Breaking Wind – Quick hits from the industry for January 13, 2012

Posted on January 13, 2012 by morgan

Items of interest:

1:More Sierra Club nonsense, “Edison should put that money into cleaner energy sources such as wind power.” – Tribune Democrat

Well discuss that failed logic in a separate, full post.

2:I find headlines like this hilarious – Wind farm financing found

By the way … it appears the installations are scheduled to be completed before subsidies run out.  Otherwise, I suspect the “search” would still be on.

3:”Colorado has been spared a large hit in the first round of firings by Danish wind-turbine-maker Vestas Wind Systems, but large job cuts loom later this year.” – Denver Post

Of course Colorado was spared in the first round of cuts!  As any good negotiator knows, you can’t let the hostage go until after the deal is struck!  If they did, this threat from Vestas would be worthless, “There could, however, be a cut of 1,600 jobs in the U.S. later this year if a production tax credit is not renewed by Congress, Ditlev Engle, Vestas’ chief executive, said at a news conference Thursday in Copenhagen.“

4:”Since the results would not yield enough energy to break even, economically, for at least ten years, the town has decided against wind power.” – Northborough Patch

Superb! 

5:Interesting article about Germany’s neighbors proceeding with nuclear energy as they themselves move away – Spiegel Online

Notable comment from the article:  “The country (Germany) has sought to establish an energy future for Europe centered on renewable, rather than nuclear, electricity. Already, this goal has been undermined by German electricity shortages in the wake of its nuclear shutdown, sometimes forcing Germany to import electricity from neighboring countries that use nuclear power.”

6:And this week’s award for the dumbest comment published anywhere in the world goes to:  Earth Justice

The winning comment:  “California’s utilities must first employ energy efficiency and conservation to meet customer demand; then energy from renewable sources such as wind, solar and geothermal. Only after all those supplies are exhausted may the utilities purchase power from fossil fuel plants.”

Are we now saying renewable sources will be “exhausted” as well?  We’re doomed!

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Breaking Wind – Quick hits from the industry for January 12, 2012

Posted on January 12, 2012 by morgan

Items of interest:

1:”Japan wind power installations to drop 68% as subsidies halted” – Eco-Business

2:”When you add up grants, subsidies, loans, and tax credits that have been helping the solar and wind industries along, then add in mandates that require utilities to buy renewable power at set prices from the alternative energy producers for decades, you are left with an industry that is wholly dependent on taxpayers, not on its own technology’s capabilities.” – Credit Writedowns

3:Vestas, “the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer, said Thursday it will shed more than 2,300 jobs or 10% of its work force, close one of its 26 factories, and reshuffle senior management in a cost-cutting plan that fell short of wide-reaching changes investors think may be necessary to guarantee the company’s long-term future.” – Wall Street Journal

Here comes the kicker – “Vestas also warned Thursday that if U.S. lawmakers fail to extend a renewable-energy subsidy, known as the production tax credit, which expires by the end of 2012, it could lead to the layoff of an additional 1,600 employees in the U.S. Vestas will start preparing for a possible scale-down of U.S. operations later in 2012“

Translation:  We need US taxpayer money in order to make a profit! (See Item 2)

4:Bird deaths from wind power prompts call for change – Natural Resource Report

We don’t believe these energy impostors should be placed anywhere on planet earth, let alone in critical habitat.  The very least the USFWS should demand adherence to the Endangered Species Act and require the whining wind profiteers to seek an Incidental Take Permit, which, of course includes a Habitat Conservation Plan.  After all, is it too much to ask a federal agency charged with protecting animals to actually do so?

5:Cool! – The EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Data in user friendly format 

You can almost see the emission levels drop due to the thousands of US industrial wind turbines! (Just Kidding!)

