Thread: Eye Sore

I wouldn't want one in my backyard.

YouTube - A Vestas wind system fail and crashes.

To be honest, I wouldn't want a coal fired power station within a 20k radius of my backyard.

One thing which seems to be constant is that wind farms always seem to bring out strong reactions.

First came across a wind farm in about 1987 when was on the big island of Hawaii. There was a valley there which was full of them. Seems that the wind in the valley blew at a constant speed all year round. Would like to think that the technology has moved on since then.

Most places that these are put up do not have the constant wind they need and hence only run when can. This causes problems with the grid as you cannot just turn the key and start up a power station. So you end up with power stations sufficience to cover the wind power ticking over just in case the wind stops. Or when there is no wind at the right time. Remember there are significant peaks and troughs in power demand.

While the word am about to use is seen by some on here as a profanity seems that hydrogen is going to be the saviour of wind power. They are now converting the wind generated power into hydrogen so the power can be stored and released into the network at a measured and reliable rate.

I think the wind generators at Blaney are OK as there are only three or four of them and not hundreds.
I can see the advantages in them in the long run.
The western side of lake George is no good for wind generators , I know from first hand experience from flying ultralites from lake george itself ,the wind rotors on a westerly( the prevailing wind direction)are murderous at most times and these rotors cause micro wind strenght and direction changes.
The eastern side of the lake would be much better and would be harder to see for some of the public who dont like them.
It is intersting to note Newcastle has a large wind generator only a few Ks from the centre of the city and I have seen people stopping to get their photo taken in front of the generator ,in this case you are allowed to stand directly below the spining blades.
I think if carefully done in correct numbers and spacing they are the way to go and one of the few green energy ideas that really seen to make a cost effective difference in the real world.
I do think a coal , nuclear or hectares of solar collectors would be a bigger eye sore................may It is just not in my back yard syndrome....we need the clean energy.

I'm not against them as have just put up a 80mtr mast to monitor the wind here on our high ridges. I'm not sure if I will get used to the look of them yet but don't like the sub stations and over head lines that come with a project

I hate coal mines digging up our good land and dirty power stations that are doing a lot of harm Our fences here are rusting as a result of easterly drizzle and it smells like sulphur

I am open minded but it's nuclear, wind, solar, Hydro and hydrogen cells as a mix.

Just a thought. Why not set up hydro on all storage dam walls and pump the water back when grids are over run with power from excess wind cycles/+ off peak while power stations throttle back. Similar to the snowy hydro systems.
Pics of the mast....








Tony.

Does anyone know what happened to the planned solar plant in the outback that was a massive glass tower several hundred, maybe even 1km, tall that superheated air which then drove a turbine?

I used to drive past the Crookwell wind mills every day and they were an attractive sight. The sheep and farmers of the district have no problem with them. The farm at Albany is tucked away from the town and cause no visual pollution as such.