The answer ain’t blowin’ in the wind

An alert reader emailed and asked, logically enough, if we could do an end run around high energy prices in the Commonwealth by extracting electricity from the wind.

The short answer is: Nope. (Sorry about that).

The long answer goes like so.

In the United States, commercial scale wind energy got its start by crooked limited partnerships that were formed under an alternative energy tax credit scheme under the Carter administration. These partnerships were such sleazy, tax-cheating dodges that the IRS finally put its foot down and lots of investors (often times rich doctors who stupidly thought they could outsmart the tax man) wound up getting some massive tax bills, and I know of a few cases where folks lost their houses.

Wind energy, in the meantime, had established itself, primarily in some blustery areas of California. The technology is proven, but only suited towards very windy areas where–and this is key–you’ve got enough land for these wind farms, and where–and this is really key–you’ve already got a normal power plant operating on the same power grid.

Why a normal power plant? Well, do you look outside the window to see if the wind is blowing before you reach for the light switch?
Would you want your fridge to grind to a halt when the wind dies?

Of course not. Wind energy, then, would not replace the need for “installed capacity,” that is, conventional electric plants, here in the CNMI.

You need about 12 to 15 miles per hour of wind to start generating any reasonable quantity of electricity, and the Commonwealth simply doesn’t have that kind of average wind. Yeah, our typhoons are some real blowers, but wind turbine generators (the fancy name for the windmills that generate the electricity) kick off-line at speeds far less than typhoon speeds; they’re simply not designed for very strong winds, for aerodynamic reasons.

Yet if–if–we did have the right kind of wind, we’d be up against some other problems.
For one, you need a lot of land for a wind farm–the blades on a modern wind turbine generator are up to 130 feet in diameter. Land here, needless to say, is scare and expensive–wind farms would not be a feasible use of that land.

And another issue would be visual blight: lining the top of Mount Tagpochau with wind turbine generators would give Saipan all the visual charm of the New Joisey (misspelling intended) turnpike. Not exactly something a tourism destination would be well advised to consider.

I used to be an economist for the energy industry and, in fact, I got my start in professional writing doing projects for ARCO (one of the world’s leading oil companies).
Alternative energy (stuff like wind, solar, and even geothermal) is really an exciting field. Unfortunately, the state of technology just isn’t “there” yet for a lot of ideas, and we’re stuck–like it or not– burning petroleum or using nuclear plants (yuck) in order to make the lights go on.

Some day, some bright guy (or gal) is going to invent practical solar energy, and our abundance of sunshine will be a shining advantage. Until then, sorry to say, the CNMI has to live in the new millennium generating juice using good, solid, 1930’s technology.