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Graeme
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Joined: Mar 04, 2005
Posts: 2640
Location: New Zealand
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 Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 9:35 pm Post subject: Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically |
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Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically
| Quote: | Two decades from now Americans could get as much electricity from windmills as from nuclear power plants, according to a government report that lays out a possible plan for wind energy growth.
The report, a collaboration between the Energy Department research labs and industry, concludes wind energy could generate 20 percent of the nation's electricity by 2030, about the same share now produced by nuclear reactors.
Such growth would pose a number of major challenges, but is achievable without the need of major new technological breakthroughs, said the report released Monday. |
yahoo
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ALBY
Heavy Crude
Joined: Sep 30, 2005
Posts: 450
Location: Baltimore County, Md
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| Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 9:45 pm Post subject: Re: Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically |
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| I like wind energy and the windmills much better than nuclear waste. |
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Tyler_JC
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Joined: Sep 25, 2004
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Location: Boston, MA
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| Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 10:21 pm Post subject: Re: Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically |
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It doesn't surprise me at all.
Wind is cost competitive with natural gas right now.
That's before factoring in the coming increase in natural gas prices as America starts paying world prices for its LNG.
I have a couple friends who have a wind energy consulting firm that works to help towns develop their wind resources...and they're flooded with work and are forced to turn down contracts left and right.
Wind is definitely going to be a major factor in any future energy grid, especially for a country like the United States with so much wind potential.
There are literally millions upon millions of acres of land in Tornado Alley that could be tapped.
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yesplease
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Joined: Oct 03, 2006
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| Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 11:30 pm Post subject: Re: Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically |
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While we may see a cap WRT using wind to provide electricity for the grid, other applications, such as manufacturing Ammonia for fertilizer, are definitely viable, and may even be economic depending on how we account for the externalities of Carbon emissions. IIRC, we only need ~10+% of the world's current electricity generation to provide all the fertilizer we need for food production. In places like the US, we would only need a couple percent of electricity generation to supply enough fertilizer to feed the nation.
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mos6507
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Joined: Aug 03, 2007
Posts: 3713
Location: Boston Suburbs
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 3:00 am Post subject: Re: Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically |
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| yesplease wrote: | | In places like the US, we would only need a couple percent of electricity generation to supply enough fertilizer to feed the nation. |
What do we do about phosphorous? |
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cube
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Joined: Mar 12, 2005
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 3:28 am Post subject: Re: Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically |
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| mos6507 wrote: | | yesplease wrote: | | In places like the US, we would only need a couple percent of electricity generation to supply enough fertilizer to feed the nation. |
What do we do about phosphorous? |
totally agree mos6507.
The claim that wind power can solve fertilizer woes == fail
yesplease you knew the answer already. |
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Graeme
Fission
Joined: Mar 04, 2005
Posts: 2640
Location: New Zealand
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 5:38 am Post subject: Re: Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically |
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Phosphate latest craze for investors
| Quote: | | He didn't cite examples, but we can. Morocco and Western Sahara have enough known phosphate to meet the world's demand at present levels for 300 years. And big money is going into new production, including a new mine in Morocco (the so-called Saudi Arabia of phosphate). An Indian company is to spend $US1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) to build a fertiliser plant in Mozambique, a country with large known resources of phosphate. And another Indian company has teamed up with Singapore money to develop new mines. |
theaustralian
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Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. H. G. Wells.
Fatih Birol's motto: leave oil before it leaves us. |
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yesplease
Fission
Joined: Oct 03, 2006
Posts: 2312
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 2:03 pm Post subject: Re: Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically |
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| mos6507 wrote: | | What do we do about phosphorous? |
Same thing we've always done more or less. Toss in electrified rail, and we should be o.k.
| cube wrote: | | mos6507 wrote: | | yesplease wrote: | | In places like the US, we would only need a couple percent of electricity generation to supply enough fertilizer to feed the nation. |
What do we do about phosphorous? |
totally agree mos6507.
The claim that wind power can solve fertilizer woes == fail
yesplease you knew the answer already. |
Read Graeme's post below. Unless of course you already "knew" about it. 
