Wind Turbines

[Yvaelle]

Think of it this way - when we walk around we move slowly (compared to most animals, especially birds) - when we fall down we have relatively hard bones compared to most animals, and we can fall down as tall as we are (unless we fall off a cliff or something): I'm 6'2", if I fall down the maximum acceleration my head can reach in that time is 6'2" times earth acceleration. Human beings are designed to fall throughout their lives and be no worse for wear, or run headlong into prey and get back and do it again - we're war machines - we're Orks.

Birds have shitty hollow tubes for bones to reduce weight, it's like rolled tubes of paper, and they fly headfirst - at incredible speed. If they hit anything, it's headfirst, going 30-200km/h, protected by only a sheet of poster paper for a skull. It would be like headbutting an oncoming car, when your skull is already fractured - that is how birds live their lives. Oh, and when they headbutt something at highway speeds - that is almost always only the first impact, since they are usually some distance off the ground - if they hit a wind turbine they a) hit the turbine, and b) fall 150 feet.

Birds die, that's how birds do.

[Deleted]

You would be suprised of how much of European forests are actually man made. Nearly all of it that doesn't happen to be situated on steep hill sides.

Oh, I know very well that most forests have been affected by man, the only place in Sweden where you can find non-man affected forests are in the absolute northwestern corner of the country. But the forest itself is still a living, self-sufficient system. You don't need humans for forests to grow leaves, or for the trees to breath oxygen. Whereas in agriculture you do need to a certain extent humans to take care of the soil if you want things to grow in any sufficient way, for example.

[Deleted]

You're missing my option - I think they're pretty

They don't need to be near human civilization though, that's what cables are for - so I don't really see why it's always a question of whether or not we should live in their shafts or something - they aren't oil-operated lighthouses that need a live-in attendant or anything.

I'm always impressed by the sheer size of them things.
I remember seeing one on the side of a mountain in crete. Imposing.
I like them... somewhere else obviously

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Think of it this way - when we walk around we move slowly (compared to most animals, especially birds) - when we fall down we have relatively hard bones compared to most animals, and we can fall down as tall as we are (unless we fall off a cliff or something): I'm 6'2", if I fall down the maximum acceleration my head can reach in that time is 6'2" times earth acceleration. Human beings are designed to fall throughout their lives and be no worse for wear, or run headlong into prey and get back and do it again - we're war machines - we're Orks.

Birds have shitty hollow tubes for bones to reduce weight, it's like rolled tubes of paper, and they fly headfirst - at incredible speed. If they hit anything, it's headfirst, going 30-200km/h, protected by only a sheet of poster paper for a skull. It would be like headbutting an oncoming car, when your skull is already fractured - that is how birds live their lives. Oh, and when they headbutt something at highway speeds - that is almost always only the first impact, since they are usually some distance off the ground - if they hit a wind turbine they a) hit the turbine, and b) fall 150 feet.

Birds die, that's how birds do.

Fuck yeah now you're talking Yvaelle.

[Afrospinach]

Once we move to nuclear fusion the waste problem will be far less of an issue.

I don't think you even need fusion, just different reactors. There are some pretty bizarre ones out there like the thorium reactor - which needs electricity to power it so it can never melt down and produces nothing bad. It just doesn't work very well right now.

[Gumboy]

Birds die, that's how birds do.

I like when birds die most of the time because then I get to eat them, but it seems like a ridiculous thing to kill them, a giant spinny thing randomly in their way, its like a hard mode mario level with instant death...so super meat boy basically.

[belfpala]

Birds die, that's how birds do.

They do, yes, no disagreement with your post.

I've been lucky (?) to have a nesting pair of cardinals here the last few summers. I have no idea how birds do it, but wherever they went in the winter, they find their way back in the summer.

[Merite]

I'm fine with them where they are. I've never seen any windmills in areas that I'd like to inhabit. I'm sure there's plenty that exist. But Palm Springs? That's literally all that place is worth, I'm glad the finally found a use for that wasteland.

[Yvaelle]

I like when birds die most of the time because then I get to eat them, but it seems like a ridiculous thing to kill them, a giant spinny thing randomly in their way, its like a hard mode mario level with instant death...so super meat boy basically.

This means two things to me:
1) We should start a company that collects bird corpses below turbines as food (McNuggets, probably)
2) We should collectively afford more respect to birds, because yes - they play life on Nightmare difficulty.

[Holyyoloswag]

Why is 'carbon footprint is a myth' one of the options? No one disagrees with the fact that some things use more carbon to produce than others, people (generally republicans) disagree that there is any reason to believe that anthropogenic climate change is happening.

[Deleted]

Why is 'carbon footprint is a myth' one of the options? No one disagrees with the fact that some things use more carbon to produce than others, people (generally republicans) disagree that there is any reason to believe that anthropogenic climate change is happening.

huh, oh that was sarcasm more than anything, - it's also a don't care at all option.
Personally i'm not bothered by wind turbines, think they're a good thing. As long as they're in a place where the wind actually generates power regularly. Granted if there was one in my backyard i would be a bit like "that's a bit close" but then i'd be like "yay, my mortgage doesn't mean i need to sell my kidneys"

[Belize]

But if we harness the wind power, then there's going to be less wind and the planet will get warmer...

I say we burn more coal!

[Tokru]

But if we harness the wind power, then there's going to be less wind and the planet will get warmer...

We should all open our fridges for one day to compensate for that.

[Miyani]

On a side note Republican Joe Barton thinks wind power is bad because we only have so much wind and if we keep harnessing it we will run out making the world hotter 0.0

- US Rep Joe Barton, member of House Committee on Energy, quoted as saying: "Wind is a finite resource and harnessing it would slow the winds down, which would cause the temperature to go up."

[belfpala]

We should all open our fridges for one day to compensate for that.

Carnot would approve!

[Belize]

We should all open our fridges for one day to compensate for that.

Huh, I never though of that...

[Teph]

But if we harness the wind power, then there's going to be less wind and the planet will get warmer...

I say we burn more coal!

Too many turbines will also slow down the planets rotation and at one point it will stop.

[Santti]

I wouldn't mind having a wind turbine or a couple of them near my house. They are not that ugly. The only thing I'm concerned about is the noise. Can faintly hear it at my house? That's fine. Can hear it in my house? Depends.

[Summer]

A few facts about nuclear waste disposal since there's a lot of misinformation in this thread:

- it is not harmless after a few decades but stays toxic for 100 000+ years
- in final disposal there is no need for monitoring, replacing canisters or anything like it
- it is not true that is it an unresolved issue; final deposition of nuclear waste will start in early 2020 here in Finland and soon in Sweden as well I assume (the site has been chosen and construction is in process)
- there are no unresolved technical problems with final disposal, the reason many countries do nothing is purely lack of political will and major nimbyism

For more information, check http://www.posiva.fi/en/final_dispos...y#.VLkaPCusUXg , the company that is building our nuclear waste repository site.

As for wind power, it's nice but I'm very dubious when I see claims of 40-50 % power generation by wind; tend to assume that's only possible because they can rely on being connected to grid with someone else that can provide the necessary backup power.

[Reg]

The should just make them produce bubbles to make it pretty.

I don't really care what they look like as long as they are productive. I'd say put one on top of every building in NYC if it were worth it. Someone go study it!

[Tokru]

Too many turbines will also slow down the planets rotation and at one point it will stop.

Only if they face the wrong way! We should point them all westwards and use surplus energy that is generated on hot days to power them. This way they will accelerate earth which shortens days so we won't have to work that much anymore!