From: donn@brat.wa.com (Donn Pedro)
Newsgroups: seattle.general
Subject: Re: environmental costs of windpower
Date: 4 Oct 92 23:38:33 GMT
Organization: Tandemonium, Kent, WA

In preface to this let me state that a friend of mine worked on the 
largest windmill farm in California for three years.  I lived just
fifteen minutes from such farm and visited regularly.

Now on with the inaccuracies.

Mark Crispin writes (in his usual style):
:If you think that windmills are environmentally neutral, go to one of the
:California windmill farms and see for yourself. 

I have.  They are located on ranch land along I580 between the Bay Area and
the town of Dublin.  I have driven that route hundreds of times as I lived
in that area for over eleven years.  I used to ride my bike through that 
area almost daily.

:Better yet, *think* of what a
:windmill farm entails; 

I see you hae thought about it, but it did little good.  It helps
to have real experience than to armchair a subject like this.

:a whole gaggle of tall towers with *large* propellers
:(remember, you have to get *more* joules of power out of the wind than what
:you generate -- laws of thermodynamics & all that -- and it takes a fair
:amount of umph to turn a generator), with various towers pointed in various
:directions to cover the directions the wind blows.  

:Can't have any trees (they
:block the wind).

First point.  There are no trees in those hills.  There just aren't.
With the wind they never get a chance to grow.  The only place you
see any trees in any of the hills on the east side of the bay
is in the nooks *between* the hills.  There is wind cover, and runoff
water enough to support a tree.

You insinuate they clearcut the hills.  They cannot.  There really aren't
any trees in the areas to cut down.  The area they use for windfarming
is tailor made for the purpose.  You couldn't ask for a better designed
venturi to accellerate the daily winds to power the windmills.

:Too bad about the birds. 

Why?  Because there are no trees, or they fly into the blades?

One, there are no trees in that area.

Two, Mark said that he had seen very few bird casualties during
his years as a tower climber and maintenance person.  Yes, 
sometimes it happened, but no more than city pigeons running
into skyscrapers.

:Too bad about any use of the land.

Yeah, the grazing cattle really *hate* windmills.  By the way Mark,
that is the *only* use for that land.  The only use - grazing land.

So, guess what?  The cattle get to graze and the power company gets
power.  Some deal, huh?

:Too bad about the noise.

I have stood in the middle of a windmill farm, on a windy evening,
as the sun set, and had a quiet conversation with Mark Brown.  It's 
no more noisy than the wind blowing past your ears.  As I recall, 
it was a rather pleasant sunset.

:Windmill farms are great if you are getting a tax credit to build 'em, don't
:have to turn a profit, and don't have to care about how they affect the
:locale.  They suck big time if they have to generate enough electricity to pay
:for their construction and maintenance, if you care about the environment
:around them,...

They do care.  They are quiet.  They do not pollute.

Now how about doing your Crispin Rant (tm) about something you 
know something about.


         Donn Pedro ....................a.k.a. donn@brat.wa.com
	
	       "You talk the talk.  Do you walk the walk?"

		    There are no ordinary moments.