candooman

Wind Power: What We Can Learn from Denmark

In response to Heissman's question --

Denmark is a relatively flat country, hence they do not have significant hydro generation power plants. natural earthen basins which have low head of water will not do. We do in the US but there needs to be transmission lines that connect windpower to hydro dams before this can happen. Again, the limitation is very apparent in the Texas to Canada Boone Pickens wind corridor. This area is far away from areas that can be dammed or already has hydrodams. High capacity transmission line infrastructures have to be built.

This is one government project that Obama can invest on to generate US jobs in the next two years. He just has to make sure the power lines, steel towers, etc. (materials) should be made in the USA. Obama need to rein in the environmentalists who are sure to block projects like these because it "ruins" open space poeple's views and might impede the flights of migratory birds.

Google Outlines Clean Energy Plan

Google's effort to address our energy problem is applaudable. I am sure this proposal was generated by a group of highly competent people. However, their competency does not reach the levels required to address a national problem for what they outlined here has a basic flaw.

Alternative energy such as solar and wind are unreliable, meaning, it is not available all the time when consumers demand power. Wind and sun are erratic in nature and hence unreliable. Geothermal is limited to a few locations around the country.

We need basepower that will supply power whenever there is demand, 24/7, no rests. Wind and Solar can only be used as a complementary power source.

Base power can only be supplied by clean and reliable conventional nuclear power. Further into the future, fast breeder reactors will need to be developed to supply endless power. We need to restart the research that was stopped by the Clinton administration in 1998 because they could not understand its importance and so now, we have to catch up to China, Russia and India who do.

These alternative sources of clean power require time to build and place into our energy structure. In the meantime we have to rely on gas, oil and coal to tide us over. And, we need to plan their replacement in an orderly manner.