US wind energy industry breezes past 50GW milestone (enough to power 13 million homes)

[morningfog]

The US wind energy industry is now providing enough capacity to power 13 million homes, equivalent to all of Nevada, Colorado, Wisconsin, Virginia, Alabama, and Connecticut combined.

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) used the annual National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas last week to confirm that the sector had passed the 50GW installed capacity milestone after yet another quarter of rapid growth.

The trade body said the 50GW of capacity was equivalent to the generating power of 44 coal-fired power stations or 11 nuclear power plants, resulting in emission reductions that would equate to taking 14 million cars off the road.

The milestone was achieved thanks to a surge in new wind farms coming online as developers rush to complete projects before the possible lapsing of the US government's crucial production tax credit (PTC) at the end of this year. According to AWEA, over 2.8GW of capacity has now been added during the year to date, while total US wind energy capacity has doubled since 2008.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/aug/13/us-wind-energy-industry-milestone

[Spitfire of ATJ]

1. If Republicans win, they are likely going to tear them down....

....In Reagan's name,..amen...

[HiPointDem]

3. doubt it.

[Liberty Belle]

2. They are causing wildfires and should not be put in areas with high fire danger:

http://eastcountymagazine.org/node/10602 and http://eastcountymagazine.org/node/10581

Also a Cal Fire retired battalion chief told me the aerial fire drops work best at 150 feet. With 500 foot tall wind turbines they can't get in to fight the fires on the ground or in the air. Plus they can't fight fires near power lines which all these wind farms have. Not only can the turbines explode (since they have hundreds of gallons of lubricant oil in each nacelle) they also act as giant lightning rods. California is getting worse storms perhaps due to global warming; our area had 1,000 lightning strikes last weekend.

[Heywood J]

4. What's the actual amount of energy produced?

Peak power output is virtually meaningless and a marketing buzzword, since no power plant runs 100% of the time regardless of its fuel.

• What's the actual energy output (KWh, MWh, GWh) produced over the last year or more by the average turbine and by the whole? How much of that makes it to the grid and to the wall socket, and how much is lost in transmission over miles of required new interconnections?
  
• What's the expected fraction of time that these turbines will run at >50% and 100% capacity?
  
• How does this output compare with various other types of power plants, such as hydroelectric, solar, tidal, geothermal, coal, natural gas, and nuclear?
  
• Are they in locations where they can be easily attached to the greater grid? Do they instead provide power to limited developments (e.g. one house) or specialty uses (e.g. an aluminum plant)?
  
• Most of these turbines are new. How will their costs, energy output and uptime fare as they age and require maintenance or rebuilding? What quantity and variety of spare parts will be required?
  
• What is the expected cost of this electricity (wholesale and consumer) now and in several years or decades when maintenance, refit and replacement are required? Realistic projections only.
  
• What effect will the introduction of tens of thousands of independent point sources, new cable runs, and interconnections have upon the grid? (e.g. mechanical, electrical, voltage, and frequency stability)
  
• How will tens of thousands of independent generators co-ordinate their efforts with each other and with larger generators? Will someone with a home wind turbine that feeds into the grid have to register with the electrical system operator? How will this affect costs and logistics?
  
• What will we do with any excess wind capacity during non-peak periods? Will the costs for wind energy change based upon this answer (e.g. will the energy be sold elsewhere at a loss)?
  
• Where are these turbines made and from what materials?
  
• Where can I find citations for all of these answers to determine if they are correct or realistic? Upon what assumptions are the answers predicated?

The article addresses none of these things nor points out where they may be answered. As a consumer, I smell a PR piece masquerading as news.