A Cloudy Outlook for Wind Power?

The real obstacle is intermittent supply and no storage. Same with PV power.

Another obstacle to the effective use of wind power is the transmission network, or the lack thereof, on account of the often remote sites of new wind farms. I find the hypocrisy or dichotomy related to the phenomenon of the different positions taken by the same people or groups who avidly support the growth of wind energy when they just as avidly oppose the various efforts to obtain rights-of-way and approvals for building, expanding, or extending the needed transmission lines to collect and distribute the generated power.

There are likely some cases where the appropriate wind conditions and siting issues coincide with existing transmission corridors, but I suspect they are rare.

The only driver of political power of traditional energy is greed.

Until the government finds a way to put a meter on wind or even the sun (then charge or tax you for it), we are all doomed by the political choices of those who worship money.

If you have a little time the info in this link will make you very knowledgable about wind power. The short answer is it won't work with present tech.http://www.slideshare.net/JohnDroz/energy-presentationkey-presentation

The most significant obstacle consists of certain unscrupulous operators bent on scamming the Government subsidies that are intended to disguise the true cost of wind power so that the industry has a remote opportunity to develop to a scale where the costs will hopefully be more competitive with alternative approaches. These unscrupulous operators utilize all sorts of exaggerated, misleading, or outright fabricated misinformation to promote inappropriate installations that will most likely be abandoned after the unscrupulous operators have skipped town with the Government subsidy down payment, leaving the locals with a number of unsightly and inoperable towers that no one will assume the responsibility to repair or remove. This is going to result in a seriously negative public image of the wind industry with the general public.

As with most any sort of public policy program that attempts to promote "desired" social behavior by handing out free money to early adopters, the fraudsters are going to figure out how to walk away with most of the money without the obligation to actually perform as promised...

Insist the promoters prove their technology on their own dollar before you start handing out public funds.

We have 'caught wind' of some wind turbines being installed down here in Port St. Lucie. I think they are discovering though that the wind is too gusty. I believe they require more steady consistent winds. I know Boynton Beach HVAC Contractors are wondering why the government wouldn't be pushing for more solar in Florida, seems to be a no brainer.

The limits to solar in Florida could very well have to do with the cost of real estate- considering one needs about 20 hectares to produce 1 MW of electricity...What does that do to the cost of solar when you factor in the cost of land?