Comments on: Fakery http://bluecrabboulevard.com/2007/04/21/fakery/ Summum nec metuas diem, nec optes - Marcus Valerius Martialis Tue, 02 Aug 2011 22:27:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: Alan http://bluecrabboulevard.com/2007/04/21/fakery/comment-page-1/#comment-58289 Alan Mon, 23 Apr 2007 22:50:09 +0000 http://bluecrabboulevard.com/2007/04/21/fakery/#comment-58289 According to <a href="http://www.ompa.com/WindFarm.pdf" rel="nofollow">this PDF</a> from that site, it uses about 24 acres/MW, or about 40% of what the New York Post author claims. This agrees well with information from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power#Land_use" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia</a>. Not only that, but the land can still be used for other purposes, such as agriculture or recreation (and in many locations it is). Compare that to 20 acres/MW rendered utterly useless with coal, much of it soaked in toxic runoff from the mine tailings.... According to this PDF from that site, it uses about 24 acres/MW, or about 40% of what the New York Post author claims. This agrees well with information from Wikipedia. Not only that, but the land can still be used for other purposes, such as agriculture or recreation (and in many locations it is). Compare that to 20 acres/MW rendered utterly useless with coal, much of it soaked in toxic runoff from the mine tailings….

]]> By: Gaius http://bluecrabboulevard.com/2007/04/21/fakery/comment-page-1/#comment-58261 Gaius Mon, 23 Apr 2007 14:03:02 +0000 http://bluecrabboulevard.com/2007/04/21/fakery/#comment-58261 http://www.ompa.com/windfarm.htm http://www.ompa.com/windfarm.htm

]]> By: Alan http://bluecrabboulevard.com/2007/04/21/fakery/comment-page-1/#comment-58260 Alan Mon, 23 Apr 2007 13:39:33 +0000 http://bluecrabboulevard.com/2007/04/21/fakery/#comment-58260 Myths indeed! Schultz doesn't cite his sources, but the idea that a 1000 MW wind farm requires 60,000 acres is laughable. As far back as 1989, a Department of Energy study commissioned under the Reagan administration found that a wind farm would use barely more land than a nuclear power plant of equivalent size. <i>Can</i> a wind farm use that much land? Certainly, if that's how you design it, but it doesn't <i>need</i> to. The 11000 acres for a 1000 MW photovoltaic solar plant is much closer to reality. The statement that a coal or nuclear power plant only requires a few acres is misleading at best. Sure, the plant itself only needs a small amount of space, but do you have any idea how much land is used for mining coal and uranium? Uranium mining doesn't actually use <i>that</i> much land, and the aforementioned study suggests that a 1000 MW nuclear plant needs some 3000 acres for mines, fuel processing plants, etc. Coal mining is an entirely different story, sometimes literally blasting the tops off mountains to create huge surface mines. A 1000 MW coal plant can use as much as 20000 acres once you factor in mining. This makes coal the land-hoggingest energy technology we have, and by a fair margin. In short, if you're going to argue against wind and solar power, land use is a lousy way to do it. Myths indeed! Schultz doesn’t cite his sources, but the idea that a 1000 MW wind farm requires 60,000 acres is laughable. As far back as 1989, a Department of Energy study commissioned under the Reagan administration found that a wind farm would use barely more land than a nuclear power plant of equivalent size. Can a wind farm use that much land? Certainly, if that’s how you design it, but it doesn’t need to. The 11000 acres for a 1000 MW photovoltaic solar plant is much closer to reality.

The statement that a coal or nuclear power plant only requires a few acres is misleading at best. Sure, the plant itself only needs a small amount of space, but do you have any idea how much land is used for mining coal and uranium? Uranium mining doesn’t actually use that much land, and the aforementioned study suggests that a 1000 MW nuclear plant needs some 3000 acres for mines, fuel processing plants, etc. Coal mining is an entirely different story, sometimes literally blasting the tops off mountains to create huge surface mines. A 1000 MW coal plant can use as much as 20000 acres once you factor in mining. This makes coal the land-hoggingest energy technology we have, and by a fair margin.

In short, if you’re going to argue against wind and solar power, land use is a lousy way to do it.

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