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Power United States

Wind Blows By Coal To Become Iowa's Largest Source of Electricity 170

A new report from the American Wind Energy Association says wind is now the largest single source of electricity in Iowa. The Des Moines Register reports: According to the trade association's Wind Powers America 2019 Annual Report, Iowa is now generating more than 10,000 megawatts of wind energy, accounting for more than 40% of the state's electricity. Wind became the leading source of electricity in both Iowa and Kansas this year, making them the first states to reach that benchmark. Previously, coal-fired power generation had been Iowa's main source of electricity. Projects in Iowa added the second-most wind power capacity of any state in 2019, behind only Texas. The report also says Iowa is second in the nation in total wind industry jobs, with more than 9,000. The state's total economic investment in wind energy grew by $3 billion to reach $19 billion -- also second in the nation. Texas leads both categories.
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Wind Blows By Coal To Become Iowa's Largest Source of Electricity

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  • by lessSockMorePuppet ( 6778792 ) on Saturday April 18, 2020 @05:03AM (#59961276) Homepage
    So what happens when they've used up all the wind? I mean, they said you couldn't use up a whole river, and look at the Colorado.
    • by h33t l4x0r ( 4107715 ) on Saturday April 18, 2020 @05:26AM (#59961294)
      Do you konw why it will always be windy in Iowa? Because Nebraska sucks.
      • I don't have any mod points but this certainly deserves them.

      • Because Nebraska sucks.

        and Wisconsin blows. so we get a really good cross-wind here!

        Jokes aside, it's still surreal to be driving down interstate 380, crest a hill, and suddenly see hundreds of wind turbines spread around both sides of the road, all the way out to the horizon.

        Then a few minutes later you'll be passing an enormous truck load - an 18 wheeler with the root end of a blade strapped to a short bed, then the enormous blade spamming open road for what seems like hundreds of feet, till it gets to

        • I'm not sure if I am as worried about large things that don't decompose as opposed to small things that don't decompose. I am not saying that I am not worried at all, but just not sure where I stand now. The problem with plastic is that it is small and gets everywhere. If plastic were in large chunks (wind turbine size), I don't think it would be as bad. Again, not NOT bad, just not AS bad. Large blades of carbon would basically be inert, and since they are large and in charge, they wouldn't get into t
        • Less wind turbine waste than coal ash for an equivalent amount of energy.

        • by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ) on Saturday April 18, 2020 @01:28PM (#59962220)

          are becoming a pollution problem because nobody is recycling them

          No, this is nonsense. It is oil/coal industry propaganda.

          The total volume of turbine blades disposed of in the last decade is less than the amount of disposable diapers sent to landfills every hour. It is a negligible problem. The turbine blades are inert and are not "pollution".

          The purpose of the propaganda is to convince people that a bit of fiberglass in a landfill and mountains of toxic coal ash are comparable. They aren't.

          • Wind power is great in a lot of ways, but I'm sorry...you're just utterly wrong. https://www.thegazette.com/sub... [thegazette.com] Blade (and other resulting) waste is DEFINITELY a problem that was just kicked down the road as there was no plan in place for it. This happens a lot when people lead with their feelings. Your comparison to disposable diapers (DESIGNED to be disposed) and ANY wind turbine waste ( designed to be more or less indestructible) is ridiculous. To break down just the blades into something recyc
            • Your comparison to disposable diapers (DESIGNED to be disposed)" if they were designed to be really disposable, they'd decompose in a shorter time span than 500 years and it can be a lot longer if they end up in landfill

              "To break down just the blades into something recyclable requires crushing equipment something along the line of that designed for mining. It's not a trivial process." another use for ex-coal mining equipment? or https://www.compositesworld.co... [compositesworld.com]

              "ALL solutions create problems of their
            • Blade (and other resulting) waste is DEFINITELY a problem that was just kicked down the road as there was no plan in place for it.

              The only "problem" with turbine blades is they can't be crushed and need to be shredded instead, which means you can't just send them to any old landfill unless you want to bury them whole.

              That's a "problem", much like the fact that I am talking to you now knowing full well I haven't shopped for dinner yet is also a "problem", one that is trivial to solve.

        • by amorsen ( 7485 )

          To get some actual numbers for the EU, estimates are that in 2025, wind power will be the fifth largest source of waste fibre glass/composites. It will at that point still be surpassed by the marine sector, transport, electricity/electronics, and construction. The absolute amount is estimated to be 66.000 that year.

          Multiple teams are working to find ways to separate the organic parts of the fibre glass from the inorganic parts. Once that is done, the easiest solution is to burn the organic parts for heat an

        • I recall reading that the blades have to be replaced periodically (not sure why?) but are becoming a pollution problem because nobody is recycling them, just burying them. We need to figure that out.

          The solution is straightforwardâ"sharpen one edge of the blades, and ship them to Japan for the giant robots to wield in combat.

    • Put SuperKendall and the Binary Bro in front of those wind farms.

  • by SocietyoftheFist ( 316444 ) on Saturday April 18, 2020 @06:30AM (#59961332)

    And now we have the proof

  • With all the climate change, the more tornadoes, typhoons and hurricanes... lots of wind coming!
  • by BAReFO0t ( 6240524 ) on Saturday April 18, 2020 @07:03AM (#59961380)

    How about 10,000,000,000 watts aka 10GW or 10^10W? Would that make too much sense?

