“no longer green energy”

Winds farms, says Cheskey, “just can’t go everywhere. There should be certain no-go zones.” If turbines start killing birds and damaging biodiversity, “to me it’s no longer green energy,” he says.

Read the full story and take the opportunity to comment here.

Which part is the green part?

Is it the trees & vegetation cleared to build 70 km of new roads? Or the 315 km of underground & overhead power lines? Or the fossil fuel burned to deliver 1,240 large truckloads? Or the mining & smelting to make the turbine parts?

1,240 large truckloads of turbine parts delivered. About 280 km of underground cable was laid, about 70 km of gravel access roads were built, about 35 km of overhead transmission lines were installed and there is a 1 km transmission line that runs under Highway 401 Chatham This Week

Killing trees to reduce CO2?

This picture was taken in February 2014, during the construction of wind project in Ontario, Canada.

Building thousands of roads to reduce CO2?

Note the width of the road compared to the road grader. This new wind turbine access road follows the treeline toward the horizon. These pictures were taken in February, 2014 from the existing municipal road (dark horizontal strip in the foreground).  The bottom picture has a sign indicating that 2 wind turbines will be accessed from the new road. New roads are being built for the almost 7,000 large wind turbines planned for Ontario, Canada. For a detailed list, open the spreadsheet on the home page.

How Much Power do Wind Turbines Use

Quixotes Last Stand

Tip of the hat to Ocotillo Wind Turbine Destruction for this find.

Al Fin — August 2010

Most people wonder how much power a wind turbine can produce, and never stop to wonder how much power a wind turbine requires to operate. Mechanical engineer Jerry Graf believes that it is long past time for people to ask that question:

Big turbines often incorporate rechargeable batteries or ultracapacitors to power their own electrical systems. When those get depleted, the power must come from the grid. This power goes into running equipment such as yaw mechanisms that keep the blades turned into the wind; blade-pitch controls that meter the spinning rotor; aircraft lights and data-collection electronics; oil heaters, pumps, and coolers for the multi-ton gearbox; and hydraulic brakes for locking blades down in high winds.

Turbines in northern climes also need blade heaters to prevent icing. Reports I’ve seen say these heaters…

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Jan 21: Ontario Gov’t vs. Species at Risk

1st Anniversary of Eagle Nest Removal: It has been one year since an active bald eagle nest was cut down to build wind turbines nearby. Here is a history of the Ontario government’s dismantling of its Endangered Species Act:

• December 20, 2012: MNR allows a wind company to “kill, harm and harass” two rare species, and to “damage and destroy” habitat.

Scotland: 5 million trees chopped down for wind turbines (That’s what’s called “saving the planet”)

Quixotes Last Stand

(Somehow these idiot politicians just don’t get that trees are needed for the eco-system of this planet to be relatively stable and thrive.  For decades we’ve been lectured about losing the Amazon forest.  Well it’s all connected!  The trees in Scotland and Ontario, etc. are just as important to the earth as the Amazon forest is, in one way or another.  Chopping down this many trees to put up useless 400-foot concrete and steel structures is a crime against nature and only makes sense in the minds of the truly eco-delusional.  Yet the diehard wind supporters will make excuse after excuse for doing such incredibly stupid things in the name of ‘saving the planet’. — DQ) 

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Ilona Amos — The Scotsman — January 2, 2014

Forestry Commission statistics reveal that about five million trees – almost one for every person in Scotland – have been cut down to clear…

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Materials consumed by alternative energy

A vast increase in mining activity would be required to meet predictions for alternative energy: