ENERGY BOOMER

WIND CAN BE A FICKLE POWER SOURCE

Sometimes I wonder about the focus on wind power. Wind can be a very fickle power source. Based on my experience of sailing on the Great Lakes, sometimes you can get where you want to go using just the wind.

However, other times there is no wind to move the boat at all. A back up source of energy is needed for power when the wind doesn’t blow.

You can make the “white ash breeze” as the Vikings said, by using wooden oars. On the other hand, you can start up the noisy petroleum-fueled engine and be just another stink boater.

Wind is easy enough to harness that some folks use it at their farms or homes. It is often combined with power from the grid. Or, storage batteries are used to hold the windy day surplus until it is needed.

The old farmer’s idea of using windmills to pump water is still good today. Wind can be used to pump water uphill into a tank or reservoir for future use by gravity when needed.

If the reservoir is big enough and high enough it can serve as a battery to store the energy. The stored water can be released to make electricity in a hydroelectric plant when needed.

Not practical for home use but still a good idea. I know of one place along the shore of Lake Michigan where the Consumers Energy utility company does this.

If I lived along the ocean shore, I would combine tidal or wave power, along with wind and solar to supply electricity a larger percentage of the time. I wish we all could live at the beach. It is the dreamer in me.

by Birney Summers – 2009 All Rights Reserved

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ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT MAKING YOUR OWN ELECTRICITY?

Solar Power and Wind Power are the common ways of generating homemade electricity. Some folks reduce their use of electricity to a level that they can disconnect from the utility company and live “Off the Grid.”

Solar power comes from free sunshine. If you live in part of the world where the sun shines a lot, it may work for you.

You cannot make solar electricity at night.

Even if you live, where cloudy days are a rare occurrence and the snow doesn’t cover your solar panels long nights are a problem.

If you want your lights and your refrigerator to keep working all night, you will need batteries or another way to bank energy. You are doing well when you can put more power into you batteries during the day than you use in 24 hours.

Wind power works day or night, as long as the wind blows. Most windmill generators will start making power when the wind is 10 or 15 miles an hour. The faster the wind blows the more Watts they can make. The problem is; no wind equals no power.

Using a windmill generator and solar cells together will increase the percentage of time when you can put power into your battery bank.

For more information on what to consider, before you jump into homemade power, check out this article. How to Decide if Wind Power is Right for You.

I suggest that you work on a solar power system that will power just one or two appliances that you use often. This will let you learn about it by doing. It also has the advantage of being a low cost way to start that you can implement quickly.

Check out these solar charger systems from Amazon.

Click here for a free money saving report written by the Energy Boomer titled HOW SAVE MONEY ON YOUR NEXT HEATING BILL

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WHY ARE GASOLINE PRICES SO HIGH?

The demand for gasoline and diesel fuel in the USA has grown to where we soon will not be able to make enough.

Why? We have not built new refineries in many years because congress has passed laws that make them either too costly or impossible to get permits for them.

Will we run out of gasoline and diesel fuel? We will still be able to get gas because other countries are building refineries as fast as they can. They will sell us gasoline and diesel fuel in addition to selling us crude oil. That way they get those high paying refinery jobs in their country instead of in the USA.

Why are gasoline and diesel fuel so expensive now? The raw material for gasoline is crude oil. The worldwide market demand for crude oil is up. China and India are both using more oil that ever before. They are competing with us for oil on the international markets.

Why don’t we drill for more in the USA? Congress has passed laws preventing us from drilling where we know our oil is. U. S. off shore drilling has been stopped by those laws, but China is drilling 60 miles off the Florida coast. Other countries are drilling every where there is oil available. They get more high paying jobs for them, less for us. Some of these restrictions expire the end of September 2008.

Why doesn’t the President do something? The U. S. President can not change our the laws that limit the freedom of US companies. U. S. Laws are made and changed only by the congress. President Bush is taking the actions that are within his control.

Why doesn’t the government do something? The U. S. government does not produce anything. It cannot make gasoline or diesel fuel. In a free market, only people acting together can risk the resources needed and provide the knowledge to produce things including oil and gasoline and diesel fuel. The only thing governments are good at is limiting the actions of people, including groups of people like companies.

