Junk Science: The Wind Cries 'Bailout!'

Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens launched a media blitz this week to announce his plan for us "to escape the grip of foreign oil." Now he’s got himself stuck between a crock and a wind farm.

Announced via TV commercials, media interviews, a July 9 Wall Street Journal op-ed and a Web site, Pickens wants to substitute wind power for the natural gas used to produce about 22 percent of our electricity and then to substitute natural gas for the conventional gasoline used to power vehicles.

Pickens claims this plan can be accomplished within 10 years, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, reduce the cost of transportation, create thousands of jobs, reduce our carbon footprint and "build a bridge to the future, giving us time to develop new technologies."

It sounds great and gets even better, according to Pickens. Don’t sweat the cost, he says, "It will be accomplished solely through private investment with no new consumer or corporate taxes or government regulation." What’s not to like?

First, it’s worth noting Pickens’ claim made in the op-ed that his plan requires no new government regulation. Two sentences later, however, he calls on Congress to "mandate'' wind power and its subsidies. Next, Pickens relies on a 2008 Department of Energy study claiming the U.S. could generate 20 percent of its electricity from wind by 2030.

Even if wind technology significantly improves, electrical transmission systems (how electricity gets from the power source to you) are greatly expanded and environmental obstacles (such as environmentalists who protest wind turbines as eyesores and bird-killing machines) can be overcome, the viability of wind power depends on where, when and how strong the wind blows — none of which is predictable.

Wind farm-siting depends on the long-term forecasting of wind patterns, but climate is always changing. When it comes to wind power, it is not simply "build it and the wind will come." Even the momentary loss of wind can be a problem. As Reuters reported on Feb. 27, "Loss of wind causes Texas power grid emergency."

The electric grid operator was forced to curtail 1,100 megawatts of power to customers within 10 minutes. Wind isn’t a standalone power source. It needs a Plan B for when the wind "just don’t blow."

This contrasts with coal- or gas-fired electrical power, which can be produced on demand and as needed. A great benefit of modern technology is that it liberates us from Mother Nature’s harsh whims. Pickens wants to re-enslave us with 12th century technology.

Then there’s the cost of the 20-by-2030 goal — $43 billion more than the cost of non-wind assets, according to the DOE — and this doesn’t include many billions of dollars more for additional transmission lines. Could the 20-by-2030 goal even be accomplished?

According to Electric Utility Week on June 9, a DOE official informed attendees at a June wind industry meeting that reaching the goal would entail replicating the entire existing U.S. wind system (about 17,000 megawatts of capacity constructed over the past decade) every year starting in 2018.

What about Pickens’ plan to shift us into natural gas vehicles? Well, they cost a lot more: an extra $3,000 to $6,000 for cars and $30,000 to $40,000 for buses and trucks. There are only about 1,300 natural gas refueling stations in the U.S., as compared with about 180,000 conventional gas stations — that’s a lot of infrastructure to build and finance. Will Pickens’ plan reduce our dependence on foreign oil? Doubtful.

Even if the fleet of natural gas-powered vehicles is enlarged, the bulk of existing and new vehicles will continue to depend for the foreseeable future on gasoline. Americans own about 260 million vehicles, a total that grows by more than 3 million vehicles every year.

Turnover is low as about 60 percent are owned for more than seven years. Besides, as demand for natural gas increases, so will prices. In the Washington, D.C., area, natural gas is already about two-thirds as costly as gasoline — and that’s with hardly any demand.

None of these facts and circumstances are new to Pickens. So what’s up with him?

Not only does Pickens’ firm, BP capital, have significant investments in natural gas, but last June he announced plans to build the world’s largest wind farm in west Texas, capable of producing 4,000 megawatts of electricity.

The federal government subsidizes wind farm operators with a tax credit worth 1.9 cents per kilowatt hour — potentially making for a tidy annual taxpayer gift to Pickens based on his anticipated capacity. But all is not well in Wind Subsidy-land.

Since Congress didn’t renew the wind subsidy as part of the 2007 energy bill, it will expire at the end of this year unless reauthorized. Subsidies are perhaps more important to the wind industry than wind itself. Without them, wind can’t compete against fossil fuel-generated power.

