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Investments in and development of wind power in the US are very unevenly distributed. That is shown in four animated maps at Vox in their article, the stunningly lopsided growth of wind power in the US, in 4 maps. They explore why a huge swath of the country has almost no wind turbines at all.
[...] The major driver to invest in wind in many states is renewable portfolio standards, which mandate a minimum amount of electricity to come from renewable sources, like hydroelectric, wind, solar, and geothermal power plants. While federal incentives like the production tax credit, which benefits wind energy installations, apply across the country, state-level programs make a major difference on the ground.
“The states that have stronger RPSs are the places where you see renewables being deployed more actively,” said Ian Baring-Gould, a technology deployment manager at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. “In places that don’t have RPSs, the utilities don’t have as much motivation to develop renewables.”
Take a wild guess which states don’t have RPSs
Wind speeds are not even around the country, so turbine distribution is not expected to be either. However, there is a long way to go before the turbine distribution reaches parity with the potential.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by suburbanitemediocrity on Sunday May 06 2018, @11:36PM (10 children)
building any wind turbines where the wind doesn't blow.They built a few dozen near me and they sit motionless for 10.5 months out of the year. People assume that they were built because they got government money to do so.
From an intelligent perspective it would have produced far more energy to build them in a windy location (different state) and bring in more wires. It's completely retarded to think that all renewable energy is equal.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by driverless on Monday May 07 2018, @12:38AM (7 children)
Wouldn't it make sense to build a lot of wind turbines around Washington DC, and particularly Capitol Hill? Never experienced so much wind in my life.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by frojack on Monday May 07 2018, @12:41AM
Long reach for that one.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Monday May 07 2018, @03:54AM (2 children)
There is a difference between wind and hot air.
When life isn't going right, go left.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Monday May 07 2018, @04:00AM (1 child)
Maybe some sort of horizontally-mounted one to catch the thermal updrafts? I'm sure there's an opportunity there for a Kickstarter.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Farmer Tim on Monday May 07 2018, @01:52PM
Came for the news, stayed for the soap opera.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Phoenix666 on Monday May 07 2018, @11:08AM (2 children)
Lower the blades to near ground level, position them to interlock, and set to blend, and you've got yourself a deal.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Monday May 07 2018, @11:27AM
Ah yes, a fine example of 19th-century neoclassical architecture crowned by a magnificent white dome that overlooks the city of Washington. The tenants arrive here and are carried along the corridor on a conveyor belt in extreme comfort, past murals depicting Mediterranean scenes, towards the rotating knives. The last twenty feet of the corridor are heavily soundproofed.
(Score: 2, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Monday May 07 2018, @12:40PM
The wind farms are bird Cuisinarts, they're the Cuisinarts of the sky. Wind turbines threaten the migration of birds. And they're ruining the beauty of parts of the country. If they were to ruin Washington with that, then I would walk away. We would sell the site and go elsewhere. I'll be sitting pretty, believe me. The Washington White House is a real dump. I have my Southern White House, Mar-a-Lago. And my Summer White House in Bedminster. But what about the birds? Where’s the outcry?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 07 2018, @12:47AM (1 child)
> they sit motionless for 10.5 months out of the year
Just out of curiosity, do you see these at all hours of the day or only (for example) in the morning when wind speeds are typically lower? Most of the turbines I've seen were really going by late afternoon as the day's solar heating brought up wind speeds.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 07 2018, @01:18AM
I don't see them 24/day, but have seen them at all parts of the day, but the wind in my area only blows in he rest of the year is dead calm. When it does blow it's ~15ms^-1, but they are built in an area, https://windexchange.energy.gov/maps-data?category=residential, [energy.gov] that annually get's less than 4ms^-1. Solar is great however with an annual daily average insolation of well over 6 hours/day.