Growing up on the Great Central Plains of this country, I thought the ubiquitous windmill on old farms was quaint. Nevertheless, it did pump the water from underground springs to the farmer and his animals. In public school, I learned of the windmills of Holland that drained areas of the Rhine River delta. Actually, windmills were used as far back as the seventh century in Afghanistan for grist milling.
In fact, in the early 1980s great investment rush, I bought stock in a wind farm. Several years later, the stock market dropped and I parted company with some kind of equity agreement.
Sometime later, I saw those horrid monstrosities in Altamont Pass, called wind turbines. For real, this time. Not just investment "enticement" pictures.
Actually, for years as we journeyed to our desert property in Twenty-nine Palms, I have seen the disfigurement of the hills east of Tehachapi on Highway 58 with hundreds of wind turbines. But, the most egregious I have seen is the hundreds and hundreds of wind turbines straddling U.S. 10 in the vicinity of North Palm Springs.
I had hoped this harnessing of wind would pass. Pun intended.
However, in June, my wife and I, daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter journeyed to my home town in Oklahoma. And, for the environmentalist, the round trip was 3,400 miles and my big Mercury SUV achieved 19.8 mpg. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful trip and for two of us, it was the first time to see this great land ... from desert to forests to sparse vegetation mesas to mountains and valleys and to the flat central plains.
In Texas came a surprise. Big wind turbines. In Oklahoma more wind turbines.
From my home town of Enid, we traveled west out into the "panhandle" of Oklahoma. More wind turbines. From Boise City, last city in the Oklahoma "panhandle," we took the highway north to Lamar, Colo.
Surprise! We passed by a gigantic "wind farm" south of Lamar. So, we stopped at the Lamar Visitor Center because there was a gigantic turbine blade featured in front of the center. In fact, my 8-year-old granddaughter could stand inside.
Here, we learned that wind turbines on the eastern Colorado plains would bolster the economy of Lamar. With the help of energy companies, one rancher with 30,000 acres some 24 miles south turned it into the fifth largest wind farm in the U.S. That is what we had been so startled to see, earlier.
We returned home and found TV advertisements from T. Boone Pickens touting his intention to build wind farms from Texas to North Dakota. He says that "studies from around the world show that the Great Plains States are home to the greatest wind energy potential in the world."
So what are these wind turbines? Encyclopedia says:
"Turbines used in wind farms for commercial production of electric power are usually three-bladed and pointed into the wind by computer-controlled motors. These have high tip speeds of up to six times the wind speed, high efficiency, and low torque ripple which contributes to good reliability. The blades are usually colored light gray to blend in with the clouds and range in length from 65 to 130 ft or more. The tubular steel towers range from about 200 to 300 feet high. The blades rotate at 10-22 revolutions per minute. A gear box is commonly used to step up the speed of the generator, though there are also designs that use direct drive of an annular generator. Some models operate at constant speed, but more energy can be collected by variable-speed turbines which use a solid-state power converter to interface to the transmission system. All turbines are equipped with high wind shut down features to avoid over speed damage." Additionally, most turbines cost over $1 million with a 20 year life expectancy. Income from the turbine is expected to pay for itself in 10 years.
T. Boone Pickens is an old time "oil man" and entrepreneur. He believes that future energy will come from wind and natural gas.
Perhaps natural gas. But, I don't agree with wind power. To my sense, it is an absolute atrocity to create forests of these gigantic windmills all over our beautiful country.
Just go check Altamont, Tehachapi or, the worst, North Palm Springs.
You must agree that this landscape is ugly. Now, imagine from Texas to North Dakota covered with this ugly forest of windmills.
There must be better alternatives.
Burton Anderson, a U.S. Marine veteran of the Korean War, has lived in California for about 50 years. He has a background in aerospace industry. He can be reached at bandtp@aol.com.
Burton Anderson Burton Anderson, a U.S. Marine veteran of the Korean War, has lived in California for about 50 years. He has a background in the aerospace industry. He may be reached at bandtp@aol.com. The Board of Contributors is comprised of local writers whose views appear on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Although the Morgan Hill Times does not have any obligation to monitor this board, the Morgan Hill Times reserves the right at all times to check this board and to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to the Morgan Hill Times in our sole discretion and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. The Morgan Hill Times also reserves the right to permanently block any user who violates these terms and conditions. All threats to systems or site infrastructure shall be assumed genuine in nature and will be reported to the appropriate law enforcement authorities. Submission of any comments will be considered permission to use online or in print.
Live Oak dominates Westmont