Quote:
Originally Posted by Fiorenza
You're sourcing wind industry propaganda from Britain, no less. Fact is, the cost of constructing, collecting and distributing wind-generated electricity, is huge. The cost of building and maintaining each tower in relation to the power output over the life of the facility, is huge, The cost of running collecting lines to each tower in remote locations, is huge. The cost of distributing power from wind-favorable areas to the consumer thousands of miles away, is huge.
You're working with bogus, incomplete numbers put out by environmentalist wackos.
Natgas generators supplemented by nuclear is the way to go for the next several generations.
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It's not propaganda but probably represents the costs associated with those projects. There are costs associated with building and maintaining the towers but those costs can be predicted accurately. What makes each installation different is the location. Land costs are different in each area, different tech can be used in different areas. Dante mentioned compressed air storage as a form of battery. That can only happen in areas with the right geological structures. Another type of "battery" is to pump water up when excess energy is produced and then let gravity drain it back down to power generators. Traditional batteries are also advancing rapidly so at some point you might not even need to look at those options.
I think we should put a huge focus on wind and solar right now, but it's going to take time before it's able to grow fast enough to replace existing power plants that aren't as efficient or clean. It's my opinion that we should build both nuclear, natural gas, AND wind, solar, and tidal power plants ONLY from now on. Now to handle growing energy demand, which I've read is expected to double by 2020, we will need to build all of the plants I noted above, because 1 single solution isn't available.. yet. It's also my opinion that over the next 5-10 years we'll see huge advances in renewable energy tech. I feel like I read about a new type of solar cell or wind turbine that's going to revolutionize the world every month, so we're definitely heading in the right direction.
I expect that by 2020 we'll be at a point where all new power plants will be from renewables, and then by 2025 we'll be able to replace existing non renewable infrastructures with them.
So Dante you're right, and Fiorenza you're right too, I just think both your timetables are wrong. BUT hey this is a discussion board so let's have a discussion and let me know why my timeline is wrong.
