  Thegryphon Member Username: Thegryphon Post Number: 60 Registered: 11-2007 |
With the Renewable Energy Portfolio, I started to think about the feasibility of a wind farm in the city proper. The urban praries could be turned in to a massive green plant. The proximity to the River would also be a boon with wind speeds. Thoughts? | ||
Blueidone Member Username: Blueidone Post Number: 384 Registered: 03-2007 |
I don't think you realize how HUGE those things are. My brother works as an installer. You need LOTS of space, not just a few empty lots. There is massive underground digging and connecting of the towers to a power plant. They cut a swath in the landscape about 10 feet wide from tower to tower and then to the plant. Everything in the way of the direct connection is destroyed. They are in the process of building several wind farms in the state. Take a drive up to Port Huron and check theirs out. I'm not sure of the exact location. I'm all for wind power. It seems like the best alternative in those areas that can support it. I just don't think an urban setting in the place for it. Now if we end up with a bunch of vacant land on the riverfront for some reason, then I would think it would be a perfect place. But I think it would have to be substantial acreage to make it work, from what my brother has told me. But I'm no expert...any other thoughts? | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 3543 Registered: 07-2004 |
Wind rises as you are near a shore, but also the higher you get. I wonder if you could turn some of the abandoned buildings into sites for wind power? | ||
Birwood Member Username: Birwood Post Number: 122 Registered: 10-2007 |
Yes... Hydro-Turbines sitting the bottom, but not with dam, like up at Sault Ste. Marie, but on the bottom about 20 ft down on the Detroit River bed between Belle Isle and the power plant on the mainland. The bottom current there is strong enough to turn a horizonital mounted water wheel impeller for the generator. | ||
Sludgedaddy Member Username: Sludgedaddy Post Number: 204 Registered: 01-2008 |
...one need not go further than the Thumb of Michigan to see working wind farms. The Elkton-Pigeon area is now on line and is under the aegis of John Deere. Under construction is another wind farm project in the Ubly area. They stand 300 ft' high and are quite an impressive sight. Huron County leads the way for the state of Michigan in it's hope for wind generated electricity. On a side note,in the early days of radio in the 1920's many a rural resident had a radio that was charged by a small wind powered device. Throughout the U.S. one can see ruins of wind mills once used for the pumping of wells and as a source of irrigation. I am of the belief that if the Amish don't have it, you don't need it. | ||
Dannyv Member Username: Dannyv Post Number: 466 Registered: 08-2007 |
Do the Amish have tanning beds? I'm thinking of getting one to combat seasonal dysfunction disorder. | ||
Jiminnm Member Username: Jiminnm Post Number: 1834 Registered: 02-2005 |
You need about two-three acres per turbine, depending on size (up to 5 acres per for the really big ones). Since many lots in the city (like the one I grew up on) are around 1/10 - 1/5 acres, you'd need a lot of adjoining lots (not considering whether there is enough wind). | ||
Sludgedaddy Member Username: Sludgedaddy Post Number: 206 Registered: 01-2008 |
Dannyv, no the Amish don't have tanning beds. They are diurnal and rise before the break of day. Dan, the Boz said you retired...you just have to arise early to get to see the sun. (Anthem to the Sun...I think by the Grateful Dead?) | ||
Fareastsider Member Username: Fareastsider Post Number: 1021 Registered: 08-2006 |
I was surprised by the opposition of the locals up in Huron Co. Many people up there were against them because they saw them as eyesores. I figure they would be welcome instead of say a new coal plant which one is being built at the mouth of the Saginaw River. I guess they were built though which I am for. I also do not understand peoples opposition to cell towers. | ||
Dannyv Member Username: Dannyv Post Number: 467 Registered: 08-2007 |
The City of Wyandotte is doing a feasibility study about putting in wind-turbines as a source of power. Sludgedaddy, Did you get your Fusco sticker? | ||
Sludgedaddy Member Username: Sludgedaddy Post Number: 207 Registered: 01-2008 |
Fareast.... Wind farms do have their drawbacks. They emit a constant whirring noise when in operation which can be described as a "white noise" akin to the sound of a constant breeze. It takes some getting used to when one is only used to the sounds of Nature such as birdsong or frogs in mating season. Another drawback is the use of airplane navigation lights at night. Nothing worse than having the blinking red eyes of Satan disrupting your view of a Huron County night sky. Even though there was some opposition, I believe the majority of Huron County residents approve of the wind farms and they are a spectacular sight, breaking up the monotony of a flat landscape. Cell phone towers are the telephone poles of the 21st century and it will be one of the signs of the approaching "Last Days" when you see that guy with the beard and the buggy with one of those obnoxious devices in his ears while rolling down M-53. | ||
Johnnny5 Member Username: Johnnny5 Post Number: 847 Registered: 06-2005 |
Detroit has some of the weakest sustained winds in the state so I doubt it would be a great spot for a wind farm. | ||
Sludgedaddy Member Username: Sludgedaddy Post Number: 208 Registered: 01-2008 |
