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138 comments on Wednesday Open Thread

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Siggi on May 4, 2006 - 11:48am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
In Germany, we had all these discussions, too. In the beginning, wind power was sometimes built too close to houses, some made too much noise and some had the dreaded "disco effect". These problems are pretty much fixed now.

Newer wind energy converters now have up to 6 MW.

It makes a lot of sense to build wind parks offshore. First of all the wind is stronger there, it blows more steadily, and the wind energy convertes obviously don't vandalize the landscpae out there.

A lot of wind power has also been built next to highways and motorways recently.

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Physics Grad on May 4, 2006 - 11:59am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Yeah, I used to see a bunch driving south from Mainz along the highway.  I thought they were actually pretty cool looking and not as ugly as many people say.
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AlanfromBigEasy on May 4, 2006 - 1:48pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
> obviously don't vandalize the landscape out there.

The "limousine liberals" of Cape Cod island Massachusetts strongly support renewable neergy, except when a proposed offshore wind farm might clutter their view of the ocean.

Computer simulations show very small images out at the horizon.

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Siggi on May 4, 2006 - 2:05pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
That's why in the North Sea, the wind parks are planned out of sight from the coast...

Obviously, the sea has to be quite flat for this to work.

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solar1 on May 4, 2006 - 3:51pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
We have already destroyed everyone's view with electric poles from coast to coast.  After that we added cell phone towers everywhere.  I don't see how we can complain about a few windmills.  Soon renewable energy will be all we have, like it or not.  It takes a lot of work and only provides a spit of energy for your trouble and it is all we will have.  
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Siggi on May 4, 2006 - 4:28pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Actually, there is a problem now with the power lines. In order to connect all the wind power in the north, where not that many people live, to the urban centers, we need more power lines.

As always, there is NIMB attitude. Each small village demands underground cabling, but for a 380 kV line, that is exorbitantly expensive. As a result, it takes 10 years to build a new power line - the wind power is growing much faster.

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138 comments on Wednesday Open Thread

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