Re: Windmills on Ice Mountain - Gamesa Wind Turbines
Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 2:10 pm
”The current rush for large scale onshore wind developments, connected by a hugely centralized grid system shows a poverty of imagination and thinking rooted in the early 20th Century. If attention continues to be focused on increasing renewable energy targets, without any requirement to demonstrate what each development will achieve in greenhouse gas emissions reductions (including all aspects of the generation and transmission), we face a possible worst case scenario, where we achieve renewable energy targets through inappropriate developments and at great cost to important environments — only to discover that our greenhouse gas emissions are up, along with our energy consumption, and our energy supply is not secure.”
The John Muir Trust <<http://www.jmt.org/what-we-think.asp>>.
Below is more information pertaining to utility-scale wind energy. Some folks on this listserve may be interested in this and wind energy's potential and already documented impacts on raptors.
Sincerely,
Donald S. Heintzelman
Ornithologist and Author
Zionsville, PA
USA
donsh@enter.net
***************
----- Original Message -----
From: John Droz jr.
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2009 10:53 AM
Subject: Recent Energy News-7/25/09
Friends:
This is the latest issue of my informal, free collection of recent electrical energy-related developments. Since we are daily inundated with material coming out on this topic, I am trying to present a digest summary of the most pertinent applicable information. My bias is for articles that are: scientific, independent, informative, constructive, and/or well-written. (I would STRONGLY recommend that you SAVE these emails, as you might need links to some good articles in the future.)
My message is: Scientifically Sound Solutions not Palliative Political Pablum
---------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------
My next community energy presentation is Wed August 12th, 7 PM in Waterville, NY. It is open to the public. Email Bill Lemery for info “bjlemery@msn.com”.
-------------
New York State is developing a new “Energy Plan,” and will shortly have public hearings about it. This is the latest version of their plan <<http://tinyurl.com/nv5mbt>>.
Here is the draft version of my comments about it, which should be of interest to anyone dealing with wind power mania. If you have any suggestions for improvements, please email me. <<http://www.northnet.org/brvmug/WindPowe ... mments.pdf>>.
-------------
The excellent wind power case study that I cited a few issues ago has been updated, and has a new url <<http://tinyurl.com/kv6s97>>.
The gist of this paper is to respond to a wind power advocate’s publicized (and unsupported) assertion that wind power displaces conventional sources on a 1:1 basis. This paper examines the assumptions behind that claim, and shows why they are not accurate. A followup is being worked on.
-------------
A superior editorial about the Waxman-Markey bill by the publisher of Forbes <<http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0803/ ... rules.html>>.
-------------
Speaking of that, here is an interesting town meeting held by one of the mislead House Republican members that voted for the Cap & Trade bill. It is interesting to see the citizens comments: <<http://tinyurl.com/mgwy3r>>.
-------------
A fine article: “Don’t Blow Hundreds of Billions on Wind Power” <<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/commen ... 717079.ece>>.
-------------
“Forests of Concrete and Steel” is a damning indictment of wind energy: <<http://www.postchronicle.com/commentary ... ml?rssfeed>>.
-------------
An excellent NY newspaper editorial against how poorly wind power projects are being handled. If only ALL NY newspapers took this position! <<http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/arti ... -1/OPINION>>.
-------------
A report on how renewable energy costs aren’t working out quite as well as the proponents would like you to believe. <<http://www.statesman.com/news/content/n ... hoice.html>>.
-------------
Clean Energy’s Dirty Little Secret discusses one of the many unintended (and problematic) consequences of this blind progression to everything green: <<http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200905/h ... s-minerals>>
-------------
A fine letter here, detailing an expert’s conclusions on several important noise related issues with wind turbines <<http://www.steubencourier.com/news/2009 ... r/015.html>>
-------------
A revealing page of information by the EIA about energy subsidies <<http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/energy_in_brie ... sidies.cfm>>.
-------------
This appeared last year and I missed it. The article discusses one of my key themes: a major solution not being promoted in the electrical sector is to improve on delivered efficiency <<http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200805/recycled-steam>>.
-------------
This article by Bjorn Lomborg discusses renewable energy in a fairly reasonable way <<http://www.esquire.com/features/new-sol ... rming-0809>>. His comments put the CO2 paranoia into a good perspective, e.g.
“There are plenty of other major global problems that have reasonably cheap solutions. One billion people lack clean drinking water. Two billion lack sanitation. Three billion lack basic micronutrients. One quarter of all deaths each year are caused by infectious diseases that we could easily combat.”
-------------
I have been aware of this for awhile and due to information processing overload I have been remiss in recommending that you look at the good Energy Plan site <<http://www.energyplanusa.com/>>.
-------------
The Putting Some Balance To It Department —
Since wind energy is the b*st*rd offspring of Global Warming, I am in the process of considerably expanding my position paper on the Global Warming hypothesis. It is intended to be an overview for citizens. See it here <<http://www.northnet.org/brvmug/WindPowe ... ition2.pdf>>. If you have suggestions for improvements, please send them to me.
“Blunt warnings about greens under the bed” <<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/commen ... 725471.ece>>.
Read “Climate Change Reconsidered: The 2009 Report of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC)” <<http://www.nipccreport.org/index.html>>.
Is the Global Warming debate over? <<http://masterresource.org/?p=3847#more-3847>>.
Another insightful piece by George Will <<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02415.html>>.
“Climate Money: Massive Climate Funding Exposed. The Climate Industry: $79 Billion so far - Trillions to come” <<http://joannenova.com.au/2009/07/23/mas ... g-exposed/>>.