Why can’t we get the big oil producers to pump out more oil? The 12 largest oil producers are not under US control because they are not US companies. The 12 biggest oil producers are countries not companies. They are country owned oil operations in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and nine other countries.

We have coal why don’t we make oil from our coal? Because the U. S. congress has passed laws the block making oil from coal. Currently the Air Force is developing jet fuel made from coal.

What can we do?

Promote alternative fuels like Ethanol and Butanol made from what ever we can grow here to make them.

Promote personal, corporate and government conservation of energy resources.

Write your representatives in congress requesting they undo the harm they have done to the U. S. economy by unblocking oil production and refining.

Vote, support and campaign for candidates who will work for U. S. Energy Independence. Campaign and vote against candidates who have a record of passing laws that are not in the best interest of this country and your bank account.

Stop sending your money and our jobs to foreign countries by buying foreign made products.

Buy U. S. made high mile per gallon cars and trucks.

Buy electric cars that are built in the USA as soon as they are available. Plug into in to the electric grid to use electricity produced from coal mined here.

Become a warrior for U. S. and your economic survival.

Opinions expressed in the above are mine. Birney Summers.

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THREE WAYS TO USE COAL FOR GAS

I know of three possible ways to use coal in place of gasoline to fuel our personal vehicles.

The first possibility is to make steam with the coal using an on board steam boiler. Then use the steam to power a steam engine or turbine to drive the car.

The famous 1902 Stanley Steamer automobile set a speed record of 127 mph. But, they used kerosene to make the steam. Just before the First World War, the Dobie brothers made steam powered cars in

California. Their car accelerated faster than the Model T Ford. But, they used kerosene as fuel.

This summer the Stanley Steamer speed record is likely to be smashed by a British built steam car. They expect speeds approaching 200 mph using LPG as fuel to make steam to power a 360 hp turbine. Wow, times have changed.

The problem with using coal as a vehicle boiler fuel is that it takes too much time to get the fire going. Plus, it is difficult to control the flow of coal into the firebox. It also takes a long time for the fire to burn out after you park the car. Then you have to get rid of the ash. A lot of inconvenient labor is involved.

Adding pollution controls on each and every vehicle makes this an unlikely answer.

The second possibility, and my favorite, is to make electricity with the coal and drive a plug in electric car. The coal would be used to make electricity at a clean burning coal fired electric generating station. We have proven technology for this and we have plenty of coal here.

The car would need an on board battery, like the new Chevy Volt will have. The battery could be charged by plugging it in at home and at outlets at work or in shopping center parking lots. Swipe your credit card and buy some energy for your car while you shop.

In my dream of the future, expressways would have a power track or maybe a slot like model slot race cars use, to provide power and a battery charge while you drive longer distances. The battery would provide power for local city street driving.

I hope that there will be better technologies for supplying electric power to a moving car than were used with trolley cars. Making this plan work would require major investments in infrastructure to make and distribute the electrical power.

The third possibility is to convert the carbon from coal into a liquid fuel to replace gasoline and diesel fuel. This is a known technology but is currently being held back in the

USA by regulatory constraints.

Coal is first converted into a synthetic gas. Then it is recombined with hydrogen from steam in a chemical plant to make a liquid fuel called synthetic fuel or synfuel.

South Africa,

India and

China are expected to be very large producers of synfuel. They will use it in place of petroleum based gasoline, jet fuel and diesel fuel.

This technology will be used around the world even if environmental concerns keep it from full production use here.

One advantage of synfuel is that no new infrastructure is need after the production plants are built. Also, synfuels closely match existing fuel so no changes are need in existing vehicle engines.

We have coal so we should use it starting now.

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WE ARE STILL STRIVING FOR INDEPENDENCE

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WE ARE STILL STRIVING FOR INDEPENDENCE

We are not independent as long as our economy is influenced by forces from out side our borders. The worldwide high cost of energy is a topic that is in the news every day.

The welfare of our citizens is at risk every time there is another crisis in the Middle East. When we pay more for energy, there is less money available for food, health care and luxuries like arts and cultural events.

