The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people • Hacker News Board

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#101

Post by foofoo55 » Sat, Apr 22, 2017, 5:42 PM UTC

Normal_gaussian wrote: post #56

noonespecial wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I think wind turbines are absolutely beautiful They are. Like living sculptures. There's just something extremely dignified about them. Like finally growing up after the childishness of strip-mining. The adults are here.

I couldn't disagree more. They popped up as I was growing up - littering the coastline and countryside. They can be seen from great distances and serve to make the place seem an awful lot smaller. I for one can't wait until we develop a way to live without them - the only condolence is that they move us away from the coal and gas industries. I do hope that solar leaves them in its wake and we can be done with the mon…

I also find them an eyesore, audibly irritating[1], and the documented bird deaths are awful[2]. But, I'll take them over coal any day.

[1] http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal....

[2] http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-many-birds-do-w...

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#102

Post by tuna-piano » Sat, Apr 22, 2017, 5:44 PM UTC

When something is cheap, people buy more of it. If you are someone who wants more wind power to be produced, you want it to be cheap. You should be rooting for cheaper wind prices, which come with increased efficiency (including less employees per unit of energy produced).

Of course, less employees per unit of energy could equate to more total employees if the increase in energy produced is greater than the increases in efficiency.

As far as I can tell, the types of energy policies we have in the US do a pretty good job of incentivizing increased efficiency in all types of energy, including renewables. I'm definitely not knowledgeable about this though, so maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#103

Post by nashashmi » Sat, Apr 22, 2017, 5:47 PM UTC

So how many jobs is that per kilowatt of power? Or vice versa?

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#104

Post by reducesuffering » Sat, Apr 22, 2017, 5:50 PM UTC

chris_va wrote: post #76

jnordwick wrote: post #67

This is NOT a good thing. Producing the same amount or less with more resources is generally considered a very very bad thing. It is the definition of being less efficient..

That's the beauty of capitalism. You can just let it run its course and not worry about it. If something is less efficient, it will not be able to compete in the market for very long.

Yes, but in the U.S. case we don't have theoretical free markets like that. There's too complex a network of government subsidies, unequal taxes, and corporate lobbying putting many things on the market that would not survive normally. I'm not saying this is inherently bad, just that we shouldn't think we can just let things run its course and the less efficient things will be weeded out.

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#105

Post by coin » Sat, Apr 22, 2017, 5:53 PM UTC

marze wrote: post #68

Normal_gaussian wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I couldn't disagree more. They popped up as I was growing up - littering the coastline and countryside. They can be seen from great distances and serve to make the place seem an awful lot smaller. I for one can't wait until we develop a way to live without them - the only condolence is that they move us away from the coal and gas industries. I do hope that solar leaves them in its wake and we can be done with the mon…

Compared to ripping the tops of mountains in West Virginia and states nearby and filling in the beautiful valleys to strip mine coal, a huge win.

> Compared to ripping the tops of mountains

Or consider nuclear, which is much cleaner, safer and lower coast than all other energy sources

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#106

Post by _ph_ » Sat, Apr 22, 2017, 6:05 PM UTC

jnordwick wrote: post #65

jMyles wrote: post #6

I live in a school bus, traveling the country. I think wind turbines are absolutely beautiful; I always marvel at them when we drive by. Does anybody here know how to break into this industry, working on a mobile, on-site basis? Maybe with embedded tech?

This sounds an awful lot like the people from the 1950s who thought that dams looked awesome. The dam in the Yosemite Valley was put there because many thought it would look beautiful and bring more people out into nature. It is almost universally considered a huge mistake.

I do think that dams look awesome. But of course you shouldn't build them to make the landscape look nicer. Especially today, more dams should be built, both to ensure water supply and as the ideal support for wind and solar. Dams are the cheapest form of mass energy storage - many of them can even run "reverse" and store surplus energy by pumping water up into the dam.

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#107

Post by labster » Sat, Apr 22, 2017, 6:06 PM UTC

coin wrote: post #105

marze wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Compared to ripping the tops of mountains in West Virginia and states nearby and filling in the beautiful valleys to strip mine coal, a huge win.

> Compared to ripping the tops of mountains Or consider nuclear, which is much cleaner, safer and lower coast than all other energy sources

So open pit uranium mines are that much better than ripping the tops off of mountains for coal?

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#108

Post by afpx » Sat, Apr 22, 2017, 6:07 PM UTC

jMyles wrote: post #6

I live in a school bus, traveling the country. I think wind turbines are absolutely beautiful; I always marvel at them when we drive by. Does anybody here know how to break into this industry, working on a mobile, on-site basis? Maybe with embedded tech?

Except when you live nearby them....

I am 100% in support of renewables. However, I also know several home owners near wind-rich areas. And, the noise pollution from the turbines is awful. Unfortunately, my friends are poor (as typical) and have little say in the matter.

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#109

Post by yongjik » Sat, Apr 22, 2017, 6:08 PM UTC

coin wrote: post #105

marze wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Compared to ripping the tops of mountains in West Virginia and states nearby and filling in the beautiful valleys to strip mine coal, a huge win.

> Compared to ripping the tops of mountains Or consider nuclear, which is much cleaner, safer and lower coast than all other energy sources

> ... cleaner, safer and lower coast ...

Typo or pun?

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#110

Post by Bjartr » Sat, Apr 22, 2017, 6:12 PM UTC

afpx wrote: post #108

jMyles wrote: post #6

I live in a school bus, traveling the country. I think wind turbines are absolutely beautiful; I always marvel at them when we drive by. Does anybody here know how to break into this industry, working on a mobile, on-site basis? Maybe with embedded tech?

Except when you live nearby them.... I am 100% in support of renewables. However, I also know several home owners near wind-rich areas. And, the noise pollution from the turbines is awful. Unfortunately, my friends are poor (as typical) and have little say in the matter.

I'm surprised you can be out of shadow distance of a turbine and still hear it. If you're inside the shadow distance, you have bigger problems.