Pickens Plan

[sechs]

http://www.pickensplan.com/

Maybe this will appeal to right-wing nutjobs.... The plan seems a little half-baked, but I'll take the part that Boone has backed with his bucks.

I'd suggest watching the full version of the presentation without the fancy graphics, at the bottom of the media section (also, doesn't require Flash).

 

[blakerwry]

I saw a TV spot for this the other day. It didn't go into the details of his plan (at least I didn't catch it). Just that we spend a shit load on oil and a lot of it could be replaced by wind.

Any direction off of oil is a good one, and I'm glad that he's not advocating increasing natural gas production either - just shifting its uses.

I imagine within the next 10-15 years cars using renewable energy will obsolete fossil fuel vehicles (even natural gas) anyway.

 

[Mercutio]

There's an amazing wind farm going up about 70 miles south of Chicago, near Kentland, Illinois. I took some pictures of what they're doing (even caught them hoisting the blades on one), but supposedly they'll have 400 or so 100m tall windmills by the end of the year.

From what I read about that project, it's full of win for everyone involved.

 

[ddrueding]

I wish they were doing something like this around here; the offshore farms would work very well, and I would love to sail out and have a look.

 

[P5-133XL]

There are ton's of windmills in S. Oregon and the've been there for years. I've never seen even one actually turning. As far as I can tell, they were built to get the Tax credit but not to actually generate electricity.

 

[sechs]

I wish they were doing something like this around here

Have you been through the Altamonte Pass? Holy crap, do they have windmills. And they're building more.

 

[ddrueding]

...And they're building more.

That I didn't know. I haven't driven through there in years, and hadn't heard of any new projects.

 

[sechs]

I went through there last month on the ACE train. There are places where they are putting up three different heights of windmills, stacked in front of one another to catch as much of the wind as possible.

If it weren't land suitable for not much more than grazing, I'm sure someone would go crazy over the looks.

 

[ddrueding]

I'm now tempted to plan a trip out there to photograph it. Perhaps I'll take the train. Is there a stop somewhere convenient? Or is it the middle of nowhere?

 

[sechs]

Most of the turbines are in the Altamont Pass between the Vasco (Livermore) and Tracy stops. So, not really "in the middle of somewhere."

Also, keep in mind that the last San Jose-bound ACE leaves 9:30a, and turns in San Jose as the first Stockton-bound train at 12:05p; you'd have to take Amtrak back. I will say that, for a two-hour jaunt to Stockton, it's an enjoyable ride through Niles Canyon and the Pass.