The economic unrest in our country is largely a self-inflicted problem. We are having a serious problem with inflation that is caused by the falling value of the dollar. High taxes are punishing success.

Lost jobs and falling wages are hitting many homeowners at the same time that the price of everything they need is going up. Some of my neighbors do not see a problem with putting foreign fuel into their foreign made SUV until their job is sent to a foreign country.

I know folks who have parked their cars and now ride a bicycle to work. Not because they want the exercise or want to save the environment, they do it to avoid buying expensive fuel for their car.

All these problems are occurring while we have sufficient resources here in the U.S. to keep our economy booming.

Parts of the following are excerpted from The Platform of The American People that can be found at AmericanSolutions.com.

We can solve our environmental and energy problems, faster and cheaper, with innovation and new technology than with more litigation, more taxes and more government regulation.

Entrepreneurs are more likely to solve America’s energy and environmental problems than bureaucrats.

To combat the raising cost of energy and reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources, we support the Unites States using more of its own domestic energy sources, including the oil and coal it already has here in the U.S.

Our current dependence on foreign oil threatens our national security and our economic prosperity by making us vulnerable to dangerous dictatorships.

We should build more refineries in America to lower the cost of transportation fuel and reduce our dependence on foreign supplies.

We believe in using U.S. domestic energy sources such as coal and oil, even if it means drilling off our coasts and in Alaska.

We should be offering tax credits for American business that develop new energy sources.

If we use technology, innovation and financial incentives, we can solve our own energy and environmental problems and have a thriving economy.

We each need to do our part in the fight to maintain our freedom, by conserving our resources, investing in our future and by voting for representatives who believe as we do.

Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less.

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7 WAYS YOU CAN LOWER THE PRICE OF GASOLINE

Why are gasoline prices so high? The demand for gasoline and diesel fuel in the USA has grown to where we soon will not be able to make enough to keep our vehicles on the road.

Why? We have not built a new refinery in 30 years because congress has passed laws that make them either too costly or impossible to get permits for them.

Will we run out of gasoline and diesel fuel? Not likely because other countries are building refineries as fast as they can. They will sell us gasoline and diesel fuel in addition to selling us crude oil. That way they get those high paying refinery jobs in their country instead of in the USA.

Why is gasoline and diesel fuel so expensive now? The raw material for gasoline is crude oil. The worldwide market demand for crude oil is up. China and India are both using more oil than ever before. They are competing with us for oil in all the international markets.

Why don’t we drill for more in the USA? Congress has passed laws preventing us from drilling where we know our oil is. U. S. off shore drilling has been stopped by those laws but, China is drilling 60 miles off the Florida coast. Other countries are drilling everywhere there is oil available. They get more high paying jobs for them and less for us.

Why doesn’t the President do something? The U. S. President cannot change our laws that limit the freedom of U. S. companies. In the U. S. Laws are made and changed only by the congress.

Why doesn’t the government do something? The U. S. government does not produce anything. It cannot make gasoline or diesel fuel. In a free market, only people acting together can risk the resources needed and provide the knowledge to produce things including oil and gasoline and diesel fuel. The only thing governments are good at is limiting the actions of people, including groups of people like companies.

Why can’t we get the big oil producers to pump out more oil? The 12 largest oil producers are not under U. S. control because they are not U. S. companies. The 12 biggest oil producers are countries not companies. They are country owned oil operations in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and nine other countries around the world.

We have coal why don’t we make oil from our coal? Because the U. S. congress has passed laws the block making oil from coal.

What can we do?

1. Promote alternative fuels like Ethanol and Butanol made from what ever we can grow here to make them.

2. Promote personal, corporate and government conservation of energy resources.

3. Write your representatives in congress requesting they undo the harm they have done to the U. S. economy by unblocking oil production and refining.

4. Vote, support and campaign for candidates who will work for U. S. Energy Independence. Campaign and vote against candidates who have a record of passing laws that are not in the best interest of this country and your bank account.

5. Stop sending your money and our jobs to foreign countries by buying foreign made products.

6. Buy U. S. made high mile per gallon motorcycles, cars and trucks.

7. Buy electric cars that are built in the USA as soon as they are available. Plug in to the electric grid to use electricity produced from coal mined here.