As pointed out by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on July 9, "In 1999, 2001 and 2003, when Congress temporarily killed the credits, the number of new turbines dropped dramatically."

It’s little wonder that Pickens is waging a $58 million PR campaign to promote his plan. If it works, his short-term gain will be saving the tax credit and his wind farm investment.

In the long-term, he stands to line his already overflowing pockets with hard-earned taxpayer dollars. What will the rest of us get from this T. Boone-doggle? That’s anybody’s guess, but it probably won’t be cheaper energy, energy independence or a cleaner environment.

Steven Milloy publishes JunkScience.com and DemandDebate.com. He is a junk science expert, advocate of free enterprise and an adjunct scholar at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

ok great, wind power is not a viable option. now since you have debunked that myth due to all the evils associated with it, what do you propose to fix the energy problem. I want to hear what your long-term permanant solution is.

Remember, electric power has nothing to do with oil supplies. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try to make changes in that area. What it means is that we have two seperate problems to deal with. Let's first discuss electric generation as we have already had so much fun with that. Any new progress will be paid for in taxes. Yours and mine. So let's agree that we should get the biggest bang for the buck.
Personally I would like to see myself and my friends and neighbors as the main benefactors. I do consider you as a friend so don't think I am leaving you out. Oh. those landholders that are proposing the contentious wind energy installation are more than welcome to join in.
One of the problems (there are many) with wind energy is that it is not produced where it is most needed. The largest useage areas tend to be in areas that lack sufficient wind to operate a generator. So electricity produced in high wind areas has to be transported to areas with high usage (cities). Todays paper stated that each tower costs about $4 million. Transmission lines cost around $1 million per mile. (That's what Krista told me and because she is honest I believe her)
Then there is "line loss" during long stretches of transmission. So you will need "booster stations". It is much like pumping water long distances. Ratz can fill you in on the details. They are building a major transmission line from the Spearville area into Nebraska. Another line will stretch from the southern end of that line to Wichita. I'll let you do the math on that. And remember the bulk of the profit will go to overseas companies. Not exactly secure energy in my opinion.

My answer would put the dollars directly into your pocket, after construction. If we were to persue solar energy at the brisk financial rate we have been throwing money at the wind, there would be some major advances in technology. It is poised to make some major advances with just a pittance so far.
With solar, the power would be produced right where it is used. The government could give us the rebates for installing them on our roofs. Think about how many roofs in Ellis county could have solar roofs for the $400 million it would cost to put 100 towers up. There are currently 3 proposed sites in Ellis county for wind generated production. Assuming they are all about the same size, that would put the figure close to $1.2 billion. That is a lot of solar roofs.
We would save the tax money that would pay for all of those transmission lines. And the booster stations.
And the coolest part? The savings (profit) would go directly into your pocket in the form of smaller power bills as you are generating a portion of your own electricity. I don't know about you, but I would rather give every resident in the county the opportunity to profit (save) by using solar than to ship more of my tax dollars overseas.

That is only one of my multi faceted programs initiatives. That alone is not a solution, but a step in a common sense direction.

Couldn't we all install small wind turbines on our propert and reap the same benefit?

The city is currently looking at rules for that inside the city limits. In theory, yes. In reality, I'm not sure yet.

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A new way of capturing the energy from the Sun could increase the power generated by solar panels tenfold, a team of American scientists has shown. The new technique involves coating glass with a specific mixture of transparent dyes which redirect light to photovoltaic cells in the frame.

Got any cost figures on putting in a home use wind turbine, or solar panels and how much power they'd actually supply the home with?

before the electrtification of rural america,windmills were common and ran a few lightbulbs and a radio,and kept the batteries charged. With some lifestyle changes ,it could be done again.

Justoo-You are obviously much smarter and more enlightened than T. Boone Picken. If we could get you into an office or an agency that would only listen to your ideas about how to fix our energy problems--the world would be forever grateful. All science trembles at the searing logic of your fiery intellect. JUSTOO FOR PRESIDENT!

T Boone Picken is just as smart as Al Gore. Maybe a little slower on the pick up, but just as smart. Take all of the government subsidies away from wind energy and see if T.Boone is still as enthusiastic. He ain't doing it for the nation, he's doing it for the nations money.

