Are We Running out of Wind?

The first mate gave me a heads-up about about the state of wind energy locally. Gamesa USA is pulling out of a proposed wind farm development in Ogle County, Illinois. saukvalley.com reports:

Gamesa USA had planned the Whispering Prairie wind farm for Ogle, Winnebago and Stephenson counties.

But in November, the company informed landowners that it was terminating the lease options for wind turbines.

The company said it found the wind project wasn’t commercially viable.

It’s one of a number of proposed projects in Ogle County that have fallen by the wayside.

All very interesting, but here is the kicker:

David Loomis, director of Illinois State University’s Center for Renewable Energy, said the renewable energy industry isn’t planning many more wind farms now. He said the windiest sites have been built or are under leases.

I guess the dream of powering the USA with wind and solar will have to remain just that, a dream. At least until we invent a much lower cost way of capturing the energy. And solar? Well no dark energy collectors have been invented yet. Or cheap storage that can be deployed anywhere.

We do have the nuclear option. Plus coal, natural gas, and oil will be viable for at least another 50 to 100 years and I still have hopes for Polywell Fusion.

M. Simon’s e-mail can be found on the sidebar at Space-Time Productions.

Engineering is the art of making what you want from what you can get at a profit.