Loxton, if the economics of wind power are so good, perhaps you could explain the 1700 abandoned wind generators in the hills of California.

When the contract subsidies expired the various owners simply walked away from them. It is cheeper to let them rot, than maintain them, & sell the power they generate.

If our idiot is going to let contracts for wind generation, he should demand, & hold a large gurantee. This should be great enough to pay to dismantle, & remove the eye saw, when they have proved uneconomic.

Thanks Hasbeen

Unfortunately, you don't provide a reference to where you got the information on the abandoned wind generators in California. I did a google search and the one reference I found that seemed relevant was this http://webecoist.com/2009/05/04/10-abandoned-renewable-energy-plants/. It states that "There are over 5,000 wind turbines in the area thanks to the wind rush of the 1970s and 1980s...Some of the hundreds of turbines not spinning have been derelict now for decades. There is no law in Kern County that requires removal of broken or abandoned wind turbines, and as a result, the Tehachapi Pass area is an eerie mix of healthy, active wind farms and a wind turbine graveyard/junkyard."

I think the answer to your question is simple, they reached the end of their useful life and because there is no requirement they be pulled down, they have been abandoned. Maybe you have additional information. I agree with your assertion that they should be pulled down rather than create an eyesore, but then again I don't live in Kern County.

I find it significant that the article also states that there are "healthy, active wind farms" in the area. This is borne out by the California Energy Commission website (http://www.energy.ca.gov/wind/overview.html) which says that Tehachapi is one of the three main wind farming regions in California.

Mr Lawson,
The sooner we can get expensive power ,water and food, the sooner we will get to some state of Environmental Sustainability.

Giving cities cheap power, water and hence the ability to increase populations for economists and a big business desire for GROWTH is a sure recipe for disaster.

I really do think that Big Business and Economists must spend at least a year studying the Worlds Environmental Future .

The reason wind generation is difficult and costly is that they only
achieve about 15 to 25% of nameplate output.
The reason is simple.
The out put is proportional to the cube of the wind speed.

Therefore a reduction to 1/3 in the wind results in a fall to one ninth
of the rated output.

With a wind sensitivity like that it is no wonder they are uneconomical
and difficult to control.

I'm no expert in wind power generation, unlike other OLO'ers. Nevertheless, solving the world's energy problems is crux of the matter, imho.

It is so disappointing that some contributors/commentators can't see (or refuse to see) that wind power, in SOME circumstances and situations, MUST be part (i.e. PART) of the solution.

Here is one investor who thinks it worthwhile;

http://tinyurl.com/yasvth3

Although a 'dated' news piece, is he so stupid, too?

Can the same be said for those investing in geothermal, solar thermal ... or tidal, PV, nuclear, or whatever alternative you can think of, to fossil fuels?

Some people are visionaries ... but others (I term the 'deny-n-delay' brigade) want business as usual to prevail and seem intent on allowing sustainable progress be damned!

Sorry loxton, they were abandoned when the contract subsidies ran out, & without those subsidies, they have no useful life.

Some people aquired some of them, still working, virtually for nothing, & tried to earn a living with them. It just don't work. They gave up.

Qanda the world has NO energy problem, except that imagined by greenies, who hate coal. Years of research, & billions of dollars have been spent, trying to prove that CO2 is a problem. No proof has been found.

That does not stop fools hating coal, & trying to invent a problem. They have lost. The cause is dead, just some of it's missionaries don't know it yet.

However, you should not worry. The use of hydrocarbons is just a passing phase, as has been power supplied by man, water, wind, horses, & steam. None of these lasted too long, before they were surpassed by something better. You will just have to wait for the next improvement, however, you will have to accept, it doesn't exist yet.

Trying to force the use of inferior technology will not work, at least not for long. Too many of us will not be dictated to, by the massire mob.

We must stop wasting taxes, by using them to try to find a new power source. Governments are hopless at these things, except at war. Name one breakthrough that has come from government that did not relate to war. Private "boffins", with a dream, not government funding will find your dream power supply, & probably reasonably soon.