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Wind power not clean
Credit: The Observer, www.lagrandeobserver.com 18 November 2011 ~~
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As time passes, we are learning more about industrial wind farms and their failure to be of any significant benefit to our environment and economy.
We found the amount of power that a utility in the area of a wind project must provide to merely maintain a tower when it’s not operating or operating at a speed less than 12 mph is astounding. A dependable source of power is essential for each wind tower to keep the hundreds of gallons of oil warm and the hydraulic pumps fully operational 24/7.
Vesta’s websites have comprehensive information about their wind turbines. For example, the 1.8 megawatt model has a 20-megawatt hydraulic motor that runs continuously. The power consumption of this wind turbine is at least 1.1 percent of its capacity. Using these calculations, with wind speeds under 12 mph, the power produced by the wind tower is less than the alternate power (coal, gas or hydro) being fed to the tower. Even with the exaggerated wind production claimed by wind developers, 70 percent of the time, alternate sources of power are being consumed by wind farms.
Public utility districts in the Heppner and The Dalles area are concerned about the extra power they have to supply these massive wind factories. “In the winter, each turbine uses more electricity than an average-sized home,” stated Jerry Healy, manager of Columbia Basin Electric Cooperative, in the September 2011 Oregon Trail Electric Ruralite. This has put them over the cost-break threshold so the kilowatt-hours are more expensive to purchase. Is it fair to Oregon consumers to be forced to pay increased power rates so California can claim to be green?
With this increase of alternate consumption of power for maintaining wind farms, even more CO2 emissions are being released into our environment. Wind power is not clean or economical.
Dennis Wilkinson
La Grande
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