April 2, 2013
Letters, North Carolina

Wind not efficient energy source

Elizabeth City Daily Advance | April 2, 2013 | www.dailyadvance.comElizabeth City Daily Advance | April 2, 2013 | www.dailyadvance.com

Are windmills an economically viable way to produce electricity? Would you be happy having electricity only when the wind blows? If not where would the power come from?

That’s right: It comes from the conventional power plants just like it always has. Problem is, the energy output from windmills is always fluctuating as the wind does. This means the conventional plants must be kept online anyway, but operating at less efficient levels that must be constantly adjusted to compensate for the unstable windmill output.

So, besides all the carbon emitted during windmill construction, the conventional plants emit more carbon than they would if operated at a stable peak efficiency. There is no apparent reduction in net carbon emissions and we end up with an unstable power grid more prone to outages while raising the cost of electricity. The higher cost results in fewer jobs and a lower standard of living.

If windmills were an economically viable source of electricity the power companies would be eager to build them at their own expense. Since they are not a viable source of reliable and affordable power why do politicians think their laws can overcome the laws of physics?

DAVID BUSH

Camden


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/04/02/wind-not-efficient-energy-source/