Author Nova states that "The most telling point is that after spending $30 billion on pure science research ($79 billion in total) no one is able to point to a single piece of empirical evidence that man-made carbon dioxide has a significant effect on the global climate."
These Science-based sites have some very worthwhile climate information <<http://www.co2science.org/>> and <<http://www.friendsofscience.org>>.
regards,
john droz,
The John Muir Trust <<http://www.jmt.org/what-we-think.asp>>.
Below is more information pertaining to utility-scale wind energy. Some folks on this listserve may be interested in this and wind energy's potential and already documented impacts on raptors.
Sincerely,
Donald S. Heintzelman
Ornithologist and Author
Zionsville, PA
USA
donsh@enter.net
***************
----- Original Message -----
From: John Droz jr.
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2009 10:53 AM
Subject: Recent Energy News-7/25/09
Friends:
This is the latest issue of my informal, free collection of recent electrical energy-related developments. Since we are daily inundated with material coming out on this topic, I am trying to present a digest summary of the most pertinent applicable information. My bias is for articles that are: scientific, independent, informative, constructive, and/or well-written. (I would STRONGLY recommend that you SAVE these emails, as you might need links to some good articles in the future.)
My message is: Scientifically Sound Solutions not Palliative Political Pablum
---------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------
My next community energy presentation is Wed August 12th, 7 PM in Waterville, NY. It is open to the public. Email Bill Lemery for info “bjlemery@msn.com”.
-------------
New York State is developing a new “Energy Plan,” and will shortly have public hearings about it. This is the latest version of their plan <<http://tinyurl.com/nv5mbt>>.
Here is the draft version of my comments about it, which should be of interest to anyone dealing with wind power mania. If you have any suggestions for improvements, please email me. <<http://www.northnet.org/brvmug/WindPowe ... mments.pdf>>.
-------------
The excellent wind power case study that I cited a few issues ago has been updated, and has a new url <<http://tinyurl.com/kv6s97>>.
The gist of this paper is to respond to a wind power advocate’s publicized (and unsupported) assertion that wind power displaces conventional sources on a 1:1 basis. This paper examines the assumptions behind that claim, and shows why they are not accurate. A followup is being worked on.
-------------
A superior editorial about the Waxman-Markey bill by the publisher of Forbes <<http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0803/ ... rules.html>>.
-------------
Speaking of that, here is an interesting town meeting held by one of the mislead House Republican members that voted for the Cap & Trade bill. It is interesting to see the citizens comments: <<http://tinyurl.com/mgwy3r>>.
-------------
A fine article: “Don’t Blow Hundreds of Billions on Wind Power” <<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/commen ... 717079.ece>>.
-------------
“Forests of Concrete and Steel” is a damning indictment of wind energy: <<http://www.postchronicle.com/commentary ... ml?rssfeed>>.
-------------
An excellent NY newspaper editorial against how poorly wind power projects are being handled. If only ALL NY newspapers took this position! <<http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/arti ... -1/OPINION>>.
-------------
A report on how renewable energy costs aren’t working out quite as well as the proponents would like you to believe. <<http://www.statesman.com/news/content/n ... hoice.html>>.
-------------
Clean Energy’s Dirty Little Secret discusses one of the many unintended (and problematic) consequences of this blind progression to everything green: <<http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200905/h ... s-minerals>>
-------------
A fine letter here, detailing an expert’s conclusions on several important noise related issues with wind turbines <<http://www.steubencourier.com/news/2009 ... r/015.html>>
-------------
A revealing page of information by the EIA about energy subsidies <<http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/energy_in_brie ... sidies.cfm>>.
-------------
This appeared last year and I missed it. The article discusses one of my key themes: a major solution not being promoted in the electrical sector is to improve on delivered efficiency <<http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200805/recycled-steam>>.
-------------
This article by Bjorn Lomborg discusses renewable energy in a fairly reasonable way <<http://www.esquire.com/features/new-sol ... rming-0809>>. His comments put the CO2 paranoia into a good perspective, e.g.
“There are plenty of other major global problems that have reasonably cheap solutions. One billion people lack clean drinking water. Two billion lack sanitation. Three billion lack basic micronutrients. One quarter of all deaths each year are caused by infectious diseases that we could easily combat.”
-------------
I have been aware of this for awhile and due to information processing overload I have been remiss in recommending that you look at the good Energy Plan site <<http://www.energyplanusa.com/>>.
-------------
The Putting Some Balance To It Department —
Since wind energy is the b*st*rd offspring of Global Warming, I am in the process of considerably expanding my position paper on the Global Warming hypothesis. It is intended to be an overview for citizens. See it here <<http://www.northnet.org/brvmug/WindPowe ... ition2.pdf>>. If you have suggestions for improvements, please send them to me.
“Blunt warnings about greens under the bed” <<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/commen ... 725471.ece>>.
Read “Climate Change Reconsidered: The 2009 Report of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC)” <<http://www.nipccreport.org/index.html>>.
Is the Global Warming debate over? <<http://masterresource.org/?p=3847#more-3847>>.
Another insightful piece by George Will <<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02415.html>>.
“Climate Money: Massive Climate Funding Exposed. The Climate Industry: $79 Billion so far - Trillions to come” <<http://joannenova.com.au/2009/07/23/mas ... g-exposed/>>.
Author Nova states that "The most telling point is that after spending $30 billion on pure science research ($79 billion in total) no one is able to point to a single piece of empirical evidence that man-made carbon dioxide has a significant effect on the global climate."
These Science-based sites have some very worthwhile climate information <<http://www.co2science.org/>> and <<http://www.friendsofscience.org>>.
regards,
john droz,