We had an update here in Hessen (my state in Germany) over wind energy. Today, there's a grand total of 771 windmills within the entire Hessen state. Pretty amazing number....I'd have to say.
Right now on the planning charts.....120 windmills are in some type of project status.....to be built or placed in the next couple of years.
So, today.....on average....they can generate 1,140 megawatts. What the science guys say is that if you add up the wattage of the nuke plant at Biblis....it's about the equal of that. Course, you have to add into the story that they've been putting windmills up for three decades now.....to reach the 1,140 megawatt stage.
What's all this say for the future? Well, the goal is a total grid made up of wind turbines....by 2050.....thirty-five years from now? It is a fairly long period into the future and this is all based on best-numbers type of analysis.
Problems ahead? Well....there's been environmentally friendly folks challenging the locations of windmills, and it's probably going to get worse as each rolls by. The bird-lobby is still pretty upset over the number of birds getting whacked each year. A back-up to the wind-mills when the wind doesn't blow? It really gets talked about in the press and it's one of those topics that you fear will come up at the last minute and shock the political folks who pretend the problem doesn't exist.
This 2050 deal with all renewable energy? There's a lot of enthusiasm over battery-powered cars, and I don't think anybody.....either in the states or in Europe....has ever sat down and calculated the amount of power that fifty percent of society would draw nightly.....if they flipped over to battery cars. A lot of research is going to be required, and I speculate that batteries with quick and low charge capability will have to be developed to make the grid situation fit this scenario.
Free energy eventually? That's a curious question to pose. I've yet to see any German with a windmill in their backyard.
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