sandstone wrote:From the Bedford Gazette:
To the editor;
A recent Gazette article comparing coalplants and windplants caught my eye. The class described in the article failed to elaborate on how many windplants would be required to replace a given number of coalplants. This probably was intentional, because the answer is mind-bogling.
The Commonwealth has 30+ coalplants, ranging in size from 800 MegaWatts to 2,300 MegaWatts. To produce 6,000 MegaWatts of electrical power would require about 3 large coalplants or 9,000 industrial-scale wind turbines. Each industrial-scale turbine is rated at 2 MegaWatts, but no industrial windplant east of the Mississippi River has exceeded an annualized 30% capacity factor, thus 9,000 industrial turbines x 2 MW/turbine x 30% = 5,400 MW, but let's say 6,000 MW to be generous. Since industrial-scale wind turbines are spaced 6 per mile, the placement of 9,000 industrial turbines would require the sacrifice of 1,500 miles of ridgetop to build the roads, transmission lines, substations, etc. associated with industrial windplants. Even then, the electricity would not supply baseload requirements because the power and presence of wind are unreliable.Scientists estimate that we must reduce our CO2 output by 80% by 2050 to stave off the worst effects of global warming. The only electricity source that we currently have available that can meet baseload demands while not producing CO2 is nuclear. Pennsylvania has five nuclear plants which provide more than 30% of the Keystone State's electricity needs. By expanding the capacity of existing nuclear plants, we can provide the baseload capacity to replace existing coalplants, something that industrial windplants cannot do.
Stan Kotala, M.D.
I still believe, unless these people are stopped, there will be a line of wind turbines, running through the ridge tops of Pennslyvania, from the WVA to NY. While, in the meantime, somebody is sitting back there, raking in the $$$$$$, and laughing at our stupidity !!!
Still, I cannot imagine these things being approved. I cannot imagine a lease being signed by our borough council after all the facts that have been proven over and over again. Facts that have been submitted on this board, and/or elsewhere, throughout the world. There is not one thing good about wind turbines.... nothing !!! They say "clean" energy.... they don't mention the fact that wind turbines don't work on their own. They need the grid, which is powered by the very thing that is contributing to pollution !!!
!!??" I wonder where they were going ??