I thought the government decided to take away any subsidies for wind energy. Besides Pickens is putting up a lot of his own money to fund the project.

Any project he gets started before the end of the year is eligible. They are not taking away subsidies. They simply are renewing them one year at a time. Being a controversial topic and an election year they will continue that trend.
Of course he is putting up his own money. Why should he share the profit with others? He didn't get rich by sending a lot of money to Europe.

I guess my point is that Mr.Pickens sees it as a low risk profitable venture with subsidies or not

Actually, Texas has Renewable Portfolio Standards that are on top of any federal credits.


The RPS provides for a Renewable Energy Credit (REC) trading program that will continue through 2019.

My point is that he sees it as a low risk profitable venture because of the subsidies.

Justoo wrote:

He didn't get rich by sending a lot of money to Europe.

I gotta agree that I'd feel better about the turbines and lots of other things going on in the US if the money stayed here.

The generation of power as created by the wind is no less efficient than the power as created by the water in hydro-electric plants such as the Hoover Dam. No, it is not going to provide all of the power that we need, but it will help. And Justoo- you keep insisting that oil has nothing to do with the generation of electricity-you obviously have not heard of the fuel-oil powered generators that were used in the past. Granted, most are standby units, but they are maintained and are ready whenever they are called on such as when the huge Jeffries Energy Center went down in the winter several years ago. You are right when you say that wind powered generators cannot supply all of the power that we need; but it, along with hydroelectric and maybe even geothermal will help provide a part of what this country will need. We have some incredibly difficult times ahead of us and we're going to all have to accept some changes that nobody looks forward to. Like it or not-wind powered generators will be a part of all of our lives, as will car-pooling and using wood stoves to help heat our homes in the winter. I personally hate to see more nuclear plants like Wolf Creek built because I'm afraid of their atomic poison power that can ruin huge areas like happened to Cherynobel.---but if it has to happen to provide us with the power that we need, I'll nervously accept it. The oil companies are drilling as fast as they can, but they are only a shadow of what they were 25 years ago. They cannabalized most of their equipment to keep the small amount that was good, in running order. Also, most of the experienced workers have long since departed the area and it takes a while to get the numbers back. The oil companies are easy to pick on because they are currently making a lot of money. What people do not understand is that from 1986 until about 2000, they were broke and had laid-off thousands of workers and sold most of their equipment. I never worked anywhere harder than I did when I worked in the oil fields. It is incredibly difficult work that can be deadly dangerous and you are forced to work in weather conditions from minus 30 degrees in the winter to 113 degrees in the summer. I was one of many who lost my job and had to retrain for a different occupation, but if the average person could see how difficult it is to get a barrel of oil out of the ground-how dirty and dangerous and difficult it can be, they would bitch less. Like I said, we are facing some difficult years ahead-a storm is coming and it's going to get worse before it gets better. We can bitch and piss and moan about the changes coming, or we can pull together and try to make it work. One thing is for sure: there will be change.

If we could dam up the wind like we do the Colorado river, then wind would be " no less efficient than the power as created by the water in hydro-electric plants such as the Hoover Dam." Until then wind is very inefficient.
I have "heard of the fuel-oil powered generators that were used in the past." They produce less than 3% of our power in ANY year. Wind will not replace them so there is no net effect on oil.
You are exagerating the gloom and doom if you believe we will be using wood stoves to help heat our homes in the winter. Besides,they have been outlawed in most of the heavily populated areas of Colorado. Why you ask? To much carbon. Air pollution. They are worse than coal plants.
The oil companies are drilling as fast as they can. "They cannabalized most of their equipment to keep the small amount that was good, in running order. " Yeah, back when oil was $10 a bbl. Did Hughes Tool company shut down? One would think that with the price of oil they could now buy some new equipment. Where did these new drillers get their equipment? Oh, your position on the rig has been filled. Many times over.
If you were "forced to work in weather conditions from minus 30 degrees in the winter to 113 degrees in the summer" then you didn't work in Kansas. In 1905 it got down to -26 in Hays. You must be very old.