Become a warrior for the U. S. and your own economic freedom.

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PLAN A GARDEN FOR ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

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Record Energy Prices Are a Threat to Your Life Style

This week crude oil futures hit another all time high of $112 a barrel. What did not make headlines is home heating oil is also at an all time high and gasoline is up and propane is up and diesel fuel is up and jet fuel is up.

Things are really looking up if you are invested in any of the above. But, for most of us, it means every thing we buy will be more expensive.

Someday it may take most of your paycheck to fuel up your ride.

If you buy something on the internet and have it delivered to your home, the higher cost of delivery truck fuel will make it more expensive. If the stuff you buy gets to the store by truck, the cost will be up. Air freight costs are going up too.

Higher prices for diesel tractor fuel mean higher cost for farm produce. Higher prices for propane means the cost of processing farm produce will be up. Higher oil prices will drive up fertilizer cost up for the farmer also.

The higher cost of growing corn means ethanol prices will be up.

Oh, I almost forgot natural gas prices are up also.

All these increasing energy prices impact the market price of just about everything we buy.

To protect our personal economic security we all need to take action to reduce the impact that increasing energy costs have on our lives.

Saving energy is not just an environmental concern or a green fad.

Saving energy is a personal security issue and a national security issue that we need to pay more attention to.

We all “gotta eat” and we all need to move around the country to “take care of business.”

My question for today is what are you doing to keep higher cost energy from wrecking your life style?

Click this link for a SPECIAL REPORT: HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON AIR CONDITIONING

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PLAN A GARDEN FOR ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

Here we are in the dark days of winter and the spring seed catalogs have started arriving. These brightly colored reminders of warm days ahead cheer me up.

In our house, the arrival of the spring seed catalogs kicks off the plant selection debate. My wife tries to fill every empty space in our small garden. I try to limit the number of holes I’ll have to dig. My wife believes that no garden is complete until there is no room for weeds.

We are fortunate to live in part of the world that will grow an amazing abundance of beautiful and nutritious plants. I have traveled across our great country several times. I am awed by the size of the vast farms and orchards that we have in our heartland.

When I get dragged into a grocery store, I am amazed at the variety of produce. Many fresh foods travel great distances to get into our shopping cart.

There are fresh vegetables from California, a thousand miles away. Plus, there are fresh berries from South America and fresh tangerines from Spain or Israel all several thousands of miles away.

In our quest to eat well, we pay a big premium for the fuel to ship fresh produce very long distances.

The biggest effort to save fuel used for food distribution was the Victory Gardens that were planted during World War II. They give us a model to follow to reduce the amount of petroleum fuel consumption that we each are responsible for. The use of home grown, or at least locally grown, produce reduces the transportation fuel needed.

Plan your own Energy Independence Garden now. It will help drive away the late winter blues. Planning a garden is a whole lot more satisfying than watching TV.

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The 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month

Saturday is a Birthday Party

This weekend is a busy one for me. Saturday is 10 November. It is one of the most important dates on my calendar every year. Marines will be toasting the 232 birthday of the U S Marine Corps. Yes, Marines of all ages, wherever they are in the world, do celebrate The Birthday.

My wife and I will be spending our evening with school age youth. The local Young Marines have invited us to their Birthday Ball. They learn social skills, along with a heavy dose of physical training and discipline. All these skills will help them as they continue to develop into young adults.

The Veterans Day is Sunday

Veterans Day is rooted in a very specific date and time in history. It originally honored the end of the First World War. The signing of the armistice papers took place at the 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month in 1918. It has grown to honor all our veterans who have served and are serving the cause of our freedom. It is through their service that we are able to continue our quest for independence.

Where I live the Veterans Day parade steps off at 10:00 am and ends with a ceremony on the town square at 11 am.

Please join me in taking action to support veterans and their families. If it were not for their sacrifice, our ongoing quest for freedom would have ended long ago.

The bumper sticker phrase, “Freedom is Not Free,” carries a lot of truth. It is true that the service, and blood, of our veterans is needed to maintain our freedom, now and into the future.

