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Yogi Berra and Wind Energy

In theory there's no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is.

By: Steve Maley (Diary)  |  March 2nd, 2013 at 11:02 AM  | 

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Who doesn’t love wind energy, in theory? The idea of harnessing nature’s gentle zephyrs to replace nasty tankers bringing crude from foreign shores appeals to everyone.*

As Yogi Berra said, “In theory there’s no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is.”

In other words, sometimes theory has a brutal collision with reality. And reality usually wins.

The town of Falmouth, MA is learning the difference between theory and practice the hard way. Several years back, voters approved the installation of a pair of giant wind turbines at the town’s water treatment plant. Now that the turbines are installed and operating, many residents regret that decision.

“It gets to be jet-engine loud,” said Falmouth resident Neil Andersen. He and his wife Betsy live just a quarter mile from one of the turbines. They say the impact on their health has been devastating. They’re suffering headaches, dizziness and sleep deprivation and often seek to escape the property where they’ve lived for more than 20 years. …

The first turbine went up in 2010 and by the time both were in place on the industrial site of the town’s water treatment facility, the price was $10 million. Town officials say taking them down will cost an estimated $5 million to $15 million, but that is just what Falmouth’s five selectmen have decided to move toward doing.

If approved at an April town meeting, Falmouth residents will decide at the polls in May whether to levy a new tax to finance the removal of the turbines. Until then, the turbines are shut down from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m. Twelve hours of operating a day is not sufficient to cover the operating costs.

Most alternative energy sources work quite well on a small scale. Difficulties arise when we attempt to scale them up. Our country uses huge quantities of energy — almost 100 quadrillion BTU per year. Most of that comes from fuels that are dense in energy content: oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear. Energy from wind and solar is not dense, so the installations must be extensive, often intruding on the human environment.

When you have a giant turbine whoosh-whoosh-whooshing a quarter-mile from your bedroom window, you’re at Yogi’s interface between theory and practice. And a good night’s sleep is going to trump saving the planet nine times out of ten.

* In practice, oil is mainly a transportation fuel. Wind and solar exclusively generate electricity. Wind turbines don’t reduce the need for imported oil.

Cross-posted at my energy blog.

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COMMENTS

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  • DerKrieger

    I’ve said it before and it bears constant repetition, only experience can cure Liberalsm.

  • romeg

    It seems to me that the City Fathers (and Mothers) could put this pair of Bird Blenders on E-Bay and actually sell them or, at a minimum, give them to anyone who would endure the expense of razing them. But, then again, they are probably liberals and these kinds of free-market solutions are unlikely to occur to them.

  • Tbone

    Liberals really are just rather stupid people.

  • PowerToThePeople

    Hope they stay stupid on this issue as the way my luck has been going some fruit cake here will buy them and then I have to hear the whooshing with no return on my annoyance.

  • bobmark

    I say they take em down and we’ll take up a collection to put them in Brentwood, or maybe Malibu. I’ll go in for $10-20.

  • kennymac

    i just wanted to compliment the author on a succinct but very well written article.

  • abeldred

    Loud and oh, so ugly! Not to mention the fact that in order for a wind farm to generate much energy at all it must be spread over a massive amount of acreage. Here in Texas the western part of the state is covered with the monsters and then spanning across the state are enormous tangles of wires to carry the minimal amount of electricity to the large urban areas.

  • WmCraig

    Good point. Why, in spite of being a fiscal conservative I am for letting the Democrats get there way on tax increases. Move out of the way and let them have at it. Election time in 2014 “lowering taxes” will be a winning political platform.

  • WmCraig

    Actually the answer is probably that it is cheaper to build a new wind plant then to move an existing wind plant. Our glorious leadership subsidizes the cost of new construction by about 80% from my personal experience.

  • junglecogs

    Democrats don’t fight for what is best for the country or it’s citizens; they fight for what is best for their Marxist Ideology (which is all theory).

  • thx1138v2

    “There is a principle that is a bar against all information, which is proof against all argument, and which cannot fail to keep man in everlasting ignorance. That principle is condemnation before investigation.” – Edmind Spencer

    Liberals are masters at it. Using it, they need no rational arguments nor do rational arguments defeat it as long as it is relentlessly pounded into the eyes, ears, and brains of the target audience by a willing and complicit media.

  • thx1138v2

    In the early 1900′s there was concern about “peak coal”. Famous scientisits got together to discuss the issue and their solutions were wind, solar, and conservation. Sounds familiar 100 years later.
    Today’s greenie meanies would weep at Thomas Edison’s solution. He said not to worry about it – there was enough wood in the forests of the Amazon to provide the world’s energy for 50,000 years.
    One man in the group got it right. He said man’s ingenuity would solve the problem and, indeed, it did – with petro chemicals. As the article above notes, nothing else carries as much power in the same volume.
    So here we are again, 100 years later, and still proving beyond any doubt that the solutions offered a hundred years ago aren’t any more viable today than they were then.

  • thx1138v2

    How about 1601 Pennsylvania Avenue?

  • thx1138v2

    Ever notice that the things liberals are most liberal with are those things that belong to other people?

  • http://www.johnmcdonald2012.com cherpers

    With wind energy its more than just sound. I live in view of the Altamont Pass in CA which is home to thousands of windmills. I really don’t mind them. Actually I’m more inconvenienced by the insane summer evening winds that tear through here that windmills are meant to capture.

    My main issue with wind is that it isn’t yet practical. It’s been forced. At its best wind energy has very little return on investment. It’s an inconsistent source of energy. We use electricity all the time but the windmills are dependent on the weather and they sit dormant for months at a time outside of the windy season. Naturally, since this is California, windmill operation is further restricted due to concern over bird deaths.

    Wind has the potential to be a good supplementary source of electricity as technology improves. If it gets to the point where private industry wants to invest in it (independent of gov assistance) then we should embrace it. In this story its government meddling once again in something that should be left to private industry.