A 30 below wind-chill is very real in Kansas

Hughes Tool and others have very deep pockets and diversified to stay alive in the lean years.Why do you say wind power is in efficient? Nothing could be farther than the truth. Also wind power has replaced several old oil and diesel generators. Have you talked to any power providers from this area?

Blackie Kuhn wrote:

Hughes Tool and others have very deep pockets and diversified to stay alive in the lean years.Why do you say wind power is in efficient? Nothing could be farther than the truth. Also wind power has replaced several old oil and diesel generators. Have you talked to any power providers from this area?

Since Hughes is still around I can safely assume that drillers are not forced to use cabbaged parts to hold the rigs together.
Old oil and diesel generators are base load generators. Wind, being intermittant, cannot replace baseload energy by its fluctuating nature.

It is this constant fluctuation in wind speed that causes a fluctuation in production. Not a good situation for "reliable" electricity. If we were to switch to wind power as a base, we would only be able to use power when the wind blows. That is why wind is not being considered for base load type use.

Wind energy will at best generate 30% of its nameplate generation capacity.

How big are the fluctuations power providers experience?

fescue wrote:

How big are the fluctuations power providers experience?

You mean caused by wind?

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A drop in wind generation late on Tuesday, coupled with colder weather, triggered an electric emergency that caused the Texas grid operator to cut service to some large customers, the grid agency said on Wednesday.

Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) said a decline in wind energy production in west Texas occurred at the same time evening electric demand was building as colder temperatures moved into the state.

The grid operator went directly to the second stage of an emergency plan at 6:41 PM CST (0041 GMT), ERCOT said in a statement.

link to whole story

Some are larger than others.

Those great environmentalists, the French, get 70% of their electricity from nuclear power plants. Nuclear power is cheaper than power produced by coal or gas fired plants and it produces zero greenhouse gases. Maybe there is something we can learn from the Frenchies.

Justoo-I'm not preaching gloom and doom, I'm being realistic. We have never in the history of this country been in a more precarious situation than we are now. If you think $4.00/gallon fuel is high, wait until the Jews start bombing the Iranians. Oil will become at least twice as expensive. You don't like ol' T. Boone Picken--that's OK! At least he understands how dangerous these times are. So what if he gets rich because of his ideas on how he can provide wind energy--You didn't bitch when he was making millions from his oil wells were you?? We are close to the tipping point and things could get nasty in a hurry. Wind power isn't the final word in our energy needs--but it will help. You obviously haven't been around woodstoves in the past twenty years--with the reburners that are built into them and the catalytic stove pipes, they omit very little smoke. The one that your neighbor uses in his garage workshop is probably an old pot-belly stove from eighty years ago,--yeah, they smoke things up. Years from now after the wind generators are up and have been running successfully, you and J.P. Michaud will be demonizing other things. You aren't by any chance related to RON HUBBS are you? He rarely had anything positive to say about anything either. I'll be your Resident Bastard here, because I'm going to tell you what you don't want to hear: IT'S GOING TO TAKE EVERYTHING WE CAN COME UP WITH, TO GET ENERGY HEALTHY AGAIN. Drilling for more oil-Using wind, water, geothermal and nuclear. WE are at a dangerous crossroads and if we don't find a way to fix the problem-it will break us. Call it gloom and doom if you want--I've been around long enough to know that we are getting into some territory like we've never seen before. We can get busy trying to get energy independent, or we can piss and moan because being anti-wind is the cool way to protest and show how ecologically sensitive we are.

Nice speech!

Amazing speech. Amazing that you actually believe Al Gore (the warm monger).

How do you feel about cleaner burning coal?

The technology to burn coal more cleanly would be great. We've got lots of it. We also need to further our development of solar power.

Serpico wrote:

The technology to burn coal more cleanly would be great. We've got lots of it. We also need to further our development of solar power.

It's nice to see there is something we can agree on.

If we don't do cleaner coal, a la the Holcomb plants, we'll be fucked in the short term. If we don't embrace and accept nuclear energy, our kids and our kids' kids will be fucked.

Does anyone have a link to the construction of a wind farm? There used to be one on the old 67601, that showed construction from beginning to end. I was wanting to show my daughter it, but can't find it. Thanks!!