Why Not Ohio? Indiana and Illinois Add Massive Wind Power

[sfc_oliver]

There is no denying that other states have done more with wind power than Ohio but I think we need to put the word "MASSIVE" from this thread subject into perspective.

Let's call Indiana's 905 megawatts and Illinois' over 600 megawatts of added capacity in 2009 a total of 1600 megawats. This equals about 1/100 of 1% of the electricity Ohio used in December 2009 alone: 11,748 GIGAwatts http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/state/state_energy_profiles.cfm?sid=OH

Thanks for the prospective. We have a long way to go.

[Why?Town]

There is no denying that other states have done more with wind power than Ohio but I think we need to put the word "MASSIVE" from this thread subject into perspective.

Let's call Indiana's 905 megawatts and Illinois' over 600 megawatts of added capacity in 2009 a total of 1600 megawats. This equals about 1/100 of 1% of the electricity Ohio used in December 2009 alone: 11,748 GIGAwatts http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/state/state_energy_profiles.cfm?sid=OH

[Why?Town]

And thanks for that newer map with the 80m wind speeds. Better data produces better results and anyone that truly wants better results will use said data regardless of personal bias, opinions and other such nonsense.

I'd also like to say that I am all for wind power. I think those modern windmills are fascinatiing and have even looked into several green energy possibilities for my personal use. Unfortunately I found none that were cost effective.

[Rick Rowlands]

I stand corrected.  Thanks Steve for setting me straight on this.  Are there any large scale wind turbine developments either under construction or proposed for NW Ohio?

[irishbobcat]

Any renewable energy sources are EXTRA and would reduce the dependence on fossil fuels, extending their life and usage.

Thanks for saying it for me, Steve!

[Rick Rowlands]

I think iwasthere needs some education!  Here it is, straight from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the US Department of Energy. 

http://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/map_wind_national_lo-res.jpg

No here is the fun part.  Both iwasthere and irishbobcat will not believe that map and will dispute it, solely because it was posted by a conservative!

[sfc_oliver]

Of course it works, but not well enough to do the things Dennis wants to do, and not without government subsidies. And Dennis can ignore me all he wants, just as he obviously would ignore the will of the people if he ever should mistakenly get elected. His ignoring the facts is what counts. I honestly expect that some day technology will permit wind and solar power to replace coal, oil, and natural gas. However that day just isn't here yet.

[Rick Rowlands]

I remember that article. I think the total cost of the installation was around 50K and 20K came from the government.  The turbine could provide up to 60% of his power needs.   This is a small scale application and has two drawbacks: 1) it required government money to bring the cost down to something reasonable and affordable, and 2) does not provide 100% of the farmer's electricity needs.   My stance is that if 50K is to be invested, that investment should be for technology that provides for 100% of your energy needs. 

What Dennis has been advocating all along is the elimination of Ohio's base load electric generating capacity and replacing those plants with wind turbines.  To do so requires much higher sustained winds over the entire state, something that we simply do not have. Sarge posted a map which shows this fact.  It is one thing to turn a 10KW turbine on a farm intermittently, it is another to turn the 2,000+ wind turbines needed to replace just one coal fired plant which would have to turn continuously and generate their rated capacity to successfully replace that plant.  (Thats just for ONE plant, there are dozens more along the Ohio)

So I think what gets Sarge and I roiled about Dennis is that he is quite irrational, and is either incapable or unwilling to intelligently compare apples to apples.  Wind turbines are the Green's panacea for solving our energy needs, yet when I ask how wind turbines will supply millions of megawatts on a CONTINUOUS basis, on windy days and CALM DAYS, I do not receive any intelligent response, I get called names and am personally attacked.  Electricity has to be generated as it is used, so you can't store up power from a windy day to use on a calm day.  This is the big problem with wind turbines, unpredictability of the motive power. Wind turbines may have a role to play in supplying our energy needs, but will NEVER completely replace any of our base load facilities.  To suggest as much is to demonstrate an utter ignorance of the dynamics of the situation, and frankly I am tired of being reminded of this ignorance on a daily basis. 

[iwasthere]

sarge wind power does work in ohio. there is a farm in the warren, oh area that uses wind to generate electricity for his barn. the vindy did an article on his barn. ask your dm for the complete vindy article. sarge i think dennis is ignoring you because you give the impression that you are too narrow-minded to think outside the box.

[sfc_oliver]

Once again it is because we simply do not have the wind to make it feasible in Ohio.

But I think Dennis is either ignoring me or pretending to. I have posted this in the not to distant past with links and a map showing this but Dennis you simply refuse to admit to the facts.

When the technology allows it we will use it.

[irishbobcat]

Why Not Ohio? Indiana and Illinois Add Massive Wind Power

The wind-energy industry last year installed about 5,700 turbines with more than 10,000 megawatts of generating capacity - enough to serve more than 2.4 million homes - according to the American Wind Energy Association.

Texas leads the nation with more than 9,000 megawatts of total wind generation capacity, including 2,292 megawatts added last year.

Indiana added 905 megawatts of capacity in 2009, second only to Texas in the amount of wind generation capacity added last year. Illinois added over 600 megawatts of capacity in 2009, and ranked 5th in additions.

Why not Ohio? Why did Ohio fail to score in the top 5? Is it because again we see that we do not have the "Green" Governor we are led to believe we have in Democrat Ted Strickland? Ted Strickland is all talk and very little action. Ted talks green energy but Ohio fails to walk the walk. While other states are building and producing green wind energy, Ohio plans are always "down the road."

It's time we elect a Green Power Governor in Ohio. Ohio will never realize it's Green Power potential as long as dirty coal and nuke power Governor Ted Strickland runs the show and the state.