Fighting 'Solar Farm' Installation

[MossRoad]

Right, which all that screws up the farmland.

How does that screw up the farmland? It's no different than when they remove a highway and it goes back to a farm field. They've done this in Indiana in several places.

 

[MossRoad]

Here's an interesting link that shows a small study that was done in Scotland regarding the reliability of wind VS nuclear.

Taken over a 12 year period, wind provided a more reliable source of energy over each year than the nuclear plant (bummer, because I'm pro nuclear). Wind never had a 'bad year' and in the worst case, the nuclear plant dropped below 60% of expected output over the long term average.

Of course there are periods of no wind, less wind, more wind, and that's where things like natural gas power generation would level it out. I'd prefer nuclear over all of it, but that's just my opinion.

How reliable is wind energy? - Fifteen Eighty Four | Cambridge University Press

Using wind energy to generate electricity has been a big topic in the climate change discussion for many years. But can we rely on renewables like wind to take up the slack as we begin to phase out fossil fuels? With the promises and ambitions of COP26, this point is increasingly important. One...

www.cambridgeblog.org

Is Nuclear Energy Renewable Or Sustainable? Pros & Cons | Perch Energy

Nuclear energy is technically not renewable because uranium is a finite source. But because nuclear plants are cheap to run and have extremely low carbon emissions, many experts think that nuclear could play a big role in our energy future as we move toward a more sustainable and...

www.perchenergy.com

 

[kenmbz]

Here's an interesting link that shows a small study that was done in Scotland regarding the reliability of wind VS nuclear.

Taken over a 12 year period, wind provided a more reliable source of energy over each year than the nuclear plant (bummer, because I'm pro nuclear). Wind never had a 'bad year' and in the worst case, the nuclear plant dropped below 60% of expected output over the long term average.

Of course there are periods of no wind, less wind, more wind, and that's where things like natural gas power generation would level it out. I'd prefer nuclear over all of it, but that's just my opinion.

How reliable is wind energy? - Fifteen Eighty Four | Cambridge University Press

Using wind energy to generate electricity has been a big topic in the climate change discussion for many years. But can we rely on renewables like wind to take up the slack as we begin to phase out fossil fuels? With the promises and ambitions of COP26, this point is increasingly important. One...

www.cambridgeblog.org

View attachment 795964

Is Nuclear Energy Renewable Or Sustainable? Pros & Cons | Perch Energy

Nuclear energy is technically not renewable because uranium is a finite source. But because nuclear plants are cheap to run and have extremely low carbon emissions, many experts think that nuclear could play a big role in our energy future as we move toward a more sustainable and...

www.perchenergy.com

Nuclear waste is till a problem, and will be unless they spend more on recycling it rather than dumping it in pits.

 

[bigtiller]

Lou, to be clear, I'm not a fan (no pun intended) of wind farms at all. But facts are facts. When the tower is gone, all that's left is a 20' circle. And as someone else pointed out, it's in a contract to remove the top 4' of concrete if it comes to that. So the land could be farmed right over that 20' circle if it comes to that.

Of course, holding someone to that contract, just like any other industry, is yet to be seen.

At the end of life for my 250' cell tower, the top 3' of concrete is to be removed and I get to keep the rest. During negotiations I asked for 4' to be removed and they countered with zero feet, so 3' was a win I thought. But I doubt that will happen. Someone will always want a spot high in the sky to hand stuff.

 

[JJT]

The concrete base of a wind turbine looks like an upside down mushroom, just the stem sticks out of the ground. 450 tons of concrete for a 1.5mw turbine, if I recall correctly. I've been out of the wind business for 6 years. Demo bonds are required, they are also required for solar farms. Nobody gets stuck with the removal costs, they are prepaid before construction ever begins.

 

[Hay Dude]

All the wind farm contracts I have seen include a demolition bond, the removal of at least 4' of concrete is prepaid before construction ever begins. there's no need to remove more than 4' of concrete. The farmland lost to an active wind turbine is less than an acre, most of that is for the access road. The concrete base is about 30' in diameter.

Don’t help much when the wind turbine is there, does it?
Far as what I have read, it takes a heck of a lot of wind turbines, and wind blowing, to equal the output of an NG plant. And the NG plants have already been built. So have the pipelines, railroads, employees and infrastructure.

 

[Hay Dude]

Typical base of the turbine tower where the concrete stick up out of the ground is about 5 meters in diameter. I fudged and made it larger than it actually is.

The rest of the base is buried underground, and you can put a driveway or a crop right up against that.

Better bring some serious facts if you want most people to take you seriously.
20’ is way small. I deal with farming around concrete power grid towers all farming season.

You know darn well you can’t farm to the edge of the concrete.
You also know we are more concerned with farming around them when they are active windmills.

 

[Hay Dude]

How does that screw up the farmland? It's no different than when they remove a highway and it goes back to a farm field. They've done this in Indiana in several places.

Because it doesn’t just revert magically back to farmland. There’s costs and waiting time involved. You telling me those things spinning and wooshing have no affect on property value? Scaring ranch herds? Visual degradation of property for many miles?

It’s NOT all upside. There’s a tremendous downside to windmills. I‘d bet everything I had you’d be screaming bloody murder if one got within 1,000’ of your house.

Maybe you and a couple of your buddies here like looking at that, but I sure as heck don’t

 

[Hay Dude]

Yea, and the chunk of land out of production is much larger and all that for unreliable inconsistent power, whoopee

Exactly.
Like who plants corn, soybeans or hay right up to the 18.3’ concrete circle? Then the power company sends trucks out to the towers and runs over everything, leaves ruts, etc.
I know I waste a LOT of time trying to fertilize, seed, rake, ted or bale around concrete electrical towers versus mostly straight lines.

 

[MossRoad]

Because it doesn’t just revert magically back to farmland. There’s costs and waiting time involved. You telling me those things spinning and wooshing have no affect on property value? Scaring ranch herds? Visual degradation of property for many miles?

It’s NOT all upside. There’s a tremendous downside to windmills. I‘d bet everything I had you’d be screaming bloody murder if one got within 1,000’ of your house.

Maybe you and a couple of your buddies here like looking at that, but I sure as heck don’t

If you'd read what I've written over the years, let alone today, you'd know I'm not a fan of wind farms and that I, like you, would rather see a push towards nuclear power.

That I dislike wind power doesn't change the physical facts that the base is about 20' in diameter, and I've posted aerial shots as corroboration to that statement, with measurements. And others have mentioned about the removal of the concrete down to a farmable depth. No, it's not magic, but it happens pretty fast.

There are no ranch herds on wind farms in Indiana. Probably weren't before then either. It's corn. Corn. CORN. Maybe some beans and winter wheat.

I posted a study by university of Wisconsin that found wind farms are beneficial to crops. Wisconsin! You don't get more farmy than Wisconsin. And Wisconsin is, last I checked, 3rd in wind farms in the country.

As far as one getting within 1000' of my house.... I live next to an airport and two rail lines. I sincerely doubt I'd even notice them, or see them through the trees. I'm more concerned about Doctors in Bonanzas.