JOHN DEERE INVESTS IN RURAL WIND HARVESTING

[SnowRidge]

<font color="blue"> ( Plus I don't see how a farmer defaulting on a loan from John Deere would be covered by the government.) </font>

I don't see JD loaning to the farmer at all. I read the article pretty fast, so I may be mistaken, but the impression I got was JD Credit loaning to the company that would build and run the wind farm. The farmer would only be involved by leasing land to the company.

I think JD Credit sees a "can't fail" business model in these companies because of generous tax credits. I suspect they see a very low risk in financing these projects and want to get in on the action. Since the sites we are discussing are farm sites, it would be natural for JD Credit to target that market.

 

[erich]

I grew up north of Moline about 25 miles and am impressed to see Deere getting into this. I have always been fascinated by wind machines enough that I got an engineering degree here at the University of Massachusetts because, back in the day, they had the best wind power program going. Many of the folks at the top of the wind power industry studied here.

I came to the conclusion during my years as a student that people don't conserve energy because of social conscience they conserve energy to conserve money. Every one is waiting for a little energy pill they can put in the cupboard and it will supply all their energy needs and only cost a buck-two-ninety-eight. As an engineer I know it will never happen. The two most basic laws of energy are: 1. There is no such thing as a free lunch and 2. The house always takes its cut.

One of the attractions to wind and solar is that it is here within our borders. No crackpots or zealots control it. Make no mistake that we are held hostage by the oil rich nations. We are over there now fighting for oil as much as anything else. Without oil, our way of life as we know it will dissappear. That makes it in our national intrest.

Before anybody goes off on tangent here you need to know I have a son flying missions over Iraq and Afghanistan at this very moment. I am extremely proud of him and scared to death at the same time. I would take his place in a heartbeat if I could. I am retired Air Force myself and I'm probably more conservative than most.

Any technology that reduces our dependence on foreign oil gets my vote. I am very interested in hydrogen fuel cells. Fusion at this point is a hope. It has great possibilities but throwing all of our money at it may be fruitless.

Wind power has been refined over the last 35 years to the point that some of the larger companies believe that they can exist with out subsidies. The problem then might be lack of competition stifling advancement.

To really open a can of worms, I think we need to get over the nuclear fission moratorium. After all, I grew up just 14 miles away from the Cordova nuke plant and I only glow when it's dark. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Eric

 

[Cactus]

I read recently for a self reliant home turbines and solar power etc it would cost about $ 70,000 to $ 80,000 for a system that would generate enough power for what the average house uses.

 

[slowrev]

Just imagine the tera watts of power that we could get if we located the windmills at our state and national capitals /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Ben