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Breaking Wind – Quick hits from the industry for January 11, 2012

Posted on January 11, 2012 by morgan

Items of interest:

1:The World Coal Association calculates that it takes 250tons of coal to produce a 3MW offshore wind turbine and 150tons for a 3MW onshore wind turbine. – mining.com

2:Global Deal: BP, Sempra Energy to Invest $1 Billion in U.S. Wind Farms – Wall Street Journal

So, does anyone really believe BP (one of the largest oil producers) and Sempra (which owns electric and natural-gas utilities in California, as well as gas pipelines and storage facilities and gas export terminals in the U.S. and Mexico) is on a suicidal mission to replace their profitable fossil fuel business with “free” wind energy?  It seems more likely they realize industrial wind will actually increase the need for their product and, as a side bonus, they get into the REC trade business with a little taxpayer subsidy as the icing on the cake.

Taxpayer subsidy?  You betcha!  What the mighty Wall Street Journal forgot to mention was that these projects will be built this year and “wind power developers are racing to build new plants ahead of the expected expiration of a tax credit at the end of 2012.”  Matt Daily at Thompson Reuters was kind enough to point this out!  Thanks, Matt!

3:From the “this one slipped past me” file: – Broken Wind Turbine Blades Create Mountainous Waste Problem

4:PUTTING WIND TURBINES OUT OF WILDLIFE’S WAY – Audubon Magazine

Once you learn that industrial wind is nothing more than an energy impostor existing to profit owners by separating taxpayers and consumers from their money, “out of the way” will not be far enough.

5:Oh!  Before you get all warm and fuzzy about Item 4, keep in mind the long forest fracturing transmission lines required to reach these arguably unnecessary far flung 747 size tinker toys. – Obama Administration Draws Criticism For Fast-Tracking Transmission Line Project Through National Park Units

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Breaking Wind – Quick hits from the industry for January 10, 2012

Posted on January 10, 2012 by morgan

Items of interest:

1:According to the CEO of General Motors, the average annual income of buyers of the Chevy Volt is $170,000. Those who buy the luxury electric Fisker Karma or Tesla roadster earn more than $250,000 a year. Yet every wealthy buyer receives a hefty handout from Uncle Sam, adding more than $8,500 to the federal debt for every car sold. – Fox News

Here’s a test:  Name one “green” initiative that doesn’t enrich the rich at the expense of the taxpayer.

2:Excerpts from the concluding chapter of Robert Bradley Jr’s new book, Edison to Enron: Energy Markets and Political Strategies – Master Resource

On Sustainable Energy (Part I)

and

On Sustainable Energy (Part II)

3:”There’s a reason the modern age moved on from windmills” – Watts Up With That?

4:John Droz Jr. calls this Financial Post commentary “a superb assessment“ –  Terence Corcoran: The dark side of green energy

5:Sure, it’s way early … but, “Researchers at USC, right here in our backyard, have just announced a new, superefficient way to pull CO2 out of the air.” – LA Times

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Breaking Wind – Quick hits from the industry for January 9, 2012

Posted on January 9, 2012 by morgan

Items of interest:

1:The Allegheny Front Alliance sends us two articles of local interest:

By 2013, Western Md. could have more wind turbines – Times News

Edison VP responds to W.Va. noise complaints – Times News

(Glad to see industrial wind’s color commentator, Frank Maisano, is back in our news.  We missed you!)

2:”Lockard’s piece is a great PR effort, making three basic claims that would appeal to Fox readers: (1) Wind power can fuel job growth out of the recession. (2) Congress is threatening to abort this recovery by raising taxes on wind power. (3) If Congress would just mind its own business, the free market would support a massive expansion of wind power.  Unfortunately for Lockard, these claims are either very misleading or downright false.” – Institute for Energy Research

3:”The vast subsidies wind farms receive simply serve to make the rich even richer.” – The Daily Mail

4:”A study in the Netherlands found that turning back-up gas power stations on and off to cover spells when there is little wind actually produces more carbon than a steady supply of energy from an efficient modern gas station.” – The Telegraph

Accompanied, of course, by the industry’s typical retort: “Dr Gordon Edge, Director of policy at the lobby group RenewableUK, said much of the information was gathered from ‘anti-wind farm cranks’.”  Name calling is so much more effective than facts.

5:“It’s just not an economically viable technology without billions and billions in subsidies.” – Washington Post

When politicians continue to push failed “green” technology on the backs of taxpayers, you begin to think it’s all about their own legacy.

