> "Are you trying to tell me that they won't build more windmills..."
The tilting at windmills joke comes to mind :-)
Honestly, first off the article says that it seems that gas is less competitive than renewable, so there are already market incentives in Texas to build windmills.
A lot of the money for windmill power simply ends up in General Electric's (the major US vendor for windmills) pockets.
Also, I think ones energy is best put in doing what one can do to minimize energy consumption using LED lights in place of incandescents, using mass transit instead of one's automobile and working with city council in Dallas and other major Texas cities to encourage more production of mass transit.
Also, doing what one can to turn up air conditioning from 72 to 76 or 78 in Dallas will save substantial amount of carbon-based power generation.
There is also the use of microturbine technology that can be used for trigeneration meaning that water chillers for air-conditioning as well as electric power from natural gas. This is very efficient and if it received the same financial incentives and wind and solar probably much more cost effective.
> A lot of the money for windmill power simply ends up in General Electric's (the major US vendor for windmills) pockets.
I actively prefer it if GE (etc.) makes money building windmills.
To switch to renewables, you have to build new infrastructure. That means the people who manufacture the equipment are going to make money. And they should make money! That's their reward for being part of the solution.
Not to mention, it encourages them do more R&D because of the potential for better profits. And it encourages competitors to join in, which is even better.
The tilting at windmills joke comes to mind :-)
Honestly, first off the article says that it seems that gas is less competitive than renewable, so there are already market incentives in Texas to build windmills.
A lot of the money for windmill power simply ends up in General Electric's (the major US vendor for windmills) pockets.
Also, I think ones energy is best put in doing what one can do to minimize energy consumption using LED lights in place of incandescents, using mass transit instead of one's automobile and working with city council in Dallas and other major Texas cities to encourage more production of mass transit.
Also, doing what one can to turn up air conditioning from 72 to 76 or 78 in Dallas will save substantial amount of carbon-based power generation.
There is also the use of microturbine technology that can be used for trigeneration meaning that water chillers for air-conditioning as well as electric power from natural gas. This is very efficient and if it received the same financial incentives and wind and solar probably much more cost effective.