An objective person interested in understanding the truth about climate issues and about the supposed need for and value of renewable energy doesn’t have to look hard to see multiple examples of the lies constantly told by the environmentalists and rich people who benefit from climate hysteria and forced use of renewable energy. Prince Edward Island thought it would be the epitome of forward-thing climate change mitigation by going to heavy use of renewables including a large wind power generation facility. Nothing but trouble ever since, as detailed in a Watt’s Up With That Post. (WUWT Post)
As usual the project was sold as creating lower cost energy. And as usual the truth turned out to be anything but. Sound familiar Minnesotans? Two years into operation most of the wind turbines aren’t even working. They were defective, blades came off, the farm was producing on 35% of the power it was supposed to. And of course, consumers are on the hook for the excessive costs and eventual shutdown of the farm, which looks inevitable. Same story everywhere if you look. Oh, and has it been mentioned that these wind turbines kill millions of birds and bats every year and modify the micro-climate around them?
The Healthy Skeptic is a website about the health care system, and is written by Kevin Roche, who has many years of experience working in the health industry. Mr. Roche is available to assist health care companies through consulting arrangements through Roche Consulting, LLC and may be reached at 
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify
Overcast
PocketCasts
Radio Public
Stitcher
Anchor
RSS - Posts
As you may be aware, New Hampshire has some of the highest energy costs in the country. It seems that part of the story may be related to offshore wind energy, although you’d be hard pressed to hear that in the local or regional media (Boston Globe, etc.) We recently learned in the financial press, however, that last month Eversource, the state’s largest electricity provider, wrote off $1.6 BILLION in wind investments for the three major wind projects on the east coast that have essentially gone belly up. Eversource says only investors will be charged for the write-offs….. Yeah, Right! Eversource owned 50% of each project. A fourth project, off of Martha’s Vineyard, went live last week. Anybody want to guess whether ratepayers will see higher or lower rates for January and in forthcoming months?
What about the underlying hypocrisy of countries like Canada exporting >3 million barrels/day of tar sand oil & Australia being one of the largest coal exporters, and at the same time these same countries promote wind/solar to reduce their own fossil fuel use? As the Manhattan Contrarian, who blogs on the fallacy of GND crap, stated in a recent post; “Climate advocacy: incompetence or intentional fraud?” You decide.
I live in Pinellas County, Florida, on the west Florida coast adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 520,000 housing units in Pinellas County. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, “the average [wind] turbine would generate over 843,000 kWh per month—enough for more than 940 average U.S. homes.” If I do my math correctly, it would require 550 wind turbines to power the residences in Pinellas County…and that doesn’t take into consideration businesses. And, there would still need to be another power source for those residences when the wind is not blowing; the U.S. Energy Information Administration cites that wind turbines have a 42% capacity factor – very inefficient.
As to the land or area needed, according to Today’s Homeowner, “Several factors determine the spacing necessary for wind turbines, with size being a major variable. But wind turbines need lots of space, or they’ll suffer a drop in performance. A 2 MW wind turbine may need between 40 and 70 acres of land to avoid interference from other turbines”.
But, there is very little land available for wind turbines in Pinellas County, so let’s apply the land factor to the Gulf Of Mexico. Using the average between 40 and 70 acres, or 55 acres, we would need an area of 30,000 acres for those 550 wind turbines (47 square miles). That means laying heavy-duty electrical cables miles out into the Gulf – coastal homeowners are not going to stand for wind turbines blocking their valuable view of the Gulf.
Now, as to cost, again according to Today’s Homeowner, “The total cost of an average turbine can range from $2.5 million to $4 million, though large offshore turbines can cost tens of millions”. So let’s use the average cost of $3.25 million times 550 wind turbines, or $1.8 billion.
Quibble with the numbers if you want but wind turbines are expensive, inefficient, and technologically unsound. A really bad idea.