The here and now... and what and why

Complacency is a trap. At least that’s what I was thinking when I up and left the comfort of a Yankee prep school gig, where I taught music, amongst other things, for 28 years. There was also that life long career as a composer, musician and artist.

First, it was a year in St. Thomas, USVI, working as a reporter and shooting photography and then, a year in San Agustin Etla, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Time passed.
More time passed and a year back in the Athens of America followed by a hasty return to Oaxaca where it is all happening.
A couple of years in San Sebastian Etla and now, just down the road in San Pablo Etla. Life is good.

Click on an image to see it larger.
For additional photography please visit my flickr page.
You can find my music on Jango (World & latin - Worldbeat) and at iTunes and most online stores.
¡Soy consciente de todas las tradiciones del Internet!
If you are coming to Oaxaca, please contact me for tours or advice.

Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo
The view from Corazon del Pueblo

The hereafter re me

My photo
Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico
Musician, photographer, videographer, reporter, ex-officio teacher, now attempting to be a world traveler

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Wind energy? - We are so screwed

OMG!  I just read this comment from the Chair emeritus of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Who knew that wind was a finite resource?  Just what is Oaxaca supposed to do now after building one of the world's largest wind-energy plants on the Istmo?  I mean, it is already up and running and what's more, it is powering Coca-Cola and Heineken plants.  I guess they will have to rethink that whole plan.  Even after screwing the indigenous people on the land deal, it turns out to be a bum deal for these global-corporations and the country, in general.  Why?  Because soon they will have used up all the wind.  Then what will we do?  Eat (more) beans?

I guess I should say that the snark meter is on.  I am not serious, but sadly Mr. Barton is.... Chairman of the House Energy Committee.  You can't make this stuff up.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cambridge, Mass. – February 25, 2013 – “People have often thought there’s no upper bound for wind power—that it’s one of the most scalable power sources,” says Harvard applied physicist David Keith. After all, gusts and breezes don’t seem likely to “run out” on a global scale in the way oil wells might run dry.

Yet the latest research in mesoscale atmospheric modeling, published today in the journal Environmental Research Letters, suggests that the generating capacity of large-scale wind farms has been overestimated.

Each wind turbine creates behind it a “wind shadow” in which the air has been slowed down by drag on the turbine’s blades. The ideal wind farm strikes a balance, packing as many turbines onto the land as possible, while also spacing them enough to reduce the impact of these wind shadows. But as wind farms grow larger, they start to interact, and the regional-scale wind patterns matter more.

Keith’s research has shown that the generating capacity of very large wind power installations (larger than 100 square kilometers) may peak at between 0.5 and 1 watts per square meter. Previous estimates, which ignored the turbines’ slowing effect on the wind, had put that figure at between 2 and 7 watts per square meter.

In short, we may not have access to as much wind power as scientists thought.

Full article at http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/02/25/rethinking-wind-power-harvard-study-shows-it-to-be-overestimated/

Christopher Stowens said...

Thanks for the article. However, the site sure looks to be a climate denialist haven, so color me skeptical. Oaxaca wind energy plants are in one of the windiest places in the world. It sure makes sense to me to utilize this resource.

Anonymous said...

Its just that Barton's comment makes a degree of sense to me. I wonder if you could show the source so as to put it into context?

Christopher Stowens said...

If you do a search for the following: joe barton congress quote wind is a finite resource, you can find the source.