Economic woes slow down the Pickens Plan West Texas wind farm
Photo by foxtwo. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.
The tumbling economy has certainly taken its toll on automakers, ethanol producers and everyone else, pretty much. Why should T. Boone Pickens escape the downfall? He hasn't. The huge west Texas wind farm that is part of T. Boone Pickens's new energy Plan has been delayed and now probaly won't be ready by 2011. According to CNET the delay is because the farm is "having trouble getting financing because of the credit crunch." Sheesh, if a billionaire can't get a loan, then we're all screwed. The good news, if you're in favor of the Plan, is that Pickens called this a temporary setback. While Pickens made the announcement at the Forbes Energy Conference this past week, when he also made completely positive appearance on the Daily Show. Watch it after the jump.
Gallery: Wind Farms
[Source: Sustainable Business, CNET]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
gorr 11:53AM (11/15/2008)
Wind farm are an heresy. It produce almost no electricity. The impedance is very difficult to match to a stable voltage grid. All the expences done by u.s.a, europe, canada, japan , everywhere on wind farm were done for nothing, LOL. Again it's a politicians and madscientists steal of people taxmoney. Politicians are there to say to you that you have no 'energy whatsoever'. Since 1967 when i was 6 years old i noticed that.
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Richard 5:54PM (11/15/2008)
Gorr, I've read your rants and raves for quite some time, and now I'm certainly convinced you're "insane in the membrane". Can't even imagine why you'd say windpower is imaginary, when it's been proven and implemented all over the world. But then again, from your all too frequent posts, I gather you're still a fossil fuel believer with some scheme invention none of the big automakers want to buy...You have no credibility in my eyes brother dear.
Mike!!ekiM 3:27PM (11/15/2008)
Wow, if Gorr says it can't be done, then we'd better STOP all development.
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Scott 2:08PM (11/20/2008)
'Heresy', huh? That's an odd choice of words...
definition of heresy = "A challenge to a prescribed system of belief, especially a religious one."
Somehow I bet the word 'heresy' gets thrown around a lot in Gorr's monologues. Perhaps he and Texmin ( a minister from TX?) use that word together when describing anything that threatens their weakening grasp on their followers all over the world.
Heresy indeed!
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gorr 9:54PM (11/15/2008)
I said that windmills all over the world are not matching the impedance of the electric grid because the electric grid need a constant voltage and current source and windmills do not work at a constant voltage or current source. they can serve to feed an accumulator like a big boiler or hydraulic pressure mechanism or make hydrogen. Then after that accumulator serve to produce electricity at a constant voltage and current that match the grid needs. Any electrical engineer that don't work for goverment will understand that.
Many politicians are there to eat your ' energy' it's their mission. They won't let anything good happen to you, especially having cheap energy in quantity without pollution so they badly plug all windmills.
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John Rowell 10:37PM (11/15/2008)
Ok so wind farms don't operate at a constant current. That is correct, since the wind speed can change. But they do operate at a constant voltage, because the power electronics in a wind farm make sure of that. Now when a wind farm is operating at low current, other energy sources (natural gas perhaps, or hydro) are used more to make up the difference, and when a wind farm is operating at high current, other more polluting power plants are slowed down or shut off. See, so wind farms do help.
stevefazek 1:11AM (11/16/2008)
Gorr you really are retarded its called using zener diodes or rectifiers
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Arno 9:00AM (11/16/2008)
Why are you sheep this talking about this idiot?
He doesn't want to do anything good for the environment, get that in your heads!
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noz 2:41AM (11/17/2008)
Pikens is an oil man..he made his wealth on raping the environment so pen*sheads can drive their huge trucks and SUVs.
Now he's the savior?
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Yggdrasilly 11:41AM (11/17/2008)
Most if not all of the windmills pictured here are located in Tehachapi, California. Not Texas. I know. I drove past them twice a day for months.
There are several enormous wind farms in Texas, including one just north of Interstate 10 (right across from the St. Genvieve winery, in fact--a nice little concern operated by Mouton-Cadet).
When writing a story about windmills in Texas, would it kill you to Google for images of Texas wind farms? Or does your mental map of the world between the Hudson River and Lake Tahoe feature drawings of two-headed savages and the inscription "Heere there be Draggounes?"
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Joe B. 4:20PM (11/17/2008)
I doubt any thing Pickens does. He made his money from Big Oil. He now has green tech in his blood. Pickens backed Proposition 10 in California this past election. They spent $23 million to promote the passing of the proposition. The Anti-Prop 10 camp spent a little more than $170,000. Prop 10 failed.
http://earth2tech.com/2008/07/29/la-times-knocks-off-t-boones-green-halo/#comment-20869
Pickens stay out of California!
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Yggdrasilly 5:02PM (11/18/2008)
Joe B.--as bad as California's financial, environmental, real estateand energy problems are, you'd better hope T. Boone Pickens comes to your state and brings his money, too.
Not a lot of people are betting on California these days. I'd think someone who'd want to come in and invest billions in clean energy, generating jobs and tax revenue, would be welcome.
But you don't like Pickens because he once said something nasty about John Kerry, or the like. Suit yourself: a face looks kinda funny without a nose, but if cutting it off in spite gives you that much satisfaction.