🚀 go-pugleaf

Jamie Outlaw <jamie@ce5.gwi.memphis.edu> wrote:
>
>  [George B]
> >>OK, so we are going to need to dam up even more rivers. Have you ever
> >>spent a summer evening in an eastern US city HOPING for a breeze?
> >>Besides, looking at windmill farms is worse than oil derricks.  Take a
> >>drive out to Palm Springs sometime. Compare that scene with Bolsa
> >>Chica.  About the same aren't they.
> >
> >[John Stanley]
> >I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder; I think the
> >windmill farm in Palm Springs is beautiful and magnificent. 
> >I only wish I had been there on a windy day.
> >
> >-- 
> >John A. Stanley                      jstanley@gate.net
> >
> >
> 
> 
> I have been by the windmill farm in Palm Springs a few times- it was windy 
> every time and the scene was magnificent.  As far as destroying the desert, 
> how much land is occupied by the windmills and how much total desert land
> is present in that area?

The rule of thumb we use is that wind turbines physically occupy
about 5% of the land on which they are sited.  They cannot be
spaced too closely without reducing productivity.

The desert environment is fragile and needs protection.  But there
are many thousands of square miles of desert in California that are
not suitable for wind development because they are not windy enough.

> Regardless of the source of electric power, someone will not be satisfied.
> If we were to go with solar power, people would complain about the solar panels
> being unsightly or dangerous.  People complain about fossil fuels, people
> complain about nuclear power & hydroelectric plants.  People just complain.
> 
> Too many people sepnt too much time coming up with problems and not enough 
> time trying to come up with solutions.

Agreed.  One problem is that for environmentalists, nothing (i.e.,
leaving the land as it is) is always better than any alternative.
This can make it very complicated to develop a sensible energy
policy.  I think many environmental groups know this and are trying
to come to terms with some of the inherent contradictions.

Tom Gray
Northeast Representative
American Wind Energy Association
http://www.igc.apc.org/awea/