2 ms·
From a long-term point of view, the cost of the wind energy is just the depreciation of the turbines plus the maintenance costs on the farm. Those two dollar in
by pramsey 10y ago
From a long-term point of view, the cost of the wind energy is just the depreciation of the turbines plus the maintenance costs on the farm. Those two dollar inputs will create a fairly predictable number of kilowatt hours output. The problem of getting those kwh when you want/need them is one of selling into the grid when you have them and buying out when you need them, but I guess from the point of view of Google, they are calculating: we will consume X kwh, so we need to build X khw, and wind provides a very predictable source of those kwh. Macro vs micro.
- knz 10y ago> From a long-term point of view, the cost of the wind energy is just the depreciation of the turbines plus the maintenance costs on the farm. A minor detail, but don't forget the cost of transmission. My understanding is that the US has massive wind energy potential (http://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/30m_US_Wind.jpg http://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/30m_US_Wind.jpg and http://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/80m_wind/USwind300dpe4-11.jpg http://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/80m_wind/USwind300dpe4-11.jpg) but it's not necessarily near the most densly populated regions. Building and maintaining these transmission corridors is not an insubstantial cost.