Rode with my son to Macomb Illinois Saturday to deliver a cub farmall to a man. Driving across I-74 east of Peoria we saw miles of windmills. I didn't realize or hadn't heard about those being such a big thing in Illinois. Wouldn't want them in my backyard cause they sure are an eyesore

Yes and outdated technology coupla years and that'll be a junkyard for miles

I live on I74 30 miles from the Mississippi river. We have about 150 in the back yard. Stretches for miles. Kind of pretty at night with all the lights on top blinking.

Looking at oils wells is worse, and they stink and they are noisy. With electric motors winding and screaming they are way more disruptive to life then a wind tower. Then to add to the ugly site of an oil well you get the trucks traffic which is a add on to all the other negatives of oil and there facilities.

Glad I don't live close to any of the wind towers and oil.

A few years back, I drove across Minnesota and was never out of site of one, amazing. Popping up everywhere. We have new wind farms every year it seems.

Now there is a hoax that rivals the Russian hoax and the Ukrainian hoax courtesy of your taxpayer

I wondered how efficient and productive they are

We have a few hundred of them in my area they were put up about 10 years ago.Decent income for land owners something like 20 grand a year per windmill on a 20 year contract.
I was told that they are not that efficient and it cost more per kilowatt to produce compered to conventional ways.

Great for the land owner, but does not do a thing for the view of the land. Who do you think pays the 20 grand a year. With no Gov. involvement you would never see one! JMO

X2

Almost as attractive as a mud fence!

I'd rather have an old metal one on my land

I think they would make a Great Ride @ County Fairs and Amusement Parks. If Strapped properly

If they weren't subsidized there would not be any of these ugly giants, Also no money to tear them down at end of life. Bob

I hauled them with a semi in 2007. If I remember correctly it was just over 1 million to put one up. Operating cost is ridiculous, and only a 20 year lifespan.

They guy who hauls the motors is biggest money maker.

There are 400 windtowers within 20 miles of my house. Hate the looks of them, but they are here to stay. There is at least 2 more phases of construction addind on to what we already have. I guess they do pay alot of taxes that go to our school systems. Now 2 brothers have signed a contract to a solar developer on 2300 acres. They are going to cover that entire area. Supposed to employ 600 workers while under construction. I understand they are no more efficient than the towers.

I can not remember the figures well enough to quote them here, but it is a very similar situation as the ethanol. I spoke with a recruiter for a tech school dedicated to working on the things when they first started showing up. It was a never ending job as they constantly need maintenance. The guy told me they needed a total overhaul in so many years and it took almost twice that long for them to break even, so they never will be profitable to the end user. The personnel working on them and land owners are the only ones that come out. I am still questioning if the land owner comes out in the end when the things are dead and need removed, who covers that cost.

The lucky landowner is stuck with a 2 million dollar yard ornament

I have always questioned these 'green energy' things. I did some math on the solar panels. With the cost of install , cost of maintenance , short life span (30 years) and decreasing efficiency as they age and without the government tax credits/subsidies etc. They barely make sense. It almost works out to pre-buying your electricity for 30 years with maybe a meager profit if all goes well and you have less maintenance issues and longer lifespan than the norm.
Plus most of the solar panels are made in China. Remember the Solindra debacle that Obama threw tons of money at and then they went belly-up because they could not make the panels cheap enough?

Don't get me wrong , nothing wrong with green energy. But it still needs to become more efficient and cost effective before it is implemented.

I see a fair amount of Tesla cars in my area. I have spoken to a couple owners. They talk about how green they are , I reply that Teslas run on coal. That is were the electricity comes from. They get ticked off when I tell them this. Then I tell them that the strip mining for the lithium isn't that green either nor some of the child labor that is used in those mines is not a good idea too.

Also , wind turbines , solar panels and Teslas are a nightmare for firefighters like myself.