The '21-'22 ski season was the busiest ever per the NSAA!

[ss20]

Capped dumps seem to be a great place for solar. Wide open and very little other uses.

They ski on capped landfills in the Midwest! That's better than solar!

 

[trackbiker]

Here in the Lehigh Valley they are building giant warehouses everywhere. Many have solar panels on the roof. The building I work in has a roof covered with solar panels. Just look around at all the warehouses, industrial buildings, big box stores, etc. that could easily have solar panels on the roofs. There is no need to cover former golf courses with them.

 

[deadheadskier]

I think what India is doing and California is looking at with putting solar canopies over their irrigation canals is a promising development for both power generation and water preservation.

Solar panels over California canals test possible joint-siting benefits

A $20 million investment from the state will assess whether a research paper’s conclusions pan out in real life.

www.asce.org

There are numerous opportunities nationally without clear cutting land or buying up golf courses. Seems to me the big game changer would be if the solar roof tiles like Tesla is doing become cost competitive and the standard for most homes.

 

[jimk]

I'll help steer this thread further off course
I drive across America a lot in my old age. Price of gas hit me pretty hard this winter (worst was $6.49 in Mammoth Lakes, CA). This winter I made it all the way from the Wash DC area to San Diego, with a lot of smaller trips around the Rockies, Wasatch, and Sierras. Every time I make the big drive through the heartlands (KS, NE, TX, etc.) I see more and more wind turbines. They must be profitable. I have mixed feelings about them, but I guess if you have to scar the land, then putting them close to interstates is probably the best place. I hope the energy they provide reduces our reliance on fossil fuels?
I40 in the Texas Panhandle, 13 May 2022, wind turbines as far as the eye can see:


PS: Anecdotally, I did not experience any notably huge crowds skiing in WV, CO, UT and CA this winter.

 

[machski]

I'll help steer this thread further off course
I drive across America a lot in my old age. Price of gas hit me pretty hard this winter (worst was $6.49 in Mammoth Lakes, CA). This winter I made it all the way from the Wash DC area to San Diego, with a lot of smaller trips around the Rockies, Wasatch, and Sierras. Every time I make the big drive through the heartlands (KS, NE, TX, etc.) I see more and more wind turbines. They must be profitable. I have mixed feelings about them, but I guess if you have to scar the land, then putting them close to interstates is probably the best place. I hope the energy they provide reduces our reliance on fossil fuels?
I40 in the Texas Panhandle, 13 May 2022, wind turbines as far as the eye can see:
View attachment 54490

PS: Anecdotally, I did not experience any notably huge crowds skiing in WV, CO, UT and CA this winter.

It isn't just the interstates covered with wind turbines. The explosion I see flying across the US in the last 20 years is amazing. 20 years ago large scale arrays were limited to certain areas (for example, the pass into Palm Springs from LA has had them as long as I can remember) and you didn't see many. Today, it is hard to fly anywhere in the US and not be able to spot a large wind array from the air at any moment. Maybe they are profitable, but there are definitely $$ incentives for energy companies to push to renewables.

I like that idea of covering the aqueducts solar canopies. That also drives me nuts flying over AZ and CA and seeing all the open air aqueduct lines running thru very arid or desert areas in the sun. Always wonder how much water is lost before it gets to it's destination.

 

[jaytrem]

Only problem with wind mills is they cause the earth's rotation to get a bit off. I hear they have been firing the rotation tuners a lot more often these days....

Lynchburg, Virginia - NASA/USGS Rotational Tuning News Flash

www.retroweb.com

 

[Hawk]

WHAT???? LOL

 

[NYDB]

Can't they just have 50% of the windmills spin in the opposite direction?

 

[drjeff]

It isn't just the interstates covered with wind turbines. The explosion I see flying across the US in the last 20 years is amazing. 20 years ago large scale arrays were limited to certain areas (for example, the pass into Palm Springs from LA has had them as long as I can remember) and you didn't see many. Today, it is hard to fly anywhere in the US and not be able to spot a large wind array from the air at any moment. Maybe they are profitable, but there are definitely $$ incentives for energy companies to push to renewables.

I like that idea of covering the aqueducts solar canopies. That also drives me nuts flying over AZ and CA and seeing all the open air aqueduct lines running thru very arid or desert areas in the sun. Always wonder how much water is lost before it gets to it's destination.

Drive through my home state of CT. We seem to limit the vast majority of our windmills in the state to select holes on various mini golf courses

The NIMBY factor is strong in CT when it comes to windmills and solar arrays too for that matter

 

[drjeff]

Can't they just have 50% of the windmills spin in the opposite direction?

Just like how the water in a toilet bowl moves clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and Counter Clockwise in the Southen Hemisphere, so as long as there are similar number of flushes per day in each hemisphere, the Earth keeps spiniing on axis!

 

[jaytrem]

Capped dumps seem to be a great place for solar. Wide open and very little other uses.

I purchase my electricity from a "community solar" project that is located on a nearby capped dump....

Navisun’s landfill project in Linden, New Jersey is nearly complete

Built on a former landfill in Linden, New Jersey, Navisun’s Linden Hawk Rise community solar project, part of New Jersey’s Community Solar Energy Pilot Program, is nearly complete. The 4.5 MW project is converting previously unusable land into a productive solar farm which will bring affordable...

solarbuildermag.com

 

[skimagic]

Drive through my home state of CT. We seem to limit the vast majority of our windmills in the state to select holes on various mini golf courses

The NIMBY factor is strong in CT when it comes to windmills and solar arrays too for that matter

True, NIMBYs even fought a solar project on a capped dump in Bridgeport, stating it was now a scenic hill.

