"Free" Energy

The next time somebody tries to tell you that renewables and micro-generation are a viable option for electrical generation in the near-term, think about telling them this story of one man who used numbers from the Canadian Wind Energy Association to determine how long it would take to realize a return on a wind turbine installed at his home:

The answer is (drumroll please): 91 years. No typo, ninety-one. I'll be dead, and probably my kids too, and no doubt my house will have been gone for decades before it pays off. Oh yeah, not to mention the turbine itself, which has only a 25 year life expectancy.

Unless, of course, you include financing costs. Or required maintainence and overhauls. Maintenence and overhauls, by itself, costs twice as much as the power its generating. Even if the system were entirely free, and sitting in my backyard tomorrow, it couldn't pay for its own maintenance!

So this is what it's like to live in a "good" spot for wind power. I'd hate to see the numbers for "mediocre".

Thanks to Colby Cosh for the pointer. Have a great weekend, and we'll see you back here on Monday.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Environment, Energy, Politics, Technology, Economics