Wind turbines generating regret; $100,000 turbines to create $1.50 in electricity monthly

jeepinmatt

jeepinmatt

#1 WEBWHEELER
Moderator
Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Location
Stanley, NC
"Maybe we’ll discover that if we had another three somewhere else down there on the waterfront, we could begin to generate something, and it might become more meaningful."

The first 3 were a waste so let's double down!
 
LBarr2002 said:
"Maybe we’ll discover that if we had another three somewhere else down there on the waterfront, we could begin to generate something, and it might become more meaningful."

The first 3 were a waste so let's double down!
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The smart people would move the existing ones to a better location, like us people with common sense can easily see...

I would bet someone selected that location for public visibility, completely neglecting the fact that it was a poor location for wind energy. Oh well, they just completely fucked up the only important part...
 
Fabrik8 said:
The smart people would move the existing ones to a better location, like us people with common sense can easily see...

I would bet someone selected that location for public visibility, completely neglecting the fact that it was a poor location for wind energy. Oh well, they just completely fucked up the only important part...
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I didn't interpret it as the location was bad, but that the turbines suck... your evaluation hopefully is correct.

I made it ss far as looking up the average price per kilowatt hour in Washington state ($0.0984) and figuring that running at 1/4 of max capacity (3 KW/h) they would generate $53.14 a month. then I lost interest in math...
 
Fabrik8 said:
Nothing wrong with windpower. It's a complete failure by whoever spec'd the system or didn't do the math, so those machines or that installation is a failure. That's the only damning part of it. There's plenty of properly spec'd and very lucrative installations around the world.
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And all of those are horizontal axis turbines (which are still only useful if the wind blows). Vertical axis turbines are for people who want to see something spin and pretend it's working.
 
LBarr2002 said:
I didn't interpret it as the location was bad, but that the turbines suck... your evaluation hopefully is correct.

I made it ss far as looking up the average price per kilowatt hour in Washington state ($0.0984) and figuring that running at 1/4 of max capacity (3 KW/h) they would generate $53.14 a month. then I lost interest in math...
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If they are running at less than 1/4 capacity or whatever, they're in the wrong location. That was my only interpretation. They could have bought much smaller units otherwise.
 
frankenyoter said:
Yep. Seems like a great option to me. Would also cut back on greenhouse gas emissions.
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There are systems in select markets where large spark ignited engines are installed to turn generators and product electricity.

At first blush it is a no brainer. It removes harmful methane from the atmosphere, it keeps the owner from potentially paying EPA credit/fines for methane release.
It produces electricity which can either be consumed on site or exported for additional revenue.

Now once you dig in, it gets a little less utopian.
1- The methane gas collection process is very intensive and costly.
2- Because of #1 if you dont have a very large site it is difficult to produce enough of said methane to be viable for fuel to run a genset.
3- The gas itself, as it is a natural decay reaction and not a controlled production process, is very inconsistent in chemical composition and therefor latent energy
4- The gas itself is very caustic, which requires additional equipment to "Scrub" or clean the gas to get it ready for induction into those engines.
5- Because of #3 and #4 above the power generating equipment is prohibitively expensive. By an order of magnitude of 3-10x the cost of comparable equipment designed to run on pipeline or wellhead gas.
6- Even at that cost the equipment has a life cycle that is vastly shorten than traditional gas equipment.

All this means it isnt economically feasible to implement in any but the absolute largest of landfills, WITHOUT government subsidies.

There is then the question of the emissions from the generator engines that are burning this gas.
 
Ron said:
Methane landfill waste is a real thing
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Ajinomoto (proteins manufacturer in Raleigh) is drawing methane off the now closed Wake County Landfill off New Hope Rd.

Malinkrodt ( Acetaminophen manufacturer ) on North Capital is also doing same from current landfill off of Durant.

Don't know that they are running generators, but they are using the fuel

Methane Recovery | raleighnc.gov
 
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