 

[jimmywilson69]

that's just plain silly... People are so weird

 

[thebigo]

Thing nobody talks about is that for us residents of NH/ME/VT our neighbors to the north pay a fraction of our utility rates.

I work in the hydro industry and fully understand that Hydro Quebec does not have a flawless environmental record but their turbines spin 24/7 with an effectively endless lifespan. I am currently looking at scans of hand drawings from the 30s for one overhaul, it amazes me to dream of the volume of coal/oil/NG that has gone unburned due to this one dam.

 

[drjeff]

Thing nobody talks about is that for us residents of NH/ME/VT our neighbors to the north pay a fraction of our utility rates.

I work in the hydro industry and fully understand that Hydro Quebec does not have a flawless environmental record but their turbines spin 24/7 with an effectively endless lifespan. I am currently looking at scans of hand drawings from the 30s for one overhaul, it amazes me to dream of the volume of coal/oil/NG that has gone unburned due to this one dam.

But of course "South of the Border" here in the US, the narrative is all about how many fish will either get chopped up in the hydro turbines or won't be able to use the fish ladders assocaited with so many dams to get to their desired spawning grounds, rather than the amount of fossil fuels that could be saved over time.

The total hijacking and absolute desire to completely control the narrative that the Green movement has at times over what they view as their desired projects verses what potentially could be of use, is both disgusting and often hypocritical to their big picture goal of a cleaner environment and cleaner energy

 

[thebigo]

But of course "South of the Border" here in the US, the narrative is all about how many fish will either get chopped up in the hydro turbines or won't be able to use the fish ladders assocaited with so many dams to get to their desired spawning grounds, rather than the amount of fossil fuels that could be saved over time.

The total hijacking and absolute desire to completely control the narrative that the Green movement has at times over what they view as their desired projects verses what potentially could be of use, is both disgusting and often hypocritical to their big picture goal of a cleaner environment and cleaner energy

There are no impactful domestic projects remaining in the northeast USA, eastern Canada however has abundant hydro resources. The nimbyism relates to transmission lines but I never found lines any uglier than panels or windmills. I also get that people prefer domestic sources but fairly certain Trudeau isn't planning to invade Iceland any time soon.

 

[drjeff]

There are no impactful domestic projects remaining in the northeast USA, eastern Canada however has abundant hydro resources. The nimbyism relates to transmission lines but I never found lines any uglier than panels or windmills. I also get that people prefer domestic sources but fairly certain Trudeau isn't planning to invade Iceland any time soon.

I've got one of the high transmission line corridors in NE CT that is about a half mile from my backyard and the tops of the towers are in clear view (when I have my distance glasses on ). Honestly the only time I even know that they are there is the once or twice a year that the electric company is doing line inspections via helicopter if I happen to be home at that time.

There are currently 2 applications for solar arrray fields in my town that are in the permitting phase, with great opposition I might add. Both if I recall are supposed to be around 5 acres. 1 of the locations is a random farm field, located out back of the farm property, which is at the end of an about a mile long dead end dirt road, and there's no other developed property of any kind within a minimum of 3/4ths of a mile of it. In living in my home town for 21 years now, I have never even seen the farm, let alone proposed field the solar array would be on, and I have spent lots of time, and miles, road cycling all around my town and the surounding towns while living here. The 2nd site is on part of an old gravel quarry, where all the gravel was mined in that part years ago and it's long since filled over. The only time I ever saw that proposed area, is when my kids were younger and playing youth soccer, the quarry owner, in an agreement to get more permittable land for mining gravel, had turned a different part of the quarry that was no longer being mined into 2 youth soccer fields, and you had to drive about a mile into and through the quarry to get to the fields for games. Both of those proposed sites are facing very stiff opposition from various residents of my town and as a result these areas which are well off the beaten path, and good, open sites for solar arrays, will likley never make it out of the planning and zoning committee. I can only imagine what the outcry would be if they proposed a wind mill(s) in my town!

The NIMBY factor is high!

 

[jimk]

FYI, I just spent $325 for about 2,650 miles of driving, SLC to Wash DC via a few National Parks and scenic spots along the way. Used Interstate 40 for much of the way.

 

[ss20]

FYI, I just spent $325 for about 2,650 miles of driving, SLC to Wash DC via a few National Parks and scenic spots along the way. Used Interstate 40 for much of the way.

That's nothing!

I spent $1,100 in gas for the penske truck moving CT-UT in November... glad I did it then and not now! We were bitchin' about gas being $3/gallon in some states.

 

[HowieT2]

I think what India is doing and California is looking at with putting solar canopies over their irrigation canals is a promising development for both power generation and water preservation.

Solar panels over California canals test possible joint-siting benefits

A $20 million investment from the state will assess whether a research paper’s conclusions pan out in real life.

www.asce.org

There are numerous opportunities nationally without clear cutting land or buying up golf courses. Seems to me the big game changer would be if the solar roof tiles like Tesla is doing become cost competitive and the standard for most homes.

agreed. there's plenty of space to put solar panels.
Also, GAB (I think that's the company) which is the biggest manufacturer of standard asphalt shingle roofs, is just introducing their competitor to teslas solar roof shingles. the panels are integrated into the standard shingles and most importantly, can be installed the same way by roofers using the same tools theyve always used.