New windmill farm, took a drive!

[Rayme]

So I heard that we had some windmills that sprouted, so we went for a drive and took some pictures...Boy, these are in the middle of nowhere too!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...7&id=509738495

They are huuuuuuuuuuugggggggeeeeeeeeee !!!!!!

Its great to see..they are so graceful..and its "free" energy!

[bowtieguy]

if you're in the US, they must not be in view of any politicians' homes.

[dkjones96]

I-10 leaving Los Angeles has a pretty huge wind farm(granted like half of them are busted but they have them ranging from huge to small there) it looks like it'd been used a lot as a testing facility. There is a really nice one in northwest Texas but I haven't driven there to get pictures.

[blind monkey]

windfarms are not free energy untill they make enough power to offset the cost of construction and ongoing maintenance. has windmill technology reached this point yet? isnt there some sort of tax insentive to build green power production that forces the power companies to buy the power from them at a rate higher then dirty power?

[dkjones96]

The cost of construction really depends on how they are made. A home system can be made rather cheaply so I could see them offsetting the cost quickly, especially if the right bearings are chosen so it's essentially maintenance free.

[bobc455]

Originally Posted by blind monkey

windfarms are not free energy untill they make enough power to offset the cost of construction and ongoing maintenance. has windmill technology reached this point yet? isnt there some sort of tax insentive to build green power production that forces the power companies to buy the power from them at a rate higher then dirty power?

The energy itself is free.

Obviously the windmill is not, and from what I've seen the payback period is about 10 years for these things.

Actually the interesting thing about the energy in windmill is that these actually *remove energy from the environment*, essentially contributing to "global cooling". Of course that is undone when the energy is used (to heat a home or light a lightbulb, etc.) but they do have a net-zero effect on global warming.

-BC