lots of wind

Our Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has a vision for energy generation that would require an amendment to the laws of physics.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hYPThxv2IqnjxnLF7V9Omy7dmjCAD97D6NB80

“Windmills off the East Coast could generate enough electricity to replace most, if not all, the coal-fired power plants in the United States, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Monday.”

Solar, wind, wave, and tidal power generation all obtain power from intermittent sources. Solar produces no power on cloudy/rainy days or at night. If there is low wind or excessively high wind then no power is generated from wind turbines. Wave and tidal power does not generate power when seas are calm. Therefore all power that is generated from intermittent sources requires a backup generator of equal capacity that can be quickly brought online to meet power needs when the intermittent source goes offline. Currently and for the foreseeable future the backup generation capacity will be powered by fossil fuel (mostly coal).

When considering adding new generating capacity to a power grid, this required duplication of generating capacity will always make the intermittent source of alternative energy generation economically uncompetitive compared to energy generated by fossil fuel. The fuel costs saved when the system is running on solar, wind, or wave power will not cover the additional expense of construction and maintenance of the backup fossil fuel generators along with the cost of construction and maintenance of the intermittent alternative energy source.

In addition to the required duplication of generating capacity, the cost and complexity of transmitting electricity from far offshore wind turbines is a significant obstacle to this type of project ever becoming a reality.

I find it unlikely that the Interior Secretary would not be informed of these limitations. If he is intentionally promoting offshore wind power with the knowledge that it will never be cost effective then he is preparing a plan to force this policy upon the marketplace through regulation and government decree.