Re: I hope they succeed ... but! Economics!
So, invest a fortune in wind generation in widely separated parts of the USA, and a fortune in long distance transmission across the USA, such that regions with wind can supply sufficient electricity to regions without wind, and the job is done.
Theoretically possible but... What is the net cost (carbon/pollution/environmental damage/raw resources used including oil and other non-renewables including rarer metals etc) in such a scheme? Even if the turbines have a decent lifespan (my understanding of wind turbines is they don't last very long although how much has to be replaced is another matter - eg the gearbox is a relatively small part although replacing it still require a lot of heavy lifting!), could such a scheme actually save on energy/pollution/etc? Forget completely about economic cost (would probably be considered to be prohibitive even if the scheme would work), what would be the environmental impact?
You could perhaps build hydro schemes where possible, and nuke where hydro can't be done. Wind could be used to pull water from downstream back upstream, which would potentially lessen the land needed for the lake. Hydro has a huge environmental impact but we have ~100yr old installations here in NZ, a lifespan that well outdoes current wind technology.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
