Energy’s not green but the money is
Administrator | Sep 10, 2012 | Comments 64
The Green Energy Act –Wind Turbines and Solar Cells
Is it green energy? Not really. Is it expensive energy? You bet.
The green energy act, no matter how well-meaning, is, at this point in time, technologically foolish and fiscally irresponsible. Wind turbines and solar cells are far too expensive for consumers due to the cost of the equipment combined with the intermittent nature of its power generation; and, in the case of solar cells, the inefficiencies of converting the output to usable electricity.
Both wind turbines and solar cells are machines – manufactured machines. They are made of silica, exotic metals, glass, aluminum, copper wire, plastics, steel, computer controls and generally set in concrete. All of these basic materials need to be mined, smelted, refined, transformed into usable materials, transported to the manufacturer, and finally transported again to the erection site. Like all machines, turbines and solar cells need to be maintained, repaired and, at some point in time, replaced. Solar cells last somewhere between 15 and 20 years, while wind turbines can last a little longer if they receive regular maintenance.
Recently, I’ve read much in the news about the erection of wind turbines in the County. Some people want them, and others don’t. I certainly wouldn’t want one next door to me for many reasons. What if there is a catastrophic failure of a huge wind turbine? (And they do happen in a very spectacular fashion.) What will it do to my property values? What will it do to your property values? If you’ve leased your property to a generation company, who is responsible for failures, clean ups, and removal of debris? What happens if the solar cell field has a catastrophic failure? (And they do happen.) What if the government quits using your money to subsidize these so called green energy projects? Who is responsible for the clean-up when it is defunct? Are there policies in place for end-of-life disposal to protect the environment from leaching of lead and cadmium?
People, companies, and manufacturers are making a tremendous amount of money off of this – right out of your pocket every month when you pay you power bill. We need to repeal this costly act and continue our research into all types of new energy sources. We need to develop energy sources that are truly the least harmful to the environment and economic.
The idea that these types of energy machines are green and economical is ludicrous. Wind turbines are not green, they are not cheap, they can be dangerous if improperly maintained or manufactured, and we shouldn’t need to subsidize them. Read your power bill.
André J. Douchane
Resident, Prince Edward County
Filed Under: Letters and Opinion
NO
Can you see our Councillors doing this?
“Petawawa Council voted unanimously at a recent meeting to no longer support the province’s Green Energy Act 2009.
In a move to stand up to the green energy project moving in to town, Councillor Treena Lemay made a motion to inform Premier Dalton McGuinty and the ministry of energy and infrastructure and the minister of the environment and natural resources that Petawawa council does not and will not give any support or sanction any project that seeks or will be seeking ministry approval under the Green Energy Act 2009 and in particular the feed-in-tariff provision.”
Jim there is no comparison between Prinyers Cove Estates and wind farms
For the record I never owned Prinyers Cove Estates, my father in law owned some property which he sold to a developer. A road was put around the property and about 4 or 5 houses were built–no great development happened.
Over the years houses were built a few at a time.
I did not ignore your comments but you misunderstood my initial comments. I do not find fault with local development,there is no comparison with a few trucks building a small road and the type of development that is needed to construct a wind operation like the one in SM–it will ruin the towmship or ward or whatever they are called now
Is anyone happy about a beautiful part of the County and a part where the Prince Edward Point bird observatory is located and an area that is in the path of the Mississippi flyway being destroyed?
Do you own property in South Marysburgh? Do you have a pecuinary interest in Industrial Wind Turbine development? The comparison you are attemting to lay on Doris is a real stretch and could be interpreted as a sleazy attack.
Doris- You ignored my comment. You are worried about our roads being hurt by bringing in wind turbine parts, What about all the heavy trucks that have taavelled on County Road 7to build up Prinyers Cove estates that you once owened.Also I believe the trucke bringing in turbine parts can turn left or right
How to brighten up my day!!If no one cares and what beauty is left will soon fade then what do we have left? Are we just slaves to the $$ with no conscience in what we do? Bricks, mortar, pavement and turbines. To hell with the wildlife and natural habitat as we are the superior being. Yeah right!