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Breaking Wind – Quick hits from the industry for January 7 & 8, 2012

Posted on January 8, 2012 by morgan

Items of interest:

1:”However, even during this storm, the data shows how quickly wind production can drop. Between 08:00 and 09:00, output was a third of what had been forecast, having dropped to 1,087 megawatts whereas the forecast for this period was 3,480MWs.” – BBC News

2:”WIND POWER: IS IT WORTH IT” – WV Highlands Conservancy

Commentary begins on P-14

3-Sit on your butt and earn a million bucks – “Wind farms earn £1m to shut down over Christmas and New Year gales”

Wow … does this sound familiar!

4:”The debate goes back to 2008, when Missourians voted by a 2-1 margin to require investor-owned utilities like Ameren to derive 2 percent of their electric generation from renewable resources in 2011 — a percentage that would steadily increase to 15 percent in 2021. It further stipulated that electric bills couldn’t increase more than 1 percent over what they would be otherwise.” – STLToday

Wishing won’t make it a reality!

5-When country is broke and you continue to toss taxpayer dollars at pitifully performing renewables, it has to come from somewhere – Doctors going broke

6:Wind Turbines and Proximity to Homes: The impact of wind turbine noise on health  – Industrial Wind Action Group

Just ask folks in Mineral County WV!

7:German jobs boom in renewable energy questioned – PHYSORG

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Breaking Wind – Quick hits from the industry for January 6, 2012

Posted on January 6, 2012 by morgan

Items of interest:

1:”Edison Mission, the owners of the Pinnacle Wind Farm, has nothing to do with whether my family eats or has suitable housing, so there is no reason for me to tolerate the noise from the windmills.” – News Tribune

2:In other words, industrial wind is great … except it sucks! – A Look at Some of the Obstacles Facing Wind Energy in the U.S.

3:A couple of Solar “not so good news” news items:

On-Grid Solar: An Industry in Plight (Government-dependence perils) – MasterResource

and

Solar Subsidy Cuts Sought by German Minister as Demand Slumps – Business Week

Note this comment in the Business Week article:  “(Germany’s Economy Minister Philipp)Roesler said the German energy overhaul will require investments in new gas- and coal-fired power plants …”

4:Motley Fool – Will Alternative Energy Ever Go Mainstream?

5:”Wind delivers record 12 per cent of UK electricity demand” – GreenWiseBusiness

Now, before you get all tingly … this happened on December 28, 2011.  The rest of the month came in at a whopping 5.3%.  Plus, they have to go all the way back to September to tout the last milestone day, when it exceeded 10%.

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Breaking Wind – Quick hits from the industry for January 5, 2012

Posted on January 5, 2012 by morgan

Items of interest:

1:Interesting discussion starting at MasterResource – “Are Wind Opponents Zealots?”

2:”Under the federal and California ­endangered species acts, it’s illegal for anyone to kill a condor without first securing a permit to do so. Given that the government has not issued such an “incidental take” permit and has no intention of doing so, if a turbine kills a condor, the operator could be charged criminally.” – Forbes

Not to mention that comparing the wildly variable wind to a nuclear plant is beyond silly.

3-Condors, maybe!  But who gives a damn about Golden Eagles – Feds propose allowing wind-farm developer to kill golden eagles (MSNBC)

4:Geesh!  If even the co-founder of Greenpeace says your product sucks … – Ontario Wind Resistance

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Breaking Wind – Quick hits from the industry for January 4, 2012

Posted on January 4, 2012 by morgan

Items of interest:

1-Some members of the Wharton Class of 2013 seem to think Gamesa is a pretty neat business model, tracing its wind roots to 1994.  But then, there’s this reality: Today, Gamesa faces challenges both in its home country and abroad to maintain its position as a global leader in the design, manufacture, installation and maintenance of wind turbines and the construction of wind farms.

