 160mph battered parts of Scotland.
The turbine in a North Ayrshire wind farm caught fire on Thursday afternoon.
Fire engines attended the blaze which died out after a matter of minutes at the wind farm situated above Ardrossan at around 3.40pm.
You there in the back - stop giggling. These are all Very Smart People™ who know what they're doing.
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7 comments:
Not to mention what happens when the brake fails and one of them explodes and throws huge chunks for miles. I saw an article like that a few months back. Yikes
I have no major gripes with wind farms so long as the technology works and so long as putting them up does not take away land or homes from people who live inn the areas where they are constructed. As for them actually working, from what I have heard that is up in the air but all the info I have gotten on the subject has been from people who oppose their use. When I look at who are those people, I find they are most often conservatives or at least people who believe themselves to be conservatives. All I will say more is that it seems to be a political thing when it comes down to supporting or opposing it because most of the support seems to come from the left.
Technologically, as I understand they do produce a large amount of power when the wind cooperates. When placed in certain areas power is virtually assured at least until a major climatic change in the area that would cause the winds to die off. I imagine they could then be disassembled and reassembled elsewhere.
Environmentally, I have heard reports that they kill lots of birds in certain areas. That is something that could have been studied and discovered long before they were constructed and it is a shame, maybe even a crime, that such studies were not done. I think, other than that, they are fairly friendly to the environment. If true that is not a bad thing.
As to worrying about one blowing up and one of the blades killing folks or wrecking havoc (as seen in the first comment), imagine a nuclear powered plant blowing up (or even an oil refinery doing likewise). The comparison would make an exploding wind mill seem like a non-event. To bring up something like that in an argument against them is not a well thought out attack.
I see these windmills as a possible good source of power but not as the only source. They will supplement coal and oil fired power plants, hydro-electric plants, and nuclear facilities. I doubt they will ever replace them as the leftist kooks believe they will do someday.
If I could have a mini wind mill in my back yard, that would produce even 1/2 the power I use, I would be quite happy with it as it would reduce my electric bills. That is not feasible otherwise I think most of us would have them. As for the big ones, it would be great if they worked but they have been rushed through as some kind of wonder technology and that sure makes me wonder. Hopefully they will work, if not, well then we have a lot of ugly scrap to look at on the horizon.
All the best,
GB
Glenn, this is probably a good time to point out that I'm not a conservative.
Second, a windmill wouldn't lower your electric bill. Wind power is on the order of five times as expensive as conventional (e.g. coal) power. The problem is that the wind doesn't always blow at the right speed when you need it - too much, or two little, or just right but at the wrong time (i.e. when you don't need it).
Wind power *is* useful for going off the grid, but that's not an economic argument.
The windmills do kill lots of birds, but I see this as the lesser of the problem. The bigger problem is that large scale wind power will dramatically raise electric rates for poor people, which I think is terrible public policy. This is, in fact, my biggest beef with the modern "Environmental" movement - they are doing their best to raise the cost of power, raise the cost of gasoline, raise the cost of natural gas used to heat houses, etc. This all falls heaviest on the part of the population least capable of dealing with it.
In the UK, they have a term for this - "fuel poverty". Actually a good way to look at the situation, IMO.
Zoolander FTW!
IF there was a perfect way of storing the electricity they generate, windmills could be a good addition. Unfortunately, that technology doesn't really exist and electricity pretty much needs to be generated into a demand. As it is, wind mills can only contribute very expensive energy to the grid when conditions are optimal - regardless of when customers might need that energy.
Wind farms are always the recipients of taxpayer subsidies that make them look far more cost-effective than they are. At times, they even consume energy and are a drain on the rest of the grid.
As for left vs. right vs. independents and whether they support or oppose wind and other energy handouts, it's an interesting fact that leftists seem to unanimously behind the idea of catastrophic AGW, while independents and the right are not. I can honestly say that small as the sample may be, I've never met an engineer who is a fan of wind power or big supporter of AGW. I'm sure they exist, especially at GE or other makers of wind turbines, I've just never met one.
Glen B; I'm on the same page as you...I think point of use windmills are the answer. I wish I had a small windmill to help offset even 10% of my energy usage. Having HUGE windmills just doesn't cut it for the real time use of the power. You just can't store all of the energy thats produced. When THEY do find that amazing, cool, techno answer to storage; then I will support HUGE windmills. Until then, point of use mills are on my Christmas list!
Steve
Oh and the arguement for payback of investment...there is plenty of stuff purchased that doesn't "pay" for itself...so why do we have to harsh the mellow regarding windmills?
1. Windmills are just fine within their proper context. Islands and remote areas that largely depend on generators, places where there's enough wind...
2. Ha-ha! Stupid wind! Us smart people want to use an energy source that is immune to Mother Nature: Nukes!
;)
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