Dannyv...yes, and it is now affixed to the tail-gate of my "Polish Pimpmobile" in loving memory of a truly great friend and one of the most knowledgeable men of Detroit's musical past. Thanks. | ||
Dannyv Member Username: Dannyv Post Number: 468 Registered: 08-2007 |
Sludgedaddy, He touched a lot of people with his love of music and his eagerness to share that love. There should be a special place for Tony, Famous Coachman, Fred Zelenka and others names I've never heard but who passed on a part of our cultural heritage to us. | ||
Ggores Member Username: Ggores Post Number: 468 Registered: 10-2007 |
"Detroit has some of the weakest sustained winds in the state so I doubt it would be a great spot for a wind farm." Yeah, that's correct. I think that water turbines in the river is more feasible. On the topic, though, think about why desalination of saltwater on the Pacific West Coast seems common sense enough, but there's much more to it. | ||
Yupislyr Member Username: Yupislyr Post Number: 326 Registered: 07-2004 |
Yeah, I've seen the farms in Alberta and they're well under way putting turbines up over here, albeit outside the city. The towers are quite tall. There's a whole bunch of them about 70 mins east of Windsor, around Port Alma, along Lake Erie. And what will become Canada's largest wind farm just got approval last week. 148 turbines will be going up within a 45 min drive southeast of Windsor. | ||
Eastsidedame Member Username: Eastsidedame Post Number: 633 Registered: 12-2006 |
And so why do they call it "Windmill Pointe"? Just wondering. Actually the water turbines would be great as well. I've heard the current in the river is so swift, divers must use extreme caution. | ||
Eriedearie Member Username: Eriedearie Post Number: 3879 Registered: 08-2007 |
Yep Yupislyr - Looks like it's gonna happen. http://www.choosewindsoressex. com/news/news.cfm?id=704 | ||
Zrx_doug Member Username: Zrx_doug Post Number: 778 Registered: 03-2008 |
One word. Nuclear. | ||
Sumas Member Username: Sumas Post Number: 326 Registered: 01-2008 |
Windmills were a part of the early Detroit landscape. Every French land charter required the building of a windmill. The two commercial windmills were at Windmill Pointe (actual location was where Mariners Park is)and Tromblay now known as Connors Creek. A hugh portion of our Detroit riverfront was swamp. The windmills played a critical role in the reclaimation of these swamps. Consequently, windmills are a historical legacy. | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 6395 Registered: 10-2003 |
Something to else keep in mind about wind energy (and all other types of power generation) is its acres per MW (megawatt) measurement. As has been said, you needs tons of land to make a feasible windfarm. We really need to pump money into trying to get these renewable sources more efficient. Solar and wind require ungodly amounts of land, and it doesn't have to be this way. | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 2057 Registered: 08-2007 |
IMHO, put the wind mills on Fighting Island. It's flat, windy and still so poluted no trees will grow on it. True, it is in Canada, and it is owned by BASF; it is also true they say they are trying to reclaim the land and make it safe for wildlife. ---- For those with a 1/2 acre, and a 12 mph windspeed here is a link to personal wind turbine | ||
Mwilbert Member Username: Mwilbert Post Number: 426 Registered: 11-2007 |
It is misleading to say that a wind turbine needs 3-5 acres of land. The land is still there, and you can still use it for other stuff--the turbine is way up in the air. Out west they grow things and graze cattle among the turbines. | ||
Jams Member Username: Jams Post Number: 9584 Registered: 10-2003 |
Hmmm,.... wind turbines, letting sheep graze around them, wool and meat...anything is possible. | ||
Yupislyr Member Username: Yupislyr Post Number: 328 Registered: 07-2004 |
Well yeah, that's the way it is here for every turbine I've seen at least. The turbines are located among farmer's fields. The farmers get paid a fee of some sort in return for hosting the turbine. | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 4476 Registered: 04-2005 |
While riding Amtrak out to Colorado, you see several wind farms going through Illinois. There are dozens that look like they're in close proximity, but they are quite a distance away. There is also a huge farm up near the Colorado-Wyoming border. I've never gotten close enough to hear them, but it's kind of cool to see them. | ||
Bike4beer Member Username: Bike4beer Post Number: 21 Registered: 09-2008 |
There is a windfarm in Canada just north of Forest. It is about 5 or 6 turbines on a farm. A farmer could make some extra money if they leased there land to be used for a wind farm and still farm their crops. Once construction is done there is a small foot print for the turbine. | ||
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott Post Number: 1675 Registered: 12-2006 |
Bike4beer (great handle by the way) hits an important point - while, as noted earlier, the act of constructing a wind farm uses quite a bit of land, the wind farm itself only takes a tiny percentage of the land upon which it sits. I'm all in favor of these. I've always favored a multi-pronged approach to energy independence. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 3842 Registered: 01-2005 |
Been past the windfarms in California with hundreds of turbines. Talk about a blight on the landscape. Looks like hell. But then, so does the rest of California without the turbines..... | ||
Bike4beer Member Username: Bike4beer Post Number: 22 Registered: 09-2008 |
I like the look of them personally. Much better looking then a Coal fired power plant or a Nuclear power plant. |
