3 months ago
Friday, March 20, 2009
Wind Farm in Green Lake Area
There was a front page article in the Ripon paper regarding the possibility of a wind farm on the border of the Green Lake County/Fond du Lac County line. It would be built by Alliant Energy, currently in production stages on a farm in Minnesota. It is in a very preliminary stage for the Green Lake area at this point but seems we have "good" wind around here. (insert wind bag jokes here)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Subscribe To The Green Lake Blog
Posts
Comments
About Me
- Chief Highknocker
- You aren't local until you have at least three generations in the cemetery.
22 comments:
Get ready, everyone. Green Lake’s latest controversy is right around the corner. Let the “not in my backyard” ranting begin.
Why not rant? If it's good enough for Ted Kennedy on the Cape Cod windfarm it's good enough for me.
Forget the backyard controversy, why was this story on the front page of the Ripon Newspaper and yet not visible in the Green Late Reporter?
This is just like the giant high-test utility lines that were put up in the 1950's............which are now a blight on the landscape in many parts of the country. Imagine 80 cell towers all within sight! They can take away jobs, take away affordable homes, but now they are trying to take away the beauty of the area. Rolling hills, farms, a lake and some giant windmills? Why in the world would this be a good idea? So we can ship the electricity off to other areas and not benefit. Just like ethanol was a good idea two years ago, right?
I always find it interesting when people "embrace" an idea but then do the old switch-a-roo when it comes to their direct involvement.
Everyone (hopefully) agrees with the concept of energy independence from evil foreign oil; Lauded the presidential candidates for their calls on increased usage of wind and solar energy; etc.; etc.; ad nauseam. Now that the time has come to stand up and be counted in this cause these lemmings pull back their support and yes, use the "not in my backyard" chant.
Whom did these people think were going to be the recipients of the wind turbines and solar collectors. The correct answer seems to be 'everyone but me'. It was fine when Oakfield, Byron, Horicon, et al., were all engaged in the 'good fight' over erecting wind turbines. However, it is time for the locals / residents of Green Lake to EMBRACE change and the opportunity that comes with it. These are the same people who agree with the governments huge stimulus spending because "it's not their money that is being spent" (hint - where do you think the money is coming from? Oops, don't look now but your pocket has been picked, your bank account emptied and your financial future is swirling down the drain right in front of your uninformed eyes).
Ignorance may be bliss but keep in mind, we do not live in a vacuum...and beautiful Lac Verde is not immune to the encroachment of realities from the outside world. Change is not coming - it is here. Either climb on board and enjoy the ride or get left behind in the wake.
I like the look of the big white windmills, truly. They are very sculptural. There is so much wide open land to our south and east that could be utilized, straight roads with flat fields for miles in every direction. Would you really care if there were windmills on KK? (I don't know where these windmills are intended to be erected, did the article in the Ripon paper say?)
We do need to cut our dependence on foreign oil. We are not talking about strip mining or oil drilling here, just some big graceful windmills to adorn the countryside. And Rodney B is correct, we cannot have change if nothing changes. Dah.
I'm for the windmills. Some people complain about the noise but I have lived near them before and traffic is louder than they are. And it is jus a big wooshing sound.
the nice thing about windmills is they can provide us with new power sources and the next day they could be gone. no damage to the land or countryside. when you get use to them you don't even notice them.
Since 70% of downtown is vacant, we should level the ghost town and put up dozens of windmills. That way we will be known for the deepest lake in Wisconsin and "the best little wind mill farm by a dam site"
There seems to be plenty of hot air on this blog sight. If we could somehow harness this stuff we wouldn't need no stinkin' windmills!
Type or copy the following link into your web browser for information on a wind farm recently opened by Alliant near Eden, WI.
http://www.alliantenergy.com/
Newsroom/RecentPressReleases/
017082
They state that this wind farm will produce enough electricity for 17,000 homes. No mention of if that energy is being used here in Wisconsin or where it's going. They also say that by 2010 they hope that wind energy will make up 8% of their energy mix.
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.
That's funny. There’s still nothing in the Green Lake Reporter about this proposed Green Lake area wind farm. I guess this is another one of those stories we can only find in the Ripon paper. Just like the school's land negotiations, the county Justice Center approval, the Discover Wisconsin TV show and cost, the Green Lake Truck Center foreclosure, Mill Street Junction shutting down, Ken Bates' recent contract extension ....
