When I was a kid this story would have been about a lawnmower engine.
Times have changed.
Wind Farm Efficiency Improvements in WY
August 18, 2019 by
From Yahoo News: https://news.yahoo.com/wyoming-wind-farm-making-same-201154467.html
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Bigger, more efficient equipment will allow an electric utility to redevelop Wyoming’s first commercial wind farm so it produces the same amount of power with far fewer turbines, an example of the growing feasibility of renewable energy in the top U.S. coal-mining state.
Portland, Oregon-based PacifiCorp plans to replace 68 wind turbines at the Foote Creek I wind farm with 13 turbines. The wind farm atop the barren and blustery ridge called Foote Creek Rim west of Cheyenne will continue to generate about 41 megawatts, or enough electricity to power nearly 20,000 homes.
Solar power often gets attention for efficiency gains but many U.S. utilities also are working to squeeze more megawatts out of wind, PacifiCorp spokesman Spencer Hall said.
“Just imagine buying a new cellphone today versus in ’98,” Hall said, referring to when the wind farm’s first turbines were installed. “It’s becoming a thing where we can’t even get labor on some of them, there are so many projects going on.”
PacifiCorp has 1.9 million customers in Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Washington state, Oregon and California and wants to get more electricity from wind power in the years ahead, while reducing what it generates from coal.
Environmental groups are waiting for an October announcement by PacifiCorp outlining its future plans for coal-fired power. PacifiCorp has been weighing whether to shut down as many as nine coal-fired generating units at power plants in Colorado and Wyoming over the next several years.
“All indications are showing it will include some early retirements on at least some of the units,” said Hall.
Join the discussion at Richard Polk’s LinkedIn page.
Tesla, Inventor of the Modern
August 17, 2019 by
The following is an excerpt from Tesla, Inventor of the Modern, a new book by Dick Munson published in May 2018.
Nikola Tesla gave us the electric motor, long-distance electricity transmission, radio, robots, and remote control — the very foundations of our modern economy. Perhaps less well known is that he also was a clean-energy pioneer, and he remains an inspiration to today’s solar and battery entrepreneurs, including Elon Musk, who views him as a hero and contributed $1 million to help restore Tesla’s laboratory on Long Island.
Tesla marked his clean-energy leadership with a 1900 article in The Century — then the nation’s largest-circulation periodical. Published 118 years ago, “The Problem of Increasing Human Energy, with Special References to the Harnessing of the Sun’s Energy” was one of the earliest, detailed looks at capturing power from the sun and wind.
At his core, Tesla appreciated efficiency and hated energy waste, complaining that we “do not utilize more than 2 percent of coal’s energy” to make electricity. “The man who should stop this senseless waste would be a great benefactor of humanity,” he declared.
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The Art of Mindfulness
June 7, 2019 by
What Is Mindfulness? How To Practice Mindfulness, 5 Exercises & The Benefits
Relaxation blogs and tutorials.
Ten Percent More
November 20, 2018 by Leave a Comment
By Lacy
Many years ago, I accomplished something good at school (I can’t remember what) and my mother was congratulating me. And — snarky teenager that I was — I replied, “Yeah! …read more
Read more here:: Laughing Lemon Pie
