It's weird how a lot of people in farm country (not the land owners taking lease payments tho) hate solar and wind farms because it ruins their "natural" setting.
Like industrial scale agriculture is the "natural state" of that land lol.
I'm with you on that! I love the look of wind turbines against a blue sky. Reminds me of sea birds for some reason.
Plus, yeah, it's that or a power station!
Farmers here love it! It's pretty much free money for them.It's weird how a lot of people in farm country (not the land owners taking lease payments tho) hate solar and wind farms because it ruins their "natural" setting.
Like industrial scale agriculture is the "natural state" of that land lol.
But then the grid will fail and that light will go out.Maybe someday they'll see the light.
Farmers here love it! It's pretty much free money for them.
It's ideal if you raise livestock because you can still use the land for that while the energy companies pay you as well. Even with crops you can use wind turbines (solar is a bit more tricky).
Personally I think that if you vote against every type of power generation in your area you should have to pay a substantial tariff. Power needs to be generated somewhere and it needs to be generated some how. Don't want a wind turbine or solar farm near you then have a hulking great power plant, see how that impacts your view!Yea it's the people who move to the country but don't actually own working land that get pissed. I've had to hear about how solar farms are ruining the majesty of west Texas so it's not like the area even has to look reasonably good in the first place for there to be complaining. Ranchers are not stupid however when they see people whipping out checkbooks.
My medium term strategy is solar tied to home storage and shifting to evs that support v2l to provide additional storage capacity. It's almost all above ground lines to my house which means outages can last up to a week or more.But then the grid will fail and that light will go out.
In related news, just last week my city (a suburb of Dallas) had a public meeting to discuss the installation of a neighborhood level battery system to help with demand balancing. The people that attended the meeting were overwhelmingly against it. Most people cited some battery fire in California as proof that batteries are too dangerous to have around people. NIMBY seemed to rule the day, with most asking why we needed to have the batteries near our homes, why not put them out in the desert where they can't harm anyone. I tried to stand up and explain that we need the electricity here, not out in a desert, and that the batteries need to be local if they are going to help us during a blackout (which was one of the cities arguments for them since our recent blackout came from large transmission lines going down), but I was literally shouted down.
But then the grid will fail and that light will go out.
In related news, just last week my city (a suburb of Dallas) had a public meeting to discuss the installation of a neighborhood level battery system to help with demand balancing. The people that attended the meeting were overwhelmingly against it. Most people cited some battery fire in California as proof that batteries are too dangerous to have around people. NIMBY seemed to rule the day, with most asking why we needed to have the batteries near our homes, why not put them out in the desert where they can't harm anyone. I tried to stand up and explain that we need the electricity here, not out in a desert, and that the batteries need to be local if they are going to help us during a blackout (which was one of the cities arguments for them since our recent blackout came from large transmission lines going down), but I was literally shouted down.
It's fucking freezing over here, we'll take a bit of that heat off your hands if you can box it up!
I have taken the view of screw big energy and utility companies. I installed 20kw of ground mount solar panels and 70 kwh of battery storage at my new house. I know not everyone is able to do this but I am going to do what is best to protect my family against rising energy prices. I am in the process of electrifying as much as possible my vehicles, house appliances, heating/cooling etc. While I cannot make my own propane or gasoline I can make electricity and store it in my batteries.
SDG&E can radicalize literally anybody lol.
I could get a wicked sunburn floating in my pool if I fall asleep while I'm drunk…?
My ACs really struggle when it goes above 103F = 39.4C, at least given the standard August daytime humidity where dew point is about 62F = 16.7C. Even worse when we have hot June days around 101F with dewpoints say 75F to 78F.This was a related and interesting article I was reading earlier.
‘It’s unbearable’: in ever-hotter US cities, air conditioning is no longer enough
Record-breaking temperatures in the last few years shatter the myth that air conditioning alone will keep people safewww.theguardian.com
My brain just can't process wanting to live somewhere where it's too hot when you go indoors!
ROFL majesty of West Texas. About as scenic as the majesty of Third Ward back when I lived there (in southside of Houston).Yea it's the people who move to the country but don't actually own working land that get pissed. I've had to hear about how solar farms are ruining the majesty of west Texas so it's not like the area even has to look reasonably good in the first place for there to be complaining. Ranchers are not stupid however when they see people whipping out checkbooks.
Just put an efficient 2 way turbine in the base, and go. I saw this basic design many years ago and have wondered why no one has pursue it. All of the weight will be in the base. Chimneys work for a reason.
Haven't studied this much, but on the surface it seems to combine most of the worst aspects of both solar and wind - requires large dedicated land usage while only working during the day like solar, simultaneously combined with expensive and maintenance intensive large rotating equipment like wind turbines. In most areas, I'd guess choosing the better of solar or wind would be cheaper and at least as efficient.Just put an efficient 2 way turbine in the base, and go. I saw this basic design many years ago and have wondered why no one has pursue it. All of the weight will be in the base. Chimneys work for a reason.
Haven't studied this much, but on the surface it seems to combine most of the worst aspects of both solar and wind - requires large dedicated land usage while only working during the day like solar, simultaneously combined with expensive and maintenance intensive large rotating equipment like wind turbines. In most areas, I'd guess choosing the better of solar or wind would be cheaper and at least as efficient.
Also, at least in the U.S., only a very select set of specified technologies have been eligible for renewable energy tax credits ~ and I'd bet this isn't one of them.
clearly the problem is EVs.No matter what, it seems we will never have enough power to run all of the AI. The is not going to end well for the planet if this can't be done with non-carbon/non nuclear power. Am I missing something. Is this really a must do thing?
Power-hungry AI boom making power grids dirtier, less reliable
Energy-intense data centers are opening en mass. Our power grid isn't equipped to deal with a surge of their scale.www.salon.com