Wind Won't Fly

The rationale for wind won't fly -- WSJ, June 18, 2017.

Data points:

• decades of federal subsidies; approaching $24 billion
• not one single conventional power plant has been replaced by an array of wind turbines
• 5 kw/acre: most efficient; others even worse
• 300 square miles (192,000 acres; 300 sections) = 1,000 MW (1 billion watts)
• 1 square mile, conventional power plant: 1,000 MW (1 billion watts)
• 1 billion watts: fulfills average annual power demand for a city of 700,000
• wind farms will end when federal subsidies end
• unclear whether monetary reserves exist to remove the non-turning turbines
• a wind turbine can generate electricity 30% of the time: unfortunately we don't know when
• while wind turbines are spinning, conventional power plants are also running, waiting to operate during the other 70% of time

Counterintuitive:

Importantly, the amount of electricity the wind can generate per acre of land is unrelated to the size of the turbines. Yes, by doubling the turbine's blade length you double the turbine's power output. The problem? If the turbines are big and tall you need fewer of them, but they must be more widely separated. If they're smaller you need more of them, closer together.

More wind, more problems:

The power generated by a wind turbine varies with the cube of the wind speed. When the wind speed doubles—say from 10 miles per hour to 20 miles per hour—the energy output increases eightfold (2 x 2 x 2). Someone, or some computer, has to balance these huge variations on the grid by calling on standby generators to produce more or less power to maintain the stability essential to the grid.

So, you might wonder, do high winds make turbines really hum? No. Turbines must be shut down in high winds because centrifugal force would begin to tear the blades apart. Also, the world has learned from experience in Europe—whose wind sculpture gardens may one day dwarf ours—that a one-millimeter buildup of bugs on the blades reduces their power output by as much as 25%.

Maintenance:

Thousands of turbine breakdowns and accidents have been reported in recent years. The basic concrete foundations are suffering from strains, as reported by industry sources and on the wind-farm construction website windfarmbop.com. 

Environmental:

Annoying, low-frequency noise produced by wind turbines, particularly large turbines, is driving some people away from their homes, according to numerous press reports. (Low-frequency noise regulations are already in place in Denmark while the phenomenon is the subject of continuing research.) The Audubon Society now estimates bird deaths from turbines exceed a million per year. 

Bottom line:

Wind is at best a niche player in energy. Grandiose claims made on behalf of wind-generated electricity are rubbish, whether or not renewable-energy advocates admit it. Wind-power developers will milk taxpayers across the world out of a few billion more dollars, euros or pounds in subsidies, tax credits and the like, but sooner or later the public will wise up.

Dr. Lehr, a geological engineer and hydrologist, is science director of the Heartland Institute.