Re: Virtues of wind energy.

[Laszlo Paszner <lpaszner@shaw.ca>]

Dear Dr. Parker,

Your comments are well taken for a western society.  But if you worked for 
Enron all these years and accumulated lots of debt on your credit cards, 
used up all loan options and suddenly your employer went bankrupt taking 
your pension with them to the sewer and being left with no income or a new 
job, in spite of the beauty of wind power you could no longer afford 
it.  Affordability in terms of a developing country also means the  person 
has a job which provides the disposable income from which electricity can 
be paid for.

We will surely use wind power where affordable.  But it has its own 
problems.  Visual and ecological pollution gets to be a problem more so in 
industrialized nations than developing countries.  SUNCOR (the Canadian oil 
sands people) bought (is the owner of) wind energy technology.  They have 
yet to find a customer for their product due to the high cost.  They seem 
to be giving away equipment for some wind farms to wet the apetit of some 
potential customers.  If we cannot afford wind power in North America, how 
can developing countries?  Ultimately, the economics will determine 
viability of an energy option.  Time will tell.

Laszlo Paszner
PASZNER TECHNOLOGIES INC.
2683 Parkway drive
SURREY, B.C.
CANADA, V4P 1C2
Tel: 604 538 1349
Fax: 604 538 5108
e-mail: lpaszner@shaw.ca




At 04:00 PM 9/22/2002 -0500, Harry W. Parker wrote:
>Hello Philipp, and all,
>
>I agree with many of the virtues you point out for wind energy, and I do not
>even work for a "wind company".  Wind energy has been my favorite renewable
>energy source for decades.  Wind is already kinetic energy, so its
>conversion efficiencies avoid "thermo" limits. When connected to a large
>utility grid wind energy can be used as available.
>
>The key is economics --- average cents/kw-hr delivered for a reasonable rate
>of return on the investment, plus taxes,  maintenance and administration.
>Often unfavorable economics are compensated for by governmental regulations
>that in effect spread the additional costs over more users.
>
>Wind energy to provide utility power conserves natural resources and reduces
>CO2 emissions directly and effectively.  There is no need to go to the
>expense of producing electrolytic hydrogen,  and fuel cell cars.
>
>Harry
>
>Harry W. Parker, Ph.D., P.E.
>Professor of Chemical Engineering
>   & Consulting Engineer
>Texas Tech University
>Lubbock, TX 79409-3121
>806.742.1759 fax 742.3552
>
>
>
>
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