iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Wind power in Michigan

Started by farmerdoug, December 11, 2008, 05:54:07 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

farmerdoug

Our Governor, bless her heart, signed the 'Renewable Portfolio Standards' into law last month.  The power companies in the state have to produce or buy 7% of their electricity production from renewable resources by 2015.  3% has to be gained from efficency gainsalso by 2015.

The state has made a point of the fact that they expect the local goverments to be pro windmills in their zoning.  In not the state will side with windmills if they are unfairly restricted.

Our township is changing our zoning to be proactive in windmill building.  We are hoping to encourage an utility scale wind farm here.  And be very open to resident windmills also.

I am wonder what tactics other local goverments are taking with windmills here in Michigan and elsewhere in the states and world for that matter?  I for one think we should be doing more about renewable energy at home.
Doug
Truck Farmer/Greenhouse grower
2001 LT40HDD42 Super with Command Control and AccuSet, 42 hp Kubota diesel
Fargo, MI

farmerdoug

Here is a 'Wind Prospecting Tool' created by MSU for locating good windmill areas based not only on winds but also on zoning and public openess to them.


www.landpolicy.msu.edu/WPT
Doug
Truck Farmer/Greenhouse grower
2001 LT40HDD42 Super with Command Control and AccuSet, 42 hp Kubota diesel
Fargo, MI

SwampDonkey

The biggest renewal energy projects here have been put in place 40 years ago, hydro power. The population is not that dense here and I just looked up the percentage of power we generate by hydro. According to NB Power, it is 26%. Some villages are on 100 % hydro with the grid as backup and their rate is quite a bit lower than the general customers. There is some wind power, I don't think it would be 2 %, and there is talk on tidal power in the Bay of Fundy, but that has been a pipe dream for at least 20 years. I think the reluctance of going with wood is uncertainty of a perpetual supply in the long term of low grade wood and fear of not getting it right. Lobby from industrial forestry for as much control over public forest as they can hold on to.  Long term contracts with Irving Oil for fuel to power diesel generators as well as power they sell to the grid, which is at a higher cost but they are locked in by contract. All kinds of behind the board room deals the average NB'er would never hear of since Irving is 100 % private. :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

stonebroke

My neighbors( at least the ones who would not get turbines) are trying to get a local law passed with a 1500 ft setback to property lines.This would require a little over two hundred acres per turbine, Their is not a piece of property in my town you could put one on. They don't want to look at them and think they own my property.

Stonebroke

SwampDonkey

How in heaven's sake can a few people have a law enacted to cover a whole state or county? What about the majority, don't they have a say or have a vote? I would hope that the county or state law makers are not all made up of self serving individuals.  ::) Makes me want to do it all the more and let them come knocking.  :-X
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

stonebroke

Well first they come to the town meetings and yell everybody else down, discourages the people who support it. Then they make outrageous claims( did you know that wind turbines give you brain cancer, That is what one claimed in my town) Do some character assassination of anybody who is in support of wind turbines . Top it off with misleading statements and that is the recipe. Also they have come out against gas drilling also. A real NIMBY crowd.

Stonebroke

SwampDonkey

I'd be there to shout as loud right back and maybe offer them some land up on Victoria Island where they can spend their new abyss counting arctic terns and reading by seal oil lamp. :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

SPIKER

It would be so nice if the librials would let others be wouldn't it  ::)  seems we all have to recycle * live green, don't eat anything they say is un-fit gain all OUR food from some renewable non-living source ect ect ect, as long as it does not happen in THEIR view or AREA or god forbid a bird was dumb enough to fly into a sail/blade that is 300' long and 20' wide moving pretty slow & kill it's self..

I grew up with a god fearing pro life cant eat meat woman as a neighbor,  worst hypocrite I ever knew... first one to go screaming that killers should be shot hung or generally put down, and that included doctors that did abortions or veterinarians that put pets to sleep ect.  seems there are some people that should just need to have a simple IQ test before they are let to vote or speak publicly for others...  ::)

good news it that there are a lot of NEW tech that is working on under water generators useing tides and rivers flow to turn special produced AQUA generators.  the rotating veins/props are high performance & worked too well I saw the testing they did on the river Tems in over seas first one when anchored to rover floor & turned on ripped the base loose in a few seconds, :o  2nd one was reinforced prior to testing and put out full load at low speed. :)  Kind of cool...

Mark
I'm looking for help all the shrinks have given up on me :o

stonebroke

My brother told me he looked really hard in the Constitution but he could not find a right to a viewshed.

Stonebroke

farmerdoug

Well Michigan accept a 1 or 1 1/2 times total height setback for windmills in the state.  They figure that you need at least 1 times to protect the neighboring property if it topples.

Any greater setback and they find the zoning to restrictive.  In that case you have given your chances for goverment control to the courts.

As to the view,  I can say that I fine all of the lights on around the neighborhood at night ruining my view.  Maybe we need a lights out at dark law too? ::) :D :D :D :D

Oh and those powerlines to their houses kill alot of birds too so they should be all scrapped. ::)
Doug
Truck Farmer/Greenhouse grower
2001 LT40HDD42 Super with Command Control and AccuSet, 42 hp Kubota diesel
Fargo, MI

ScottAR

The gov. (I guess the state gov. and the locals)  got a company that
builds the turbine heads to locate here.   Is that close enough?

They'll be hiring as soon as they get the old Hayworth factory converted.
Scott
"There is much that I need to do, even more that I want to do, and even less that I can do."
[Magicman]

StorminN

Quote from: farmerdoug on December 11, 2008, 09:17:09 PMAs to the view,  I can say that I fine all of the lights on around the neighborhood at night ruining my view.  Maybe we need a lights out at dark law too? ::) :D :D :D :D

Oh and those powerlines to their houses kill alot of birds too so they should be all scrapped. ::)

Doug, full cutoff lighting is actually becoming a big deal in some places... I know I can't see the stars very well at my house anymore... and yes, full cutoff lighting is becoming law in some places... check out:
http://www.darksky.org/mc/page.do

As for bird kills, the house cats of the US kill a factor of 10 more birds each year than all the wind turbines and power lines combined.

-N.
Happiness... is a sharp saw.

crtreedude

I have an idea how to fund the forum. If someone could just figure out a way to harness all the hot air we generate here and connect it to one of those windmills, well, Jeff would never have to worry about funding the forum again!  ;D

We just have to figure out the technical difficulty of conversion of hot air in ideas into reality.  ::)  :D
So, how did I end up here anyway?

SPIKER

creedude:
if that was the case then Washington DC should have enough hot air to power the world!

and just think they blow hot air from both ends & tell everyone that it is greenhouse gas so they have to tax us more for letting one fly 8) ::) :D   

I'm all for green energy the more the better, costs well I think the 700 billion that was/is being used should then once paid back go to funding new wind wave and solar farms...  build up that area, roads are not completely bad but different areas are in different shape.   
Something that can help EVERYONE, should be similar low cost or no interest loans to individual people to put solar panels on the house say 5 or 10 year loan, )% interest, but you HAVE to buy American made equipment would be only stipulation, convert some of the GM factories into solar cell producing or wind generator producing plants, as a GOV run place with anyone on welfare or unemployment has to work there for their pay at a ave wage while looking for different jobs.   sure would make the welfare bums do SOMETHING...

MARK M


I'm looking for help all the shrinks have given up on me :o

karen s

I live in Northern Michigan, I'd let em put a windmill in my backyard, and I have the land for the setback also.  I've been looking into this for awhile, they did get one up about 50 miles away last summer,  bringing it in and setting up made the local news during the process,  nobody seems to be crying now.

Thank You Sponsors!