Windfarms? We might as well use hamsters on treadmills

Mail Online ^ | 9/7/2009 | Peter Hitchens

[Freedom56v2]

Maybe the Kia Soul Car commercial hamsters are available?

[PGR88]

The UK has to get out of the EU to save itself.

[tm61]

never be allowed to happen. the new regulatory chief would nix this in fear of offending the hamster union.

[bitterohiogunclinger]

When did Gaddafi start dressing like Michael Jackson?

[OCCASparky]

Did someone say, "hamsters?????"

[TruthBeforeAll]

As I have mentioned before. There is only so much wind on any given day. If we take that wind and convert it to electricity, what impact could it have on the environment? Even more global warming? Wouldn’t wind help cool the planet?

[SERKIT]

While driving through Indiana on I-65 on Monday, we drove by the enormous field of numerous dormant wind turbines. WTH is going on with that project?

[Defiant]

All the wit of his brother, without the marxism. I enjoy reading this Hitchens.

[Reeses]

Wouldn’t wind help cool the planet?

Yes, mostly by carrying surface heat away through water evaporation which results in more clouds that reflect incoming sunlight back out to space. Extracting energy from the wind causes desertification and global warming. Fighting global warming with wind farms is one of the more stupid ideas.

[Reeses]

enormous field of numerous dormant wind turbines.

That's because the tax credits ran out. Once a wind turbine is fully depreciated, it costs more to operate than the electric company is forced to overpay for the fickle electricity.

[LRS]

Hamsters? Naw!

[rwfromkansas]

I would not be a big fan of a windmill in my backyard, but this is a bit silly.

Yeah, they make it when it’s windy, but it doesn’t take much wind. Hardly ever is it truly calm. Even then, it stores what was made.

I just think this is silly. Why not make some use out of the wind for our purposes...doesn’t seem backwards to me at all!

[rwfromkansas]

You do realize they don’t actually take the wind itself....it still blows. All that is done is the movement is converted to electricity through the turbine’s motion.

[Disambiguator]

We might as well use hamsters on treadmills

Except in San Francisco, where they would use gerbils.

[fso301]

Russian windfarm circa 1910

[Reeses]

You do realize they don’t actually take the wind itself....it still blows.

The wind is a key player in the climate. If a wind turbine slows the surface wind speed down 25%, evaporation will be reduced 25%. The desertification caused by wind turbines is more than the CO2 emissions it replaces.

[rwfromkansas]

I hadn’t thought about that, but I took an intro met class and do recall the wind played an integral role. You may be onto something there, a pretty shocking fact if true!

[steelyourfaith]

 

Beam Me to Planet Gore !

[palmer]

Yeah, they make it when it’s windy, but it doesn’t take much wind. Hardly ever is it truly calm. Even then, it stores what was made.

It takes quite a bit of wind, usually at least 12 mph steady which is quite rare in the summer most places. As for storage, there is no storage. That's why Texas had a huge blackout when the wind went down unexpectedly over a large part of the grid.