Wind is the future, maybe. The "experts" said exactly the same things about ethanol. Unlimited resource, good for America (farmers/energy independence). But oh, it takes 2 barrels of oil to make on barrel of fuel from ethanol and it drove the price of corn through the roof. Most times the government forces us to do something it ends up being poorly thought out and reactionary. Of course we all want energy independence! I am just saying we should look before we leap......yes, this could be in our "backyard" and maybe it might be a good thing. Tell me how and explain the consequences. But don't be naive, windmills are an industrial development. . Does it create jobs? Is the power used here? Will it lower electricity rates? Who gets paid the "rent" for use of the land, farmers or the local municipalities? Does it contribute to the tax base? Clearly some people seem to welcome the idea of a dozens of 7-story windmills dotting the landscape. I don't. I think the farmland and nature terrain around here is beautiful. But giving up the vista is the price of "progress", what do we get out of it? This is not some "not in my backyard rant", there are two sides to the issue and we should know both sides. See note below.
"Denmark (population 5.3 million) has over 6,000 turbines that produced electricity equal to 19% of what the country used in 2002. Yet no conventional power plant has been shut down. Because of the intermittency and variability of the wind, conventional power plants must be kept running at full capacity to meet the actual demand for electricity. Most cannot simply be turned on and off as the wind dies and rises, and the quick ramping up and down of those that can be would actually increase their output of pollution and carbon dioxide (the primary "greenhouse" gas). So when the wind is blowing just right for the turbines, the power they generate is usually a surplus and sold to other countries at an extremely discounted price, or the turbines are simply shut off.
A writer in The Utilities Journal (David J. White, "Danish Wind: Too Good To Be True?," July 2004) found that 84% of western Denmark's wind-generated electricity was exported (at a revenue loss) in 2003, i.e., Denmark's glut of wind towers provided only 3.3% of the nation's electricity. According to The Wall Street Journal Europe, the Copenhagen newspaper Politiken reported that wind actually met only 1.7% of Denmark's total demand in 1999. (Besides the amount exported, this low figure may also reflect the actual net contribution. The large amount of electricity used by the turbines themselves is typically not accounted for in the usually cited output figures. Click here for information about electricity use in wind turbines.) In Weekendavisen (Nov. 4, 2005), Frede Vestergaard reported that Denmark as a whole exported 70.3% of its wind production in 2004. "
You bring up many valid points of concern, but keep in mind that this is a relatively new technology. I am sure the early solar collectors were vastly different than the ones that are available today. We have to start somewhere. Of course cost effectiveness should be a priority, ethanol production is a total joke (good ol' government of ours). Some day our country should be run mainly on wind, water and solar energy. Even nuclear energy has it's merits. We have to start somewhere or we will never be free from our dependence on foreign oil.
I heard once if you covered an area the size of the state of Nevada with wind mills, you could power the country with wind. I'm sure that was a pie in the sky comment, but I've been to Nevada, go ahead and start building wind mills.
I second the motion!
I cannot believe that a company would invest it's money in a project that would lose money and fail. (Unless you are our Federal Government these days, but they don't qualify as a company just yet)
Today the wind was blowing, and I thought, damn, I could be making money right now if only I had a windmill.
My sister and her family live in Fond du Lac County, right in the midst of multitudes of windmills. The view from their picture window is a windmill. There are rows of windmills going as far as the eye can see. I was at their house yesterday and asked my sister what she thought of the windmills (she had fought along with her neighbors to keep them out but lost).
She said that they weren't so bad during the day, but they were absolutely horrifying at night. Apparently, there is a bright red light at the center of each windmill, and they all flash in unison at night. The effect is a satanic strobe effect, very disturbing to say the least. Also, there are several homeowner in the area who suffer from "flicker" during the day, which is the shadow of the windmills all day long over their house, inside their house everywhere. There are videos of this on U-Tube. I watched them and have to say that would drive me crazy within minutes. These poor people cannot sell their homes if they wanted to thanks to the windmills. The windmills should not have been positioned as they were by these houses, but it seems somebody "forgot" to write this into the legal equation. Please take note of this in case these windmills actually come to Green Lake.
They could put them in the dog park in Ripon...nobody uses it anyway! Oh wait, that was another blog.
Sorry, but what is a 'satanic strobe effect'. I grew up playing in an 80's rock band and it sounds like something that would have been awesome for our stage show with the smoke machines huffin and puffin in the background.
Hmnnn...I wonder if all those old smoke machines could produce energy. I'm calling D.C. with this one. Gotta go.
I'm the kind of guy who enjoys to taste hot things. Currently I am constructing my personal pv panels. I'm doing it all alone without the assistance of my men. I am using the internet as the only path to acheive this. I came across a really brilliant website that explains how to contruct photovoltaic panels and wind generators. The place explains all the steps required to constructing solar panels.
I am not sure bout how precise the info given there is. If some experts over here who had experience with these works can have a see and give your feedback in the site it would be grand and I'd highly treasure it, cause I really passion [URL=http://solar-panel-construction.com]solar panel construction[/URL].
Tnx for reading this. You guys are great.
Post a Comment