There is an opinion piece on the economics of windpower, or lack of it, in the Plattsburgh Press Republican. The author, John Droz Jr. makes some seemingly sensible points about the lack of economic viability of wind power. He published the same letter in the Thousand Island Sun.
But there is no information about John Droz Jr. Who is he? As far as I can tell he is a retired (?) physicist who lives in Brantingham Lake, NY. But he is also a real estate broker who deals exclusively with selling lakefront property. Someone who might not much care for wind turbines obstructing potential property buyers views.
But what about his points about wind power?
1. There is no environmental benefit to wind power generated energy because the energy cannot be stored.
This seems to be a reasonable point. The energy from wind must be used when it is being produced. If it cannot be used instantly it is wasted energy.
But Mr. Droz is being bit disingenuous. Wind energy is not currently being stored but there are ways to store it and here. Surely as a physicist he could even come up with a idea or two about how to store energy. How about using the electricity generated to produce hydrogen gas from water? Remember the "hydrogen economy"? Storing excess electricity should be a concern to all energy producers.
2. It is being promoted because it is an extremely lucrative business opportunity.
Who doesn't like an extremely lucrative business proposal? Oh, but it's subsidized by the taxpayer. Aerospace, transportation, industrial and farms, telecommunications, and electronics industries also receive tax subsidies from the government. Surely other sources of energy production are subsidized by the taxpayer also and here. If we are going to complain about tax subsidies, let's propose to take away all tax subsidies to big corporations.
Sorry, but I've still yet to hear a really valid reasons to be opposed to wind power.
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5 comments:
I read his odd letter along with some of the weird arguments in opposition of the wind farms, and I just cannot fathom why this pseudoreasoning is actually moving the amount of people that it is. alone actually banned wind turbines in the district, I hear, which makes me want to scream.
The big towers can be a problem for birds and bats. They may be okay in some areas but not all areas. If we're looking at windpower in the name of the environment, destroying other species is not a principled option. Droz's point about the profit motive is valid. A much better and more pro environment approach would be the 35 to 40 foot towers for independent off grid use, but unfortunately Wall Street has not gotten into these. Remember, if windpower was used to its maximum, it would only be a small fraction of our total energy needs. It has turned into a hope based fad more than realistic energy solution. More emphasis must be put on solar power and dare I say it, conservation. Too many of us want to continue to conume without limits and the windpower dream is helping to divert us from conservation.
This person was given an op-ed in the anti-wind Adirondack Explorer. He espouses the specious anti-wind arguments from any of several wind NIMBY websites like stopillwind.org. His claims are refuted by the Dpt. of Energy and the grid operating authorities. In his Explorer piece He claims to be a physicist rather than a real estate broker. Funny, cause he had a real estate license revoked for incompetance acording to this post on the NYS Dpt. of State web site: JOHN DROZ, JR. d/b/a ADIRONDACK. REAL ESCAPES,. Respondent. ..... WHEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY DETERMINED THAT John Droz, Jr. has. demonstrated incompetency as a ...
www.dos.state.ny.us/ooah/decisions/rebrokers/droz.pdf
There is abundant information which has accumulated since these posts completely validating the so called "odd letter" and "weird arguments" made by John Droz, Jr.
I understand the disappointment that would be experienced if not for the self defense mechanism employed, that of anonymously attacking an author personally on an unrelated matter from almost 20 years prior. With lack of technical rebuttal, I suppose any mud you can sling weighs the same.
Those believing electrical energy storage is a) scalable b) efficient c) affordable d) environmentally friendly would do well to research before dismissing scientific reality as heresay.
Tom Stacy
Ohio
Having just read some quotes attributed to John Droz, Jr., in the American Spectator, I too have been wondering just who he is.
First, wind is definitely not unpredictable.
Second, his argument really hinges on whether increased wind is only offset by reduced hydro. Frankly, I don't believe it. There may be some offset, especially in the very short term as the grid maintains generation/load balance. Also, he leaves out that natural gas and oil burning units can (and do) cycle relatively well. In the long run, as more wind is added to the grid, fossil fuel plants will be the ones that have to run less, and emissions and fuel use will be reduced.
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