Which is besides the point, since electrification in mining equipment is definitely present, if not pervasive yet. Speaking of electrified phosphate mining... Kublikhan had some stuff posted too IIRC. And, as always, "CUBE there is a website called www.google.com", sheesh... 
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| Professor Membrane wrote: | | Not now son! I'm making...TOAST! |
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cube
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Joined: Mar 12, 2005
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 2:43 pm Post subject: Re: Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically |
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yesplease - stop trolling
That's not what you said before, you're back peddling.
You are just trying to rope someone into a pointless wild goose chase.
saying electricity can be used to mine for phosphates is a totally different statement then what you originally said: electricity can supply all fertilizer needs
or perhaps did you forget that? you can thank me for "refreshing" your memory.
Last edited by cube on Tue May 13, 2008 3:11 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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BigTex
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Joined: Aug 03, 2006
Posts: 4297
Location: Graceland
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 2:55 pm Post subject: Re: Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically |
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The west Texas landscape is being dotted with windmills.
At some point, though, it stopped looking high tech and started looking like a real eyesore.
What's the latest on whether all of the infrastructure needed to build and maintain these wind behemoths can be maintained with very expensive oil?
It's very ironic that west Texas is having this wind boom, since that's the same place that had the oil boom way back when.
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mommy22
Heavy Crude
Joined: Jul 22, 2005
Posts: 270
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 4:41 pm Post subject: Re: Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically |
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| They can't look any worse than a huge nuclear reactor or 2 sitting in your backyard! Plus, what WERE they going to do with all the land around old, nonproductive oil wells? |
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yesplease
Fission
Joined: Oct 03, 2006
Posts: 2312
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 5:07 pm Post subject: Re: Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically |
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| cube wrote: | saying electricity can be used to mine for phosphates is a totally different statement then what you originally said: electricity can supply all fertilizer needs
or perhaps did you forget that? you can thank me for "refreshing" your memory. |
First off, I never meant to say that electricity could provide for all fertilizer production, since my initial statement was about Ammonia production, although in retrospect it probably could be. Nitrogen can be fixed thanks to electricity and Phosphorus /Potassium mined and processed with it where it already isn't. Given how little of the world's electricity production, and how much less of the US' electricity production would be needed to do this I don't see why we wouldn't choose to do so as the costs of conventional feedstocks and processes increase.
But, anyway, going back on topic, my post was about all fertilizer production as it related to Ammonia production, but I don't see why all fertilizer production couldn't be electrified. In any event, unless you provide something of significance to this discussion, I don't see why you're trolling. Perhaps you're simply getting paid to do it, so in that case I really can't do much to dissuade you from your childish posts except point out where the information you present is incorrect while you make a fool out of yourself.
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| Professor Membrane wrote: | | Not now son! I'm making...TOAST! |
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Starvid
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Joined: Feb 20, 2005
Posts: 2786
Location: Uppsala, Sweden
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 6:57 pm Post subject: Re: Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically |
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| ALBY wrote: | | I like wind energy and the windmills much better than nuclear waste. |
I prefer nuclear waste more than windmills. At least if it is about my backyard.
Hey, I like nuclear waste to windmills even if it's not about my backyard.
PS. I will probably get nuclear waste in my backyard, or at least about 80 km away from here where they'll probably build the repository.
I just hope we don't get any freaking windmills.
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Starvid
Fission
Joined: Feb 20, 2005
Posts: 2786
Location: Uppsala, Sweden
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 7:00 pm Post subject: Re: Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically |
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| mommy22 wrote: | | They can't look any worse than a huge nuclear reactor or 2 sitting in your backyard! Plus, what WERE they going to do with all the land around old, nonproductive oil wells? |
A reactor doesn't have big swinging blades attracting your attention. The human eye is sucked to anything in motion. A reactor just sits there and is hence easy to ignore. It's just a big house.
And the output of one or two reactors is not the same as the output of one or two windmills. Rather 1500 or 3000 windmills...
I'd much rather live close to a reactor than in the middle of 1500 giant spinning windmills...
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Starvid
Fission
Joined: Feb 20, 2005
Posts: 2786
Location: Uppsala, Sweden
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 7:05 pm Post subject: Re: Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically |
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Phospourus extraction peaked 20 years ago. Didn't result in much, apparently.
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Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis. |
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