Mark Parkinson made a bold prediction about the state’s future in wind energy in his speech to the Legislature on Thursday. Kansas will move from 1,000 megawatts today to 10,000-20,000 megawatts by 2030, mostly in western Kansas. Even better, he said:
Factories will dot the state to supply these wind farms, and a corridor of factories from Wichita to Salina will develop that will make Kansas the renewable energy leader of the country.
12 Comments
We’ll all be drinkin’ that free Bubble Up
And eatin’ that Rainbow Stew
Good for him! With our technological base in composites and aerodynamics we should be a leader in harvesting the wind.
I agree with bth. It will be great to be a leader in wind and building turbine parts.
Agree with rg, BTH and Lonnie …. Parkinson’s prediction could portend a whole new day for Kansas. Let’s hope he’s on target.
Not only can we make all those turbines, we can get to building all those natural gas plants that supply the most expensive possible back-up for all those occasions when the wind is not blowing, blowing too hard, changing direction too often or when the turbines are down for maintenance. That’s because the BEST wind farms only work about 40 percent of the time and here has to be enough natural gas to cycle up and down, burning 70 percent MORE natural gas than they would if we just powered them up and let them run. Oh, yeah, and emitting 70 percent more carbon dioxide. Of course, most of us won’t be able to heat our homes any more because the price of natural gas will be out of reach to ordinary Kansans. But hey, we can just get cot at the wind factory maybe? The wind movement is really about selling natural gas, not about clean wind. Follow the money, baby. Look at who is paying for the ad campaign — and oops, the Sebelius campaign too. Scratch the surface. Smell the natural gas.
Not true newshound. A properly integrated network of wind farms will take care of the wind variations. When wind conditions are bad in one location they are good in other locations.
Yeah, right, bth. Just build more and more and more so you don’t notice that most of it isn’t working most of the time. That’s so cost effective. Like owning five cars so you always have one to drive when the rest are in the shop.
And why has the first half the Smoky Hill farm been shut down since 4 days after it opened? Because it broke on takeoff and repair hasn’t been simple. The toll — $1.5 million and counting.
The economic analysis of wind farms includes the needed ‘overcapacity’ needed for a reliable supply of electricity. As for Smokey Hill I would guess that they have sire-specific problems – probably contractors etc. Sort of like the multi-billion dollar nuclear plant fiasco at Washington Public Power.
Not on your life, bth. Smoky Hill had a breakdown in the main transformer four days after phase 1 went on line. Plain, simple, flat-out mechanical failure. Manufacturers say it is “not all that uncommon” but nobody seems to be speeding along to get it repaired or replaced.
BTW, what is the technology for “properly integrating” multiple wind farms? It seems to be somewhere in the same box with storage batteries. And what exactly is the ETA on that “smart grid?”
“breakdown in the main transformer four days after phase 1 went on line. Plain, simple, flat-out mechanical failure”
Sounds like a problem with the contractor responsible for the transformer to me. That would seem to be independant of th actual energy source – wind, coal, nuke, etc. They ALL need transformers.
And no, I am NOT referring to storage batteries. I am simply referring to the already current practice of shifting power around as demand and supply vary. How do you think we get by when Wolf Creek is taken off-line for maintenance?
It’s already starting. The news today about the turbine plant in Hutch is welcoming news.
Agree 100%. Another approach being studied at K-State (ag extension) is “community wind”. The idea is for local communities to own their own wind farm (similar to co-ops now); generate their own power; and sell the excess. Eliminates the NIMBY issue since the “back yard” is the owner who now has “free” electricity.