    If yes, then I've got a small hatchback car in an Olympic swimming pool in the basement of the Library of Congress to sell to you. Costs only a million billion million million microcents! Order today! :P

  • by PopeRatzo ( 965947 ) on Saturday April 18, 2020 @08:25AM (#59961526) Journal

    But they won't be laughing when they all start getting cancer from the windmills.

    https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/03... [cnn.com]

    • Actually, low frequency [dtic.mil] noise and vibration [nih.gov] does increase cell mutation (cancer), cognitive loss, mood alternation, and respiratory problems.
      • Actually, low frequency [dtic.mil] noise and vibration [nih.gov] does increase cell mutation (cancer), cognitive loss, mood alternation, and respiratory problems.

        Have you ever been near a windmill? You would have to be living underneath one and you still wouldn't nearly approach the levels of LF noise and vibration these studies are talking about.

        • Re:Iowans laugh now (Score:4, Informative)

          by LynnwoodRooster ( 966895 ) on Saturday April 18, 2020 @11:07AM (#59961856) Journal

          Actually, low frequency [dtic.mil] noise and vibration [nih.gov] does increase cell mutation (cancer), cognitive loss, mood alternation, and respiratory problems.

          Have you ever been near a windmill?

          As a matter of fact, I have. I acted as an expert witness and provided calibrated acoustical measurements for a civil engineering firm regarding siting of a wind turbine farm. You know, sound is kind of my thing - it's what I do for a living, and I am well-known in much of the acoustics industry. I used a set of calibrated Crysound 311 microphones, my trusty APx525 with the APx1701 interface, and redundant measurements over the course of 2 weeks (both with turbines turning and not, at 4 times throughout the day, with levels recorded and averaged over a 10 minute span).

          The recorded levels of infrasound (below 12 Hz) at 300 meters distance was quite high, well over 105 dB SPL. Predominantly created by beat frequencies between turbines. Rather large, slow pulses that were below the level of audibility but high enough to still be quite perceptible. This was in-line with other published results [nih.gov] which showed levels of 80 dB SPL at a range of 3000 meters (which would provide approximately 20 dB of attenuation), and even measurable and potentially perceivable [scitation.org] at distances of 10,000 meters.

          Now, what is YOUR scientific experience with infrasound that allows you to dismiss the papers regarding the physiological impacts of low frequencies and how well such sound travels over distance?

          • but I do have Google [theatlantic.com]

            Also while I'm none too bright the papers you linked to are written to be understood by layman. So I read them.

            The first paper you linked to saw most of the damage in elderly, and it was "statistically significant". Worthy of note, but I'll take that over the effects of coal plants any day of the week. I can also get far enough from wind farms that it doesn't matter, but the wing brings the local coal plant's problems to my doorstep.

            The second study you pointed to is more abo
            • The first paper you linked to saw most of the damage in elderly, and it was "statistically significant". Worthy of note, but I'll take that over the effects of coal plants any day of the week.

              Yeah. who cares about a bunch of old people. They're statistically more likely to be conservative, so we should just get rid of them (except Bernie, of course!).

              The second study you pointed to is more about full body vibration from people using power tools daily. Yes, that's a risk for the people maintaining the wind farms, but not for the general populace.

              Are you familiar with what SPL is? It's Sound PRESSURE Level. Your body is exposed to it. A level of 105 dB SPL is equivalent to ~3.6 Pa (kg/m^2) of pressure. Or about 0.03W per square meter. Which, for the typical adult male, means a continuous 60 mW of mechanical power provided. That's actually quite a bit, when you think about it 24/7/365.

    • by Dr. Tom ( 23206 )

      bing bong bing bing bing

    • Thanks for reminding us we have a mentally ill president.

  • by mark_reh ( 2015546 ) on Saturday April 18, 2020 @09:15AM (#59961598) Journal

    The Dutch people started using windmills in large quantities hundreds of years ago. All the people who started doing that are dead now. Think about it!
    A super-genius (I think he taught at MIT for a record number of years) once said "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

    • by MrKaos ( 858439 )

      The Dutch people started using windmills in large quantities hundreds of years ago. All the people who started doing that are dead now. Think about it!

      The Dutch used windmills to pump water to reclaim land [wikipedia.org].

      A super-genius (I think he taught at MIT for a record number of years) once said "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

      I think they continue to reclaim land, so it's probably true.

      • Pump water, generate electricity, it's all the same to the wind, and to the cancer that the sound of a windmill causes!

  • by groobly ( 6155920 ) on Saturday April 18, 2020 @09:48AM (#59961652)
    " Iowa is now generating more than 10,000 megawatts of wind energy..."

    Megawatts are a measure of power, not energy.

    Peak power does not measure total energy supplied. Or is that average power?

    Makes no sense, and put out by an advocacy group.
    • by PPH ( 736903 )

      Peak power

      And is that actual realized peak power? Or installed capacity? Some of which being subsidized with tax credits never has to actually spin to make its owners a profit.

    • The article is a mess, seemingly written by a journalist who has no idea what the difference is between Watts and Watt-hours. But the state's website [iowa.gov] shows electricity capacity and generation data (only up to 2018). Wind has been hovering (no pun intended) around 30%-40% of generation for the last 5 years. So it's not improbable that it exceeded coal last year.

      The curious thing is the relatively low amount of electricity generated by natural gas in Iowa (less than 12%). In most states, gas has passed
  • GW is a unit of power, amount of energy generated per second. GWh is the unit of energy. Should not casually mix up the two. Especially while comparing coal plants that can run 24 / 7 and wind that is intermittent.

    Reminds of the time we had a Soviet Cosmonaut giving us an extra-mural lecture in college, the commercial attache from the embassy translated. The attache did not have a good science background and was conflating force, energy and power kind of interchangeably. It was hilarious.

  • I find myself astonished that the people of Iowa have been flexible enough to start moving from coal power to wind. I'd always thought that they were mostly known for being stubborn [youtube.com].

A committee takes root and grows, it flowers, wilts and dies, scattering the seed from which other committees will bloom. -- Parkinson

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