Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Wind power surpassing hydro in the US

And when we speak of economics, we need to keep in mind that many of the most vocal opponents of anything new are the ones who see their income being threatened by it. They will throw up all sorts of environmental and efficiency arguments to hide the fact that all they are really concerned about is the new technology cutting into their bottom line.

One are two volcanoes blow and so much for solar energy. If grass does not grow and win d does not blow.....

Watching one the wind generator is awesome. Not to mention they set the country side on fire.

The other problem with wind is no way to store the energy

i'm tellin' y'all neanderthals and others who walk among us is that genetic engineering applied correctly can get us all coated in thick heavy hair once again.

then let the blue northers blow. we'll huddle together and stay warm, and survive.

the next morning or day after the storm passes through, we'll eat.


folks are taking things way too seriously. we've always survived.

and of course we always will, in one form or another.

Have we given up on nuclear energy? That is the future.

Nuclear power should be a big part of the strategy.

If the hot air in Washington Dc could be harnessed, both hydro, and wind turbans would be dwarfed in comparison.

split wood not atoms.

ok, i agree, let's do both.

trees have to be re-planted.

how to replace atoms?

5sdad,

That must be the reason for all the billboards around Idaho Falls (Dutch's stompin' grounds) commenting about the local wind turbines "inefficiency" and not being the best answer to current electricity needs! It is hard to know what to believe any longer with all the competing "business" interests involved.

With that said, I must admit that I don't enjoy looking at them, kind of like a drilling rig just off a beautiful ocean coast. Some of my favorite open vistas across Eastern Idaho, Central Wyoming, and Central Kansas along the Interstates will never be quite the same. Can't say I care for smog either though! The bird thing bothers me as well... everything comes at a cost. Most things any more are "people" problems, including more people that want more conveniences. It never seems to end.

Have you ever seen old pictures of "urban" Caifornia areas back in the early 20th century (100 years ago)? They were stunning and gorgeous. I can understand why people wanted to move there... boy what a century of "progress" can do to a nice place.

It's the economics, stupid. 25% of all nukes where construction starts, never finish. The average nuke plant comes in 200% over budget. With those numbers, if you're a utility, are you going to run to sign up?

Besides, any nuke that's not a breeder reactor is an economic boondoggle.

For both issues, the answer is political. And the votes aren't there.

its always follow the money......they are not putting up solar and wind because its going to fail...….bob

Starlings roosting in trees kill them with their poop around here. so why are concerned about a few birds???

no schit…….bird hunters always complain about to many hawks and eagle's...….bring on the wind mills...….bob

I don't see the point, of course wind will surpass hydro. As a country we don't have much hydro potential and that was developed long ago. There ain't no more. The government continues to force renewable down our throat so of course it's getting bigger.

Maybe the fact that the government has to mandate renewable (not at all economically efficient) is a clue.

I dont care.

If the strategy is not diverse its not really a strategy.

Power generation is one of the industries I served in a previous job. In that industry they have an inside joke that goes something like:

If you rely exclusively on wind and solar power, then eventually on a calm, cold winter night you will freeze to death in the dark.

Nukes are fine by me, but non- breeder nukes are retarded. (Comparatively) huge waste issues, and 95% or more of the fissionable materials not being burnt. That's retarded. For no reason other than politics.

As far as diversity, we're adding wind, solar, geothermal, wave (?), tidal (?) and dropping nukes. Sounds like increased diversity to me?

I would love to see Thorium reactors.. would probably solve all our energy needs. Super safe compared to even the newest reactor types out there!

No. We have to schit can all that mess and burn coal and oil.