One of the primary challenges to the company’s success is on its home front. According to a business manager at one of the largest renewable-energy companies in Spain, who works closely with lobbying groups in the country’s wind-energy sector, government subsidies may no longer be available to the extent they have been in the past. In February 2010, the Spanish government announced it would cut spending to reduce its budget deficit to 3% of its gross domestic product by 2013. Prior to that announcement, in May 2009, Spain had already cut subsidies, reportedly because the government had predicted it was already on track to meet long-term goals. 

Coupled with the current uncertainty of Spain’s national debt, these announcements indicate the business manager’s fears may come true. According to him and to a strategy-specialist at the same company, government subsidies are still essential for maintaining profitability in Spain.

C’mon folks!  Is a company which, after all these years, still relies on taxpayer handouts as its basis for profit, the best example of success you could have chosen?

2-“In fact, Ontario’s blind devotion to the romance of wind power is costing Ontario an opportunity to explore and develop innovations in power generation” – Windsor Star

Further to our post yesterday: Investors run from Bluewater Wind

3-“The USDA Forest Service just granted final approval to Iberdrola, Inc. to build more than a dozen, 393-foot wind turbines on two ridgelines in the Green Mountain National Forest in southern Vermont.” – Seven Days

And people are somehow surprised?

4-Interesting:  Fuel Fix says, “All eyes on German renewable energy efforts” … Der Spiegel says, “Germany’s Wind Power Revolution in the Doldrums”

Glass half empty or half full?

5-Politics over science … not much has changed.  Well worth your time!

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Investors run from Bluewater Wind

Posted on January 3, 2012 by morgan

Jon Boone, of Stop Ill Wind, sent over an interesting article this morning.  He highlighted this quote from the piece, “Support for the energy sector, and in particular energy innovation, is of course essential. But we need to distinguish between supporting innovation and subsidising commercial-scale energy production. Significant subsidies for production consume economic resources that could help deliver future energy innovation.”

Beyond starving research, taxpayer funding of for-profit businesses promotes a corporate welfare system which, it could be argued, the industrial wind business is the poster child.  It has grown to expect the steady influx of taxpayer dollars without which the companies hawking wind turbines as the savior of the planet, will fail.  Like an alcoholic begging for one last drink before heading off to re-hab, we are told that this oldest “infant” business on record will be on its feet with just a little more time and a little more money.

Well folks …it’s time the baby learns to walk.  It’s time for industrial wind to live up to the hype.  It’s time for this profit based business to earn its keep.

I know they’re afraid to go out on their own.  They should be!  Their product doesn’t work.

Let’s face it!  The wind business can’t survive without legislation demanding people buy their product.  They can’t expand without investors and, with a failed product, investors looking for a good return won’t exactly be beating down their door.  Heck, the only reason anyone has invested in the industrial wind business in the past is because the taxpayers have made the venture profitable.  Take the taxpayer subsidy away and … poof … no investors!

Proof of that came in the second item to hit my desk this morning:  Bluewater Wind ends contract.  Seems NRG Energy has cancelled its offshore wind power contract with Delmarva Power, which, according to the article, “was considered an essential ingredient in building a wind farm off the coast of Delaware.”

Calling this a “setback,” Delaware’s natural resources secretary said, “no one wanted to put any money at risk with critical federal subsidies for wind power uncertain in a bitterly divided Congress.”  Even the Europeans and Asians wouldn’t come on board without taxpayer money insuring profits.

Oh, it’s not over, I’m sure.  The massive wind lobby has been beating down the doors of Congress and state capitals for years in order to keep its bottomless feed bag full of taxpayer dough.  These folks won’t give up the freebies without a fight.  They’ll be knocking down doors in DC with pledges of campaign funding … an excellent door opener in an election year.

But I think this year might be a little different.  Politicians realize that, with the debt crisis we’re facing, taxpayers are going to be watching every move and if folks find out critical governmental programs are being cut so a for-profit business can line its pocket, they’ll have hell to pay.

Let your Senators, Congressional Representatives and the White House know that it’s time to cut the corporate welfare cord for all for-profit businesses and let them fail or succeed on the merits.  Any available energy funding should be spent on research into truly innovative ideas.

Oh, and by research I don’t mean a scam like this one – “I don’t even know where to start!“

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