GOING WITH THE WIND
What's wrong? We have been talking about generating electrical power in quantity and less expensively by making use of Nature's forceful winds from when I was a kid, and that wasn't just the day before yesterday ,either.
There's a crosswind in the system somewhere. I, from time to time, come across account of the construction of a new “wind farm” - as they are now cutely called. In each story everything is coming along well and we are on the breezy edge of totally new era of power creation . We usually get a few picture in the Sunday supplements, a time-filler on TV and stories on computer news. That all goes on heavily for a month or so - about the time the latest project is to be completed and placed on line - and the whole thing seems to disappear. It does not slowly fade away away,either. It goes away suddenly completely!
The fact that we do not hear a bragging sequence concerning them suggests they have been a failure. The mere fact builders fail to follow up with selling statistics indicates they have been less successful than expected. If so, I, for one, want to hear about what has happened – both good and bad.
One reason so few people seem to b e interesting in power from wind driven blades, is that the concept seems old-fashioned. The old windmills we saw on farms all over the place were adapted to their use in pumping water, primarily. So, remembering hundred of such towers having been re-assigned the task of holding up TV antennae, they think of system as antiquated, dated and inefficient,old, creaky and unworthy suggestion for our time and effort.
In some areas environmentalists have been aroused who object to whatever might alter the habitat in any way, major or minor. To the combative Econut all such towers are “ugly”; to others a series of them, sweeping gracefully across the top of a mountain ridge, or out over the expanse of a body of water, can be an artistic thing we can admire and be proud of having created.
Other conditions which may exist and which I would like to know about. Is economy rally a value of the wind system?. What about reports I hear of heavy loses of power in the transmission of power back to where it is needed? Is that a major factor of special concern? The stance of federal, state and governments, too, may well be handicapping the drive toward economical wind sources in some areas. If so let's slap few political hands here and there and and awaken our put-off pols to additional paths of power for us all.
Mother Nature is not going to do her generous handout on fossil fuels forever. We had best make adjustments to assure that we will have electrical power sources in the future when Mama Naturalle cries “Enough! No more!”
A.L.M. July 30, 2003 [c494wds]
