“In Green Party terms, acceptable energies are wind, solar, ocean, small-scale hydro, and geothermal power. Nuclear is out as much as oil, natural gas, and coal. So is ‘dirty clean energy,’ defined as ‘biomass incineration (trees, crops, construction debris and certain types of waste), landfill gas and many types of biofuels.'”

Yesterday’s post examined the Green Party’s climate platform for the 2020 election. The Green Party’s Emergency Green New Deal joins Biden’s Green New Deal and the OAC/Sanders Green New Deal, each is designed to eliminate fossil fuels and go to a new (really old) energy future.

In Green Party terms, acceptable energies are wind, solar, ocean, small-scale hydro, and geothermal power. Nuclear is out as much as oil, natural gas, and coal. So is “dirty clean energy,” defined as “biomass incineration (trees, crops, construction debris and certain types of waste), landfill gas and many types of biofuels.” That’s not much to power industrial society.

Three important questions are tied to the future of industrial wind power to continue to expand in the nation’s electricity mix.

1. Can the wind industry survive without the PTC?

The industry can no-longer claim to be nascent. There are more megawatts of wind operating in the US than nuclear power with tens of thousands of megawatts in development.

Moreover, for nearly a decade the wind industry has touted that it was ready (or nearly ready) to move off the PTC and grow on its own dime. The phase-down was intended to provide a glide path to traditional sources of construction financing.

But in 2020, tax equity still represents between 50-65% of project costs.

The industry used the phase-down as a six-year extension of the tax credit. In the period from 2016 to 2020, developers made no apparent effort to reduce reliance on the subsidy.

“Exposing the fact that the cost-benefit analyses for wind farms are wrong, the power output modelling is wrong, the acoustic modelling is wrong, and the acoustic dose response data is wrong could create some interesting discussion on the back of Planet of the Humans.” (Steven Cooper Interview, June 2020)

Master Resource has followed the work of acoustician Steven Cooper for some time. In a February 2018 interview, Sensing but not Hearing, Mr. Cooper explained how all-body hearing mattered more than acoustic isolation and reporting.

“On discussing the residents’ observations (with the residents) for the first two weeks,” he stated, “I found the use of describing the impacts in terms of Noise, Vibration, and Sensation was accepted by the residents as a better concept.”

In a November 2019 update, (Two parts, Sensing but not Hearing, Latest), Mr.

“Industrial wind power, a government created and enabled industry, is not only about the uneconomic. It is about controversy and division between neighbors whose country living in the wind-swept plains has never been about gargantuan machinery generating noise, flicker, and unsightliness.”

In rural communities, proposals to erect office-building-high wind turbines pit neighbor against neighbor. Some receive checks for hosting turbines on their land; the rest dread the intrusion to their senses. And all because of a slew of tax breaks and mandates to remove a free-market situation.

“Nebraska wind farm projects cause controversy and heartache,” one article in The Fence Post was titled. “With the enticement of expected high-dollar dividends and federal production tax credits,” the article explained, “some residents in Cherry County and nearby communities are struggling with daily life challenges, which they attribute to numerous turbines emerging across the landscape.”

Said one local:

Wind energy is not a good neighbor.