On Tue, 04 Sep 2012 13:24:17 -0400, wrote:

On Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:53:56 -0400, Meyer wrote:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cape-w...--finance.html


Maybe they should talk to the Dutch who are getting out of the
offshore wind business.

"the Dutch government says offshore wind power is too expensive and
that it cannot afford to subsidize the entire cost of 18 cents per
kilowatt hour -- some 4.5 billion euros last year."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...7AF1JM20111116

===

A lot depends on the cost and availability of fossil fuels. Every
large windmill is approximately the equivalent of a 2,000 horsepower
diesel engine. A diesel of that size burns about 100 gallons per
hour or about $400/hour at today's prices. If the price of fossil
energy doubles as it very likely will within the next 5 years, maybe
less, the whole equation changes. A war in the middle east could
change things almost over night.

Another important point mentioned in the Reuters article is that the
price of offshore windmills is much higher than on shore because of
higher construction and maintenance costs. On shore windmills are
highly cost effective right now as long as energy transmission
infrastructure and capacity are locally available. A lot of the
"environmental" resistance could be overcome if people were given
incentives such as a substantial price break on electricity if within
"x" amount of distance from a windmill. I've seen some substantial
wind farms in both Iowa and upstate NY, and the aesthetics are really
not bad at all, actually kind of interesting. The locals that I've
spoken with in Iowa had nothing but good things to say about them.