RV Fuel Issues & Prices - Post 'Em Here!

Overall once they are built I can't see too much to go wrong providing they are located correctly.

I too want these to work. The problem isn't the fuel as in fossil fuel plants. but in paying off the capital. They are so expensive, the cost of paying off the capital is more than the value of the energy produced. An analogy would be buying a motor home for $100,000 and thinking you will make it up by saving $30 a night for a 2 week vacation. The value of the money must be taken into account. The tip of the blades on the huge windmills in the North Sea (over 300 feet in diameter) is closet to 1100 hundred mpg (no typo eleven hundred). The forces generated are massive and is is shaking apart the concrete embedded into sea bed 14 meters (45 feet). They figured the cost of the power with a life of 20 years and are getting 8 plus. Makes the power costs go up by 250% when it was already much higher at 20 years. There is some maintenance, but the cost pales in relation to the start up cost. The wind blows a lots more offshore due to the uneven heating of the land and ocean from the sun. That is why they want to put them offshore (not in the middle, but with 15 miles). The ones on land have had many problems with bird kills and they even have gotten exemptions from fines for killing the bald eagle and condors. The bigger the blades, the faster the tip speed and the more efficient they are. There are other problems and many lawsuits about the noise problems and what they call "flicker" which causes neighbors to have headaches. There are many home systems out there that can be bought. There is also the big problem of what to do when the wind doesn't blow or slows suddenly. You must have fossil fuel plants on stand by for these and they do not just turn on and off. They must be ramped up which can take hours. For the individual, batteries can be a huge cost. There are cheaper methods like using the excess during windy periods to pump water into an uphill lake and then run it down hill through a generator when it is not windy. Then you have to pay for the generator and the pump. What we need is more research on the generators to make them more efficient. When I see folks make statements that it is going well and expanding or has a 5 year payback, it is just bizarre.