RE: [pf] Re Blackfeet reservation wind-generated power

At 16:30 17/9/2000 -0700, Tom Gray wrote:
>- Do keep in mind, the wood stove is for heat.  Electric heat is usually
>quite expensive, because more than half of the energy is lost in the 
>process of generation, transmission, and distribution.
>
>- Wind-generated electricity is unlikely to be available as a sole source
>to your or any other community for some time, because it requires the
>addition of storage (because the wind is intermittent).
> ...
>I don't believe any utilities in Montana are offering this "green pricing"
>option for wind at the moment, but I think the output from the Blackfeet
>project will probably wind up being used for such an option.  If so, you
>may be able to order wind sooner than you think. 
>
**  to another list and to Arianna,  I sent this footnote:

 (* D.M.: I'm interested in using wind-electric generators in cold windy
areas, either to produce heat directly {no batteries, but heat only when
the wind blows}, or to power a heat-pump to efficiently supply heat in the
winter; with batteries {with or without PV panels} to take care of those
still days.) 

**  I don't know what Tom thinks about powering a (24VDC ?) heat-pump with
your own wind-electric energy; the heat probably coming from a liquid
circulating in pipes a couple of meters under the ground (away from the
worst of the Montana cold).

**  What he's said about wind-electric energy from a wind-farm not far away
is probably a better choice for powering the heat-exchanger, though.

**  I look at it from the "high-quality energy" viewpoint: you /can/ run
your TV and automatic washing-machine /and/ heat your house with
electricity; you /can't/ do all those with logs of wood, only heat your
house. So if electricity is costly or scarce, use it for what it can do best.

**  Conversely, if you've got tens of thousands of miles of wind-run going
past your house every winter, tapping into all that energy "only" costs the
~$20,000 for a wind-turbine, tower and cables, plus whatever you've got in
the house to use it. And after that it only costs the annual inspection.
The energy's free.

David.
(David MacClement) davd@ihug.co.nz 
http://www.emucities.com.au/member/davd/index.html#top
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