20 replies to this topic

[Pasidon]

So recently, all these wind farm'y things have been popping up all over the gosh darn globe.  Their little wings spin around and make your machines work.  Cuz of wind.  Neat.  Or is it?  There has been a whole bunch of fuss over them, including protests of sorts.  Even the county I'm in has protested them, and there isn't one in our borders.  Now why would people do something silly and protest them?  To my surprise, there are actually good reasons.  Especially with dairy cows.

 

So what do you know about wind spinners and the negative fussing?  Cuz apparently there is a whole bunch of it.  Based on what you know, should wind farms be allowed to make their way into your property, or should they bite the dust and be gone with the wind?  More puns to come.  

[Graion Dilach]

I don't see any issues with wind turbines. Dunno why would anyone protest against it tbh.

 

Wind is already there, so what?

[Pasidon]

Well the one big issue I keep hearing is that the noise they make keep dairy cows up.  Like they're stuck in a perpetual cycle of wakefulness.  And die.

[Graion Dilach]

I dunno. Once upon a time I was in Austria (sole place where I've been in as abroad) and I've seen a lot of wind farms. Besides, people used windmills for ages now.

 

I guess people just needed to protest against something over there, I think the majority of my country actually vote for those windfarms.

[Pasidon]

Yea, people do like protesting.  It's civilization's favorite and oldest pastime.  Sadly, not a joke.  

[Beowulf]

I drove through the Great Wind Farms of Central Kansas and if they're loud, I didn't hear shit.

[duke_Qa]

Cows are resilient creatures, I'm sure they'll break the windmill if you throw them into one. Also, the amount of sound they are exposed to in the modern industrial agriculture should have gotten them used to strange sounds.

 

But windmill-parks are pretty acceptable, but I've heard that the energy you use creating one is higher than the energy you get out of it before its worn out. Still, in areas with little hydro-power and ineffective sun for solar power, wind-power is a good way to reduce the dependency of coal.

[OmegaBolt]

As long as they're built in reasonable places there's no reason to tear them all down over an unfortunate incident. Just don't mix wind and dairy farming.

Edited by OmegaBolt, 07 June 2013 - 11:43 AM.

[Pasidon]

Well here in Howard Country, you got dairy farms every mile.  Hard to avoid the cow radius.  And just announced, my local orchard is getting a wind farm.  I guess they'll be making 10,000 dollars a year from it just being on their property.  It's not the most money ever, but that's alot o mulah for just letting one of those honkers spin on your field.  But people may start protesting the apples... nearly every field around has a "No Windfarm" sign now in Howard County.  These people haven't spoken up this much in their lives... they must really not want these things.  We'll see how much they complain when they get offered 10,000 bucks a year.

 

Cows are resilient creatures, I'm sure they'll break the windmill if you throw them into one.

Sounds like a joke I would make.  I'm both proud and nervous.

[OmegaBolt]

Stick to solar panels on farmland and wind farms in suburban landscapes. Simple.

[Pasidon]

Well, if the Department of Energy hasn't considered that, then I'd be uncle rat.  I don't think it's a matter of putting as many power generators you can in one area, no matter what they are... it's utilizing the best technology you have with the lowest maintenance possible and spreading the layout in as many areas as possible.  I think wind turbines generate so much more power than solar panels, and cost so much less to build / maintain.  And the maintenance, day/night handicaps and other things I can't think of might be negative factors for the solar panels.  Oh, and probably the factor that you don't need to spread out solar panels.  If the Department of Energy wanted to invest in solar farms, they would just stack em up wherever.  Large wind turbines need a lot of distance between them, meaning infringing on other people's land is necessary to make the investment worth while.  In fact, wind turbines are so valuable for the government to set-up, they're willing to spend 10,000 a year just for a few meters of land.  Not much to them, but millions of people are taking these deals.  It adds up, and is still worth it to the government.

[Ash]

As long as the benefits outweigh the costs, who cares? How long before they start to pay for themselves in energy cost? Do they actually generate a significant amount of energy a lot of the time?

 

Those people who rail against them being an eyesore are just NIMBYs. After all, I'm sure they'd much prefer a coal-belching monstrosity in the same location. Oh wait, no, they wouldn't.

 

For some reason nobody wants proper nuclear plants (not the half-assed Soviet version - Western plants are safe as houses) that could, if put into place, generate all the energy we'd need forever that isn't made out of hydro dams like Hoover Dam. But of course the British government would rather whore the country out than become more self-reliant.

[Pasidon]

Tronople ruined nuclear power for all of us with their silly incident.  Yea, nuclear power is always risky... but with today's technology, we can minimize that risk by a metric mile.  And generate so much power, our power bills would be a joke,  The power crisis was solved when Oppenheimer was born.... 100 years ago.  

[Bofur]

Nuclear fuel is running out too, only Uranium 235 is used in power stations, and about 97% of Uranium is 238, which leaves only 3% that scan be used in reactors. And luckily we're recycling our fuel rods, or it'd have nearly run out by now.

[Pasidon]

I've never heard of uranium running low.  I hear of it being hard to supply, but even a few grams of the stuff can light a city for years.

[Bofur]

Yes, but only 3% of Uranium can be used in reactors...

[Pasidon]

Said who?

[Bofur]

3-4%, actually. Uranium 235 is the one used in Nuclear Fission. That's enriched Uranium, naturally it has below 1% U-235.

And said me. Look it up, Pasi boy.

[Pasidon]

WAT?  You're the one who gave the ""FACT"".  You look it up.  And when you do, show us the reference, Gee-wiz, Bo-Bo. That's like me me writing a research paper, and in the work cited just write, "Look it up."

[Bofur]

It's what I learnt in IGCSE physics, so there. Outsmarted by me.