Our freedom also requires the best efforts of science, engineering and business. As a team, they must develop and bring to market new technologies to cope with a changing world.

Some folks think that we are at the 11th hour of our way of life. Climate change and depletion of oil are viewed as threats to our way of life. Our partial dependence on imported oil is a threat to our national security.

Achieving full energy independence is important to keeping our economy free. Being independent from the influence of oil rich countries is part of national security.

Freedom and independence are two of our most cherished words. They are the root of our birth as a nation. They are the cause of our ongoing success and strength.

That freedom motivates our people to develop new solutions to the problems that we face.

I have full confidence that our future is well defended and that our skills and ingenuity, as a nation, will prevail to keep us free.

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From Windmills to Wind Turbines: Alternative Energy in the Home

By H Hope

Alternative energy doesn’t just mean solar power and electric cars. It can also come in the form of wind power. Homeowners can even own a small wind power system designed specifically for them. Find out some of the steps involved in the process of getting your own wind energy system and some of the potential problems.

Wind energy has been utilized for hundreds of years. As far back as 2,500 years ago, people were using windmills to grind grain. Later on, they pumped water out of swampy areas and powered sawmills. Now, we’re using wind turbines to generate electricity for homes and businesses.

It isn’t one of the major sources of energy in the country yet, but wind power is rapidly growing in popularity. The American Wind Energy Association states that the wind energy industry is looking to have wind power in 18-20% of American homes by 2010. That is just only a couple of years from now.

Several cities out west have already set up large wind energy farms to supply the local areas with power. Many major businesses even have wind turbines set up to supply power to their buildings. Nothing says you have to live in a desert climate to enjoy wind energy either. An example is the General Motors plant at Tonawanda New York where wind generators are in use now.

Some farmers are generating wind power and growing crops in the same field. Wind turbines are being planted in sugar beet fields in Michigan’s thumb area.

The small town of Bowling Green, Ohio has set up three of its own wind turbines to supply power to the city. They cost a few million dollars, but now residents have the option of purchasing only wind power from the local municipal company and the city has a nice hedge against the larger power grid going out.

Small Wind Energy

Even if your local electric company doesn’t provide you with access to wind power, you can still setup your own small wind energy system. Small wind energy is one of the most affordable alternative energy systems you can set up, coming in even cheaper than Solar Power. It’s possible for a homeowner to set up their own small wind energy system for as little as $3,000, although some systems can cost up to $40,000.

However, some states and even the federal government offers tax credits for those who do set up their own alternative energy system. Plus, you can look around and find companies offering rebates on their systems to help you recoup your investment even faster.

A small wind energy system may not replace all of your electricity useage as the average wind power system has about 25-40% efficiency. The wind is a variable mistress, but she does provide a little extra back up system for those concerned about losing power.

Possible Concerns over Wind Energy

A few concerns have been raised over wind energy that. Beyond the initial cash investment and the fact that wind turbines don’t turn 100% of the time.

Some people have found when they made the move to install their own small energy systems that the local zoning codes had height restrictions which hindered their installation. However, some places have alternative energy ordinances that you can take advantage of to get your building permit. If you haven’t found a loophole of this type in your local city ordinance, you’ll probably need to apply for a special conditional use permit. This means an appearance before the zoning board.

The best ways to prepare to meet with the zoning board is by letting all of your neighbors know what you are planning on doing and knowing your research as well as the type of wind energy system you intend to put up inside and out.

Another concern that has been raised concerning wind energy is a fear that birds will fly into the turbines and be killed. The actual reports of wind turbines killing birds are rare. The American Wind Energy Association states that statistically the average sliding glass door has more chance of killing a bird. Plus, many wind energy builders are working on improving the visibility of their turbines with larger and slower moving blades.

All in all, wind energy is a great alternative system for those looking to lower their electric bill and have a back up system in case the power goes out. It can be affordable for the small wind user and it’s possible to get lots of tax credits and rebates to offset the cost.

