The Mrs. said "lets go look at those windmills" - Page 6 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

t walgamuth · #76 09-11-2009, 07:34 AM

I don't believe I have time to write a book but if I had spent as much time working on one as posting here I would have a lot written right now

!

t walgamuth · #77 07-25-2010, 11:13 PM

A couple of updates:

1. I believe I read recently that we have over 2,000 in Indiana now. I drove through our cach of them near Fowler today and I bet there are 1,000 just around there. On my recent vacation trip out west I did not see any developments on the scale of the one we have up there though I did see some largish ones.

2. On Friday the lovely Mrs. and I went out to eat and while coming back saw in the parking lot of a local mostly vacant strip center a windmill blade on a pair of stands that apparently was damaged in a highway accident.

The last 8' or so on the small end has one side sheared off. I asked the mrs. to go back so I could look at it up close. (we were in her PT). The surface is composite with a fairly thick layer of plywood just under the surface. It is all amazingly flexible especially with one side sheared off.

It stands nearly 12' tall (standing on edge) and looks to be 136' long based on how many 10' squares of the concrete parking lot it takes up. The end that fastens into the hub has what looks to be an access that will allow a man to crawl inside the blade. There are about 70 threaded about 19mm bolt holes in the hub which bolts to the hub.

Most impressive and interesting.

retmil46 · #78 07-26-2010, 01:36 AM

From what I've heard, the Dutch are having problems with trying to push beyond a certain percentage of their electrical load from wind power into the grid at any one time. It seems when they try to replace more than 10% of the total electrical demand with wind turbines (they built enough to supply 25% of their demand), the electrical grid system becomes "unstable", with power surges, and they have to sell the excess to surrounding countries for a loss. Sounds as though they didn't think thru the changes they'd need to make to their distribution system before trying to incorporate wind power.

Remember the Pickens Plan? His idea was to build a crapload of windmills (which he is heavily invested in) to supply electrical power, which would free up natural gas (which he is heavily invested in) that normally would be burned in conventional power plants, so we could instead burn it in our vehicles. Of course, that would entail supplying the equipment to convert vehicles over to natural gas (which he is invested in) and building the infrastructure to supply natural gas and filling equipment for service stations (which he is invested in) - gee, am I seeing an "investment" pattern here?

End result? When cap and trade stalled out, he dropped his plans for large wind farms. When asked why, he said without cap and trade to drive up the price of conventional fuels, and government subsidies for wind power which were also in cap and trade, financially it was a losing proposition - it couldn't compete without jury-rigging the market. So much for his attempt to become a great patriot and grant us "energy independence" - guess he loves his bank account more.

t walgamuth · #79 07-26-2010, 07:17 AM

Just because he was planning to make money from it does not necessarily mean it is a bad thing for the country.

What I detest is when folks manipulate or deceive to make money.....like in the whole sub prime fiasco.....or the price manipulation done regularly by the oil companies.

mgburg · #80 07-26-2010, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

Just because he was planning to make money from it does not necessarily mean it is a bad thing for the country.

... What I detest is when folks manipulate or deceive to make money.....like in the whole sub prime fiasco.....or the price manipulation done regularly by the oil companies.

Don't forget that ENRON thing...and the likes of those buggers...

t walgamuth · #81 07-26-2010, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgburg

Don't forget that ENRON thing...and the likes of those buggers...

That clearly fits my second line.

retmil46 · #82 07-26-2010, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

Just because he was planning to make money from it does not necessarily mean it is a bad thing for the country.

What I detest is when folks manipulate or deceive to make money.....like in the whole sub prime fiasco.....or the price manipulation done regularly by the oil companies.

Agreed, if all he was looking at was making an honest profit. But in Pickens case, I think he had your second line at least partly in mind - he all but said the only way it would have been profitable for him was to receive government subsidies - our tax money - to prop it up, and via carbon crdeits/cap and trade to artifically jack up the price of other forms of energy, so his business would be competitive.

In other words, his entire business plan hinged on having the government rig the market in his favor, and sticking his hand in the public till. When cap and trade stalled out, and it became clear he would have to risk HIS money to set this up instead of the taxpayer's, he dropped it like a hot potato.

Don't get me wrong, I'm in favor of wind power. But old T. Boone wasn't trying to make an honest profit off a new business venture - IMHO he was trying to run a scam on the whole country.

I went on the website and forum for the Pickens plan back when it was first set up. I offered a simpler alternative to the second part of his plan. Instead of converting millions of vehicles to run off of straight natural gas - or requiring people to buy new vehicles that could - and spending billions to create an entirely new fueling infrastructure across the country - why not build several Fischer-Tropp style plants to convert the natural gas into synthetic liquid diesel and gasoline, for which the infrastructure was already in place and could immediately be used by the vehicles already on the road? I was basically invited to go elsewhere.

t walgamuth · #83 07-26-2010, 06:16 PM

Well, the government subsidizes many things. Not the least having children and borrowing money to buy homes.

Just getting a subsidy because the government wants people to try new potentially unprofitable things does not make him a bad guy in my book.