Wind Farms Destined to Become Rust Farms

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

The ghosts of Kamaoa are not alone in warning us. Five other abandoned wind sites dot the Hawaiian Isles -- but it is in California where the impact of past mandates and subsidies is felt most strongly. Thousands of abandoned wind turbines littered the landscape of wind energy's California "big three" locations -- Altamont Pass, Tehachapi, and San Gorgonio -- considered among the world's best wind sites.

Built in 1985, at the end of the boom, Kamaoa soon suffered from lack of maintenance. In 1994, the site lease was purchased by Redwood City, CA-based Apollo Energy.

Cannibalizing parts from the original 37 turbines, Apollo personnel kept the declining facility going with outdated equipment. But even in a place where wind-shaped trees grow sideways, maintenance issues were overwhelming.  By 2004 Kamaoa accounts began to show up on a Hawaii State Department of Finance list of unclaimed properties. In 2006, transmission was finally cut off by Hawaii Electric Company.

California's wind farms -- then comprising about 80% of the world's wind generation capacity -- ceased to generate much more quickly than Kamaoa.  In the best wind spots on earth, over 14,000 turbines were simply abandoned.  Spinning, post-industrial junk which generates nothing but bird kills.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/02/wind_energys_ghosts_1.html

Lots more at link.

[Wineslob]

Yup the Leftists are very quiet about this boondoggle foisted on the public. Here's another "nail" in the coffin, last I heard, the best a wind turbine could expect in efficiency was 25%, nowhere near the claims made when it was the "thing" to do.
Time for these dino's to be recycled.

[Chris_]

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/02/wind_energys_ghosts_1.html

Lots more at link.

We lived in the LA area back in the late '80's, and I remember driving out I-10 to Palm Springs, through these gigantic wind farms, and nearly half of the turbines were apparently not operating then, so it appears that they were at least a partially functioning eyesore at that time, now they are vast expanses of junk polluting the beauty of the high desert.......

I thought that lefty environmentalists were all about preserving the "beauty of nature", and all that stuff......

doc

[NHSparky]

doc--So Cal Edison (my former employer) owned/operated those wind turbines.  Pure pork, and if SCE hadn't gotten a boatload of tax cuts and subsidies to build them (as my current employer now gets), they'd have never been built.

[Chris_]

doc--So Cal Edison (my former employer) owned/operated those wind turbines.  Pure pork, and if SCE hadn't gotten a boatload of tax cuts and subsidies to build them (as my current employer now gets), they'd have never been built.

Is SCE the same bunch of geniuses that built a nuke plant on an active fault?  I seem to remember some discussion about that when we lived there........

doc

[NHSparky]

Is SCE the same bunch of geniuses that built a nuke plant on an active fault?  I seem to remember some discussion about that when we lived there........

doc

Not as bad as some others.  Remember, there's also active fault lines along the Mississippi as well.

ETA: The plant is still designed to withstand a 7.0-plus earthquake centered 5 miles away.  Not many structures, even in CA, are that well built.

[thundley4]

On the plus side of these windmills rusting out, they aren't killing migratory birds. 

[Chris_]

On the plus side of these windmills rusting out, they aren't killing migratory birds. 

Actually they are.......if you read the article at the link, even though they are abandoned, they are still "windmilling" in order to circulate the lubricating oil, I guess to keep them from seizing up and destroying themselves catastrophically......

doc