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15 comments on A wind-powered Statue of Liberty

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Eroie Van Tanstaafl on August 25, 2005 - 11:10am Permalink | Subthread | Comments top
Wind is the future.  This is a great idea - especially since it would put to rest those stupid "wind turbines are taller than the Statue of Liberty" talking points.

Installed wind capacity will grow nearly 40% in 2005.  Growth has averaged almost 30% for the last five years.  At that rate, it will nearly double every two years.  Although only 0.3% of total US capacity this year, it could hit 8% within 10 years!

Oil only accounts for 3% of US electrical demand, but that 3% is going to be easy pickings for the wind power industry.

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louGrinzo on August 25, 2005 - 11:36am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Yep, that 3% is a soft target for wind, but there's an even more pressing need to push heavily on wind power: As oil continues to rise in price, people will become desperate to find a substitute energy source, and that means electricity.  The use of plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles will grow dramatically beginning in 2 to 3 years, putting a huge additional demand on the grid and generation capacity.

(And to all of my fellow energy geeks reading this, yes, I know that technically electricity isn't an energy source.  But to a consumer it sure is--he or she will soon be able to choose between running a car on one form or another of liquid fuel (gasoline, diesel, ethanol, biodiesel) or charging it up with electricity.)

Also--expect to see garage roofs in suburbia sprouting solar panels, as a way to partially offset the electricity cost of topping off those hungry car batteries.

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Donal on August 25, 2005 - 11:55am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Didn't I read that photovoltaic panels are in short supply?
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Glenn on August 25, 2005 - 12:15pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Yes, Germany, Japan and now CA and NJ are sucking up all available supply. That should stimulate supply! The market still works for some things!
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Halfin on August 25, 2005 - 2:16pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Take a look at http://www.solarbuzz.com/ for a chart showing retail prices of solar electric systems. The costs bottomed out about a year ago and have been climbing ever since, probably due to increased demand.

Bill Gross's Sunflower system from http://www.energyinnovations.com/ claims that it will undercut current prices by about 30%, but that's still going to be pretty expensive.

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Ben on August 25, 2005 - 2:24pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I considered adding a bunch of panels / batteries here a few years ago and guesstimated it would cost $20,000 at a minimum.  We have lots of sun so this area is considered "okay" but not "great."

I recall thinking "that's a car payment!"

Now, my electric bill, on a good month, is $200.  Perhaps it's time to check my math again...

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Eroie Van Tanstaafl on August 25, 2005 - 12:44pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Indeed - but wind gets cheaper every year, while gas and coal do not.  That's why it's growing so fast already and will keep on going.  Within 5 years the economics for wind will be accepted fact.  In ten years, wind will have at least 5% of the US market, and will keep growing like crazy.  Right now, installed capacity is doubling every two years!
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Stuart Staniford on August 26, 2005 - 1:04am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Wind is limited both by available sites and by the fact that it destabilizes the grid if there's too much of it because it's so unpredictable and uncontrollable. I think the utility people believe they can't take more than about 10% of the total in wind power. Note that it's current economics will tend to worsen in a post-peak world since the steel for the turbines won't be subsidized by being mined and smelted with cheap energy.
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