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SOLAR ENERGY HAS A BRIGHT SUNNY FUTURE

Solar energy is getting attention as an alternative to traditional energy sources. Solar energy is of great interest because it a clean, the energy is free and the equipment relatively inexpensive. Especially when compared to traditional energy sources.

Solar energy is harnessed using of solar panels. Solar panels are a device that gathers, concentrates and coverts the solar energy from the sun to usable heat. Solar panels have been greatly improved in the past few years. Research studies have focused on finding out more about using solar energy.

Besides having solar panels, to use solar energy you need a way to store energy. While solar panels gather up the sun's energy, they are not capable of storing energy. The sun is not available all the time, so it is critical to be able to store the energy for use when it cannot be gathered directly from sun.

This brings up the limitations of solar energy. While solar energy is a very promising alternative energy, it does have some problems that need to be solved. The major limitation is the ability to collect and store enough solar energy for the time when the sun is not available. Due to the unpredictability of cloudy weather, this has been hard to solve. The only solution so far has been to use another energy source to act as a back up when the solar energy is blocked by bad weather.

The biggest draw back to solar energy is that it is not available at night. Enough solar energy needs to be captured during the day and stored to last over night until after sunrise.

Solar energy is best used for heating because heating involves little energy conversion loss and makes the most direct use of the available solar energy. For home use solar energy is often be used to preheat water for hot water or to heat the house.

Converting solar energy to electricity is done with solar cells Solar cells can use only a small fraction of the available solar energy and requires a lot of energy storage to be useful.

As mentioned, research into solar energy is helping to expand its use. Improvements in technology are on the horizon and they will allow for greater use of solar energy.

It is obvious why people are so interested in solar energy. The sun is an available resource right now. It is renews daily and it does not harm the environment. Solar energy is clean and available to a large part of the earth’s population.

The use of large solar grids is something that may, one day, allow solar energy to provide energy to large populations of people, just as electricity and other energy sources are provided now.

The Sun can provide enough solar energy to satisfy the energy demands. This makes it an ideal replacement for traditional energy sources, unlike many other alternative energy resources that have been introduced.

The world's current energy resources are not going to last. Soon there will be no choice, but to find an alternative and solar energy is be one of the best choices.

Right now solar energy is one of the best choices to help us obtain energy independence.

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CLEAN ENERGY IS BLOWING IN THE WIND

I have always been interested in wind power. May be it is my Dutch heritage that makes me appreciate windmills and sailboats. I have always enjoyed the challenge of using the fickle winds too propel me to where I want to go.

No machinery noises no exhaust fumes just the constant music of wind and waves. Sailing is a pleasure.

I even enjoyed tying up at the fuel dock next to a stink boat the same size as my sailboat. My fill up was just twelve gallons. The typical power boater had to pay out a hundred dollars or more for his fill up. My 12 gallons lasted me all season just to maneuver in and out of harbors. The power boater will be filling up again next weekend.

Sailing is an energy saver as long as you are willing to go at a pace set by the wind and tides. It takes skill to trick the shifting winds into propelling you toward your goal.

Wind is a form of solar power. The heating and cooling of the surface of the earth as it turns a new face to the sun causes the air to move and flow.

Old style windmills work like sailboats stuck on land. The top of the tower is turned, by muscle power, to face into the wind and the sails adjusted to capture the wind’s energy. Many Dutch windmills were used to pump water over the dikes into the North Sea. But, they get their name from milling wheat into flour.

Most modern day windmills look like over sized airplane propellers. There is no skill needed in setting their sails. They make electric power as long as there is a strong wind blowing.

The time of high wind may not match the time of high electrical demand. Perhaps this can be solved by pumping water up hill into the backwaters of a dam when the wind blows. Then use water wheels or hydroelectric generators to make power when the demand is high. I have seen one place where this is done now, but without wind power.

I do not like the way new windmills look. But, clean electric power is needed. Just do not block the view of the water.

Last weekend, while we were driving our grandson to the beach, we passed a wind farm under construction. Modern windmills had been planted among the sugar beets giving the farmer two crops from the same land. If electricity can be a homegrown crop, maybe clean plug in electric cars will soon be on the road.

Some day we may see old style windmills with sails made of solar panels, functional and nice to look at.

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