Mark, “Does it not matter what is left behind as long as a few pad their wallet?” I look around me, even here in PEC, and realize that it does not matter, and this has historically been the case. If you look under the pastoral surface, PEC is no panacea of natural beauty. We are all responsible for that.
What a bunch of hogwash. You don’t give up the natural beauty of the County, destroy the environment, inflict health issues and take away peoples abilty to sell their lifetime investment for a handfull of temporary jobs. This isn’t about the almighty $$$ or is it? Is that all that matters anymore? Does it not matter what is left behind as long as a few pad their wallet? Once the landscape is cluttered with these industrial monsters it’s all over, no turning back. South Marysburgh will be a desserted barren place. The County deserves a brighter future.
Ken I have no objections to the prople you referrd to making their living doing the things they do every day and who add greatly to our economy. I am only stating I do not want the type of construction vehicles which will be brought in by the wind energy people. These special trucks are not the kind we have in the county. Yhey are huge with 2 or 3 flatbeds attached. They can only come into the county by the skyway bridge or maybe the bridge over the Murray canal, They can not make right hand turns.
The proposed IWT are much taller than the ones on Wolfe Island. I understand the people who put up these turbines travel with the companies and local people will not get very many jobs.
For goodness sake Ken for you to suggest that I am against local employment is totally wrong. I am just against the kind of construction that wind turbines bring with them.
Doris has a point Ken. The character of the county is radically changing. Nobody objects to people making a living but the turbine projects will enable a certain number of people to make a killing – of wildlife and their habitats, of peaceful rural roads unmarred by power lines, and ultimately our way of life. Those who stand to profit from the turbines see only personal gain. Many of them could not care less about the environment. A few who were highly supportive of the turbines when the proposal first came to light quickly lost steam when they found out their land was not a potential site for windmills after all. Their letters of support to local papers stopped and they have not been heard from since.
If the county continues to change as it has in recent years it will become a place that we will scarcely recognize. It’s already well on its way to being a tourist trap. Once the transformation is complete and it’s been ‘urbanized’ I’m betting people will lose interest in it and find some other little country paradise to invade. Our country roads are fast disappearing. Great to see truckers and local tradesmen making tons of money but at whose expense?
So Doris in one fell swoop, you’ve alienated the trucking, quarry, arborist, concrete, electrical and building industries in the county. Perhaps we should put a sign at all points of entry saying “Closed for business”. Most of the good things you just talked about in your post would not happen without these things “cluttering” up the local roads. Next time you take a drive to count all the “new high tech” county vehicles you’ve sputtered about in other posts, drive by some of the local businesses that do gravel haulage, supply concrete, put up pole lines, excavation, construction etc, and talk to them about cluttering up the roads with their equipment while they try to make a dollar in these tough economic times.
Doris-It didn’t seem to bother the Lanes when they sold there farm in Priyers cove in the 70’s and made estate properties out of good farm land. I would rather see farm land than all those homes. How many animals lost there homes then?
Jim I only spend 5 minutes a day on County Live but if we get IWT’s I will spend the rest of life knowing that someone ruined PEC.
We have a lot of great things in the County–winneries,market gardens, artists, many stage events at various places.
We do not need to clutter our roads with huge transports, gravel trucks, cement mixters. People cutting trees along the roadways where ugly transmissions lines will go.
Leave the County as much as is possible in the natural state and let the birds qnd other wildlife live in their natural habitat. On CBC the other day was a program about how the blanding turtle is nearly extinct yet we want to kill its natural habitat here in the county. Come on everyone wake up and protct the valuable assets we have here.
I don’t know about that Jim, I sure enjoyed my 4 hours out on East Lake yesterday. Sure hope the turbines don’t place their huge